Realty Agents

Most home buyers start searching for homes on the internet long before they contact an agent.  For buyers and for listing agents virtual tours have almost become a must have.  There are numerous virtual tour services agents can use. CirclePix is what I would call a full service virtual tour company.  A professional photographer goes to the home, takes the pictures, uploads them and send the listing agent a link to a page that houses the pictures and the tour.  The agent can add information about the home, download pictures, burn the tour onto a CD, create flyers using the pictures and templates provided by CirclePix and can pull up reports that show how many people are viewing the tour and which pictures are getting the most visits.

For agents who do not want to create their own flyers or CDs CirclePix will do all the work, these materials can be ordered through the internet at anytime.

When home buyers access the tour they will find a description of the property, maps, a mortgage calculator, school information, and a mortgage calculator.  The tour can be viewed as a virtual tour or slide show.  The tour can also be downloaded or emailed and buyers can create a printed feature sheet of the home.  Agent contact information is displayed and includes a link to the agents web site, email address and a page with all of the CirclPix virtual tours for that agent.  Each tour includes a branded and unbranded site.  Most MLS systems only allow unbranded tours.

CirclePix has an easy to use on line ordering screen for agents, tour prices start at $79.99 and go up to $119.99 and include still pictures for upload onto the MLS.  CirclePix also offer “V.I.P.” memberships starting at $180 a year, that include ariel pictures, video tours and audio tours.  Volume based discounts are also available.

CirclePix is a great service for the busy agents or for agents who do not want to take pictures, or create flyers or CDs.  The tours are high quality, prices are reasonable, ordering is easy, and the tour is usually available in a couple of days.  The average agent should have no trouble downloading pictures, burning CDs, making flyers or changing the order of the pictures in the virtual tour and technical support for the product is just a phone call away.  The pictures are high quality but vary depending upon which CirlcePix photographer takes them. In my opinion there is one essential feature missing.  CirclePix does not offer a viewer that can be embedded in a web site or blog.  Not all agents can or will use such a feature but for the more tech savvy agents the ability to embed a tour into an exiting web site is a must have.  The agent ordering system is easy to use but so many options and packages are offered that users may want to spend some time on the site looking at services and comparing options before pressing the submit order button.

This author rates this service:		8 out of 10
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Category: Video / Virtual Tours,
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Agency Logic PowerSites deliver a professional product that delights homesellers by giving them their own dedicated website. 

When Agency Logic developed its PowerSite product in 2003, they were one of the first on the scene to offer a single property website.  Athough visual and virtual tours were available at the time, PowerSites offered a unique way to market a single property with the features of a full blown website and a distinct domain name. Four years later, Agency Logic has plenty of competition but still remains a leader in single property marketing. 

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This author rates this service:		10 out of 10
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Category: Website Creator,
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A Real Estate Blogsite is a good solution for a blogger more interested in providing content than building a blog platform.

Put a few bloggers in a room together and it won’t be long before the discussion turns to blogging platforms. When I started real estate blogging in February 2006, I had no idea that it would help me with search engine placement.  For the first 3 months of my blogging experience, I used a Typepad platform which I still utilize for my Simply Ledyard Photoblog.  Once I figured out that google loved blog content, I decided it was time to let the professionals take over. While Typepad was a good place for me to begin, I really didn’t have the time to spend building the site beyond adding content.  I didn’t want to have to consider which plug-ins to use or learn about search engine pinging or content moderation. For some bloggers, the challenge of building a site is half the fun; for me, writing and adding content is what I’m in the game for. Real Estate Blogsites became the best blogging solution for me since they were equipped with the technology features to get me up and running fast.

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This author rates this service:		8 out of 10
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Category: Website Creator,
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