Dave Stegmeir

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is how the old saying goes. So what do the words say? My wife and I recently relocated from Connecticut to South Carolina to be nearer my son. Like more than 85% of people looking for a home, we began our search online. I spoke to several very professional and very competant real estate agents. We looked at dozens of properties online and as a professional photographer I was struck by the quality of most of the images we viewed. To put it simply, the images were just not very flattering to the property they were meant to promote.

If I was selling a home, I would never try and do it myself without the help of a professional for all of the obvious reasons. I respectfully submit, that agents or individuals listing a home should take the same appraoch when it comes to photography. I have studied photography intensly for almost 7 years now, and still I am learning new techniques that can improve my ability.

When you list a property for sale or rent, your objective is traffic, leads, inquiries, and ultamlately sales. Take some time and browse through the listings in your area and compare the images. I think you will agree that most are about the same and not as flattering to the property as they could be. The images should give the viewer a good feel and perspective of what the home really looks like. So many times they are dark or not level or are of just a small portion of the room.

I use an ultra wide angle 10mm professional lens and a professional camera, which will capture nearly the entire room in one shot. In addition I use HD HDR (high dynamic range) photography,because this gives you as close to what the eye sees as possible. If you want your listings to stand out from the crowd, then you should be using a professional photographer to make the images.

So how much is a picture really worth? Well it could certainly make the difference in making a sale if it can drive more traffic to you. So, in that case a picture can be worth thousands of dollars.

Making effective dynamic images is a skill and should not be taken lightly. The investment is so reasonable, that you might even feel silly for not taking advantage of this service. I can make HD HDR images formatted for both internet and print delivered electronically for as low as $54.50. How much does it cost to advertise? How much is a magazine ad? $54.50 is very little compared to other costs associated with listing a property. In fact think of how much it costs you to make your own images. How much is your time worth?

The question you should answer is....Do you want your listings to be just one in the crowd?...or do you want them to stand out in a big way?

Give me a call and let's discuss how i can help you. My guarantee is very simple. If you are not thrilled with my work, then you owe me nothing. So what do you have to lose?

Call me today at 843-321-3682

Take a look at some of my work at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/koda57/

We provide all of our Virtual Tour clients with a complimentary E-Brochure of their listins. Notice the virtual tour link embedded into the e-brochure. This e-brochure can be copied and pasted in emails over and over again. Another value added service from Connecticut Virtual Tours in Danbury. We served all of Connecticut.

211 Town Line Hwy. S, Watertown, CT GORGEOUS 3 BEDROOM 2.5 BATH HOME IN NEW CONDITION NESTLED ON OVER 2 ACRES IN A LOVELY SUBDIVISION WITH A 3 CAR GARAGE. DON'T MISS OUT 4BR/2+1BA Single Family House offered at $499,500 Year Built 2005 Sq Footage 2,870 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking 3 Car garage Lot Size 2.11 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION GORGEOUS 3 BEDROOM 2.5 BATH HOME IN NEW CONDITION NESTLED ON OVER 2 ACRES IN A LOVELY SUBDIVISION WITH A 3 CAR GARAGE. DON'T MISS OUT see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Central A/C - Central heat - Fireplace - High/Vaulted ceiling - Walk-in closet - Hardwood floor - Tile floor - Family room - Living room - Dining room - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Granite countertop - Stainless steel appliances - Washer - Dryer - Laundry area - inside - Balcony, Deck, or Patio - Yard OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES - BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE VIRTUAL TOUR http://rtvpix.com/RE-7303-S783HO-01 ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Contact info: Moataz Ghounem Nationwide Homes (203) 482-0102 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing

Connecticut Virtual Tours is pleased to announce the addition of elevated photography. This shot was made at an elevation of 20' and will stand out from the crowd on a page full of listings. Real Tour Vision delaers are on the cutting edge of producing the best virtual tours in the industry.

At Connecticut Virtual Tours in Danbury, CT. Dave Stegmeir is always looking for opportunities to enhance the visibility of his clients listings. There are other virtual tour providers who are charging up to $50.00 extra for elevated shots. All of the virtual tours created by Connecticut Virtual Tours will include an elevated front shot, at no additional charge.

If you are a listing agent or a FSBO, and you are not using TRUE 360 degree panoramic virtual tours to get maximum exposure for your listings, then I am afraid you are missing an opportunity. Cell phone cameras and even the really nice pocket or purse size digital cameras are simply not good enough in this competive real estate market. You all know how challenging it is today, and you all know how expensive it is to market your properties effectively. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!! At Connecticut Virtual Tours, when we create a virtual tour for you, our job is only half complete. The other half of the job is to get the tour seen by as many potential home buyers as possible. We do this very effectively by taking full advantage of the internet and social media. Your clients can even view our virtual tours on most any smartphone or even an ipad.

Call Dave today at 203-885-2889 for a free, no obligation consultation. You will learn that the investment is a fraction of many of the traditional meathods that are not working in the current environment.

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Everyone knows the state of our economy. As gas prices steadily increase and inflation begins to rear its ugly head, we have all had to re-think our strategies and, re-define our priorities. The real estate market has been in a sustained downturn. Properties have lost value and millions have lost their homes to foreclosure. Still, there are people looking for a place to live. Some are buying and some are renting. Either way, it is more important than ever to be visible to these buyers.

Before I tell you how Connecticut Virtual Tours can give you that visibility, I would like to provide some clarity about exactly what a virtual tour is, and maybe more importantly, what it is not. In an email, the other day, an agent said to me “most agents do their own virtual tours”. I find this comment most interesting. It made me wonder what the same agent thinks of