February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 Tour Real Estate Inc

REALTORS: Do More With Your Website

One question that we often have brought to us by Idaho Realtors® is how do I get more out of my website?
In response, we often ask: well, what are you putting IN to it?

This surprises many people, as they have for a long time thought that just having a website online was enough to guarantee online success; unfortunately it’s just not true – and never has been.

Unlike many web development companies we look at our clients as valued individuals with whom we want to build a lasting relationship. We CARE about their success because in part it is a reflection on our work. It may cost us financially at times but we tell the truth and provide our clients with what fits their needs – not just what will pad our bottom line.

Because of this we are very straight forward about the fact that the website that performs the best is the one you promote the most!

Competition online is fierce, especially for real estate in Idaho, so your website has to be the very best; it needs to be backed up by an on-going marketing strategy to get you noticed.

If you are a Idaho Real Estate Agent or Northwest REALTOR® let’s talk!
We are happy to take a look at what you are currently doing, or not doing, and offer suggestions for improvement. As long time real estate technology leaders we are familiar with every aspect of the market as well as digital design trends and we would love to help you start moving more real estate today!

October 22, 2018 Tour Real Estate Inc

New Real Estate Website Design

We’re happy to announce another new real estate website template!
This all new design includes all of the standard tools and functions you’ve come to rely on from Tour Real Estate combined with elegant design. Larger format pages have become the latest trend in web design and we’re providing this new layout to help you keep current on what’s hot. More than just an attractive design, you’ll find our websites to include some of the most powerful real estate searches online today.

Currently available in 5 color themes, each with multiple slideshow options this new template also includes a prominent search bar, calls to action on the homepage, and larger visual elements to encourage website visitor interaction.

Like all of our real estate websites this design comes ready-loaded with great content your visitors will be sure to love, and best of all most of it can be further customized by you to make it your own.

In addition this new design also includes a blog call right on your main page! Don’t worry if you’re no Hemingway, we take care of that for you. Our real estate web system provides a way for you to blog on your own if you want, but otherwise we include content from our free client blog once a month to help keep your website fresh and active.

Want more interaction? Need custom searches?
We can do ALL of that and more! Because we create all of our own code we’re not limited to what a real estate plugin can provide like many wordpress based sites. Whether you have specific MLS areas you want to focus on, certain price ranges, or any criteria available in MLS we can help shape your site around that unique market. Talk to Tour Real Estate Inc for the best in custom real estate website design today to see how we can help you!

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015 Tour Real Estate Inc

Make Your Listing Photos Count!

The internet is a very visual medium; it should come as no surprise then that images play a very important role in online visibility — this is even more true in real estate where potential buyers may be viewing the property from out of town. A picture is literally worth a thousand words – that’s like almost 8 tweets!

Because of the importance in quality images when presenting a listing it always surprises us to see agents almost consider this part of their strategy as an after thought. Blurry, dark photos taken from a phone in haste, these are all telling signs of an inexperienced agent. We understand, professional photos cost money, and so it’s important to make sure you’re getting your monies worth! With over a decade in the virtual tour industry we’ve put together some quick tips to help you make your listing shoot as good as it can be — even if you DO decide to shoot them yourself.

De-Clutter
Tuck those laundry baskets in the closet, or around the corner. Clear out the floor space. If you have to move things around during the photo shoot do so, it’s better to take the few seconds to move the kids toys out of the room and back then to look like you’re running a clandestine day care.

Not Planning
Find out when the photographer is coming or set aside a time to shoot your own photos. The key element here is to plan. Make sure it’s a good time of day for light and to minimize traffic through the home.

Sequester Them In The West Wing
Speaking of traffic, kick the kids out. Don’t invite friends over to have coffee during the middle of the shoot. It will be a lot easier for your photographer, or yourself, to get in and get the photos they need without people wandering through their shots.

Do Some Light Staging
We realize you may not have fresh chrysanthemums delivered to your parlor daily, but even just adding a vase of fresh flowers in the kitchen, or doing some other light staging can really make your photos better. Take time to really show case your home, polish up those counter tops, lay out a few magazines in a tasteful arrangement. A little light home staging can help make your home photos feel more personable.

Have questions?
Just don’t have the time to take your own listing photos?
Our professional photographers are experienced in the industry and ready to help! We providing real estate photography services for all of Southern Idaho and also create a virtual tour link and upload photos to the MLS as part of our services.

February 23, 2015 Tour Real Estate Inc

The Modesto – Our Latest Mobile Responsive Real Estate Template

We hate to brag, but our latest template THE MODESTO is pretty great!
Mobile responsive and currently available in 4 different color themes this elegant, modern real estate website design is sure to please.

We’ve made sure to include all the features you want like easy searching, intuitive navigation, and great images combined with all the things the search engines love like fast load time and data rich content.

Even our templates stand out from the crowd! Get in the game and show them you mean business – seize your digital destiny and move more real estate!!

September 10, 2014 Tour Real Estate Inc

REALTORS: Are You Winning?

With big players like Zillow and Trulia joining forces the competition in real estate has never been hotter. Combine that with the fact that there are more REALTORS and brokerages online than ever before and it can feel overwhelming just to keep up with what’s popular – much less what actually works.

With all the misinformation, hype, and down right myths going around the internet about the best practices of leveraging those tools even those with the motivation and determination to handle their own marketing strategies can feel lost. Worse still…some agents have all the tools, know how to use them, and still drop the ball.

The good news? It’s not a slope too slippery to climb back up.
Here are a few good tips to refocus your efforts and make the most of what you’re [hopefully] already doing online:

Tell Your Story
Don’t make your marketing just about selling. Yes, you need to showcase your listings and services, but be sure that you’re providing more value than just that. With everyone having a site, that in most cases all provide search functions and similar mls data, the things you share about yourself can be the defining difference in having a recognizable brand that stands out from the rest.

Do the Followup
With so much of a real estate agents long term business being return clients it’s shocking to learn that only bout 17% of them are rehired due to the fact that clients do not remember their agent’s name. Keep your contact close; followup at least a few times a year. It may seem trite but that “Don’t Forget to Set Your Clocks” email or card might be the thing that keeps your face fresh in people’s mind.

Go Real World
Despite being a tech company, and despite the fact that the internet drives so much of todays real estate industry, the face to face interactions you have may be where your biggest progress is made. Attend small business networking groups – or even create your own “Coffee With Your Realtor” events to make yourself visible and available to old clients and new. Don’t rely on technology alone to provide all of your potential leads.

These are broad brushes to pain the picture, so think about ways you can apply these ideas to what works for you. Ultimately it’s not following the trends that will lead to the greatest success but rather finding what resources will bring the most return to how you move real estate and also attract the right kind of clients for you.

Have questions about your real estate marketing?
We have plenty of answers and ideas to help!

July 22, 2014 Tour Real Estate Inc

Should You Start a Real Estate Team?

It’s not rocket science, it’s simple math: the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. This logic applies to real estate too! But, does that mean it’s a good idea to team up with other agents?

There are definite pro’s and con’s to consider, and real estate professionals who are just starting out or who are struggling to find enough hours in the day to get everything done will definitely find the idea tempting.

Reasons to consider forming a team include:
Having more clients than you can handle

Not having enough clients

Difficulty meeting deadlines

Just not enough time

A lack of important skills or experience

Advantages
Pooling talents and resources can lead to greater reach and exposure.

Working with others may allow you to free up more time for things…like eating. And that thing they call “sleep”.

It can be more impressive to clients to have a group of professionals working with them.

You can designate clients to the agents best suited to their personality.

In some cases team branding can save on marketing costs.

Disadvantages
It only takes one sour apple to ruin the bunch.

Too many cooks can spoil the meal.

Every link in the communication chain can be a potential point for miscommunication.

If things go South you could be left holding the expense of team branding.

So as you can see there are good things and bad things about teaming up. Overall the most important thing is to build your team correctly from the ground floor. Consider agents you have a good past repertoire with already. More often than not it is personal conflict coming into the business relationship that ends up turning a good team into a bad one.

If you’re ready to make the move and get your own real estate team started we are glad to help! Besides offering the best in individual agent and brokerage websites we can also create great team sites that will feature the listings of all your team members! Contact us today to find out more about how we can help your team get on the scoreboard!

Tour Real Estate Inc.

Real Solutions for the Virtual World

Realtor Websites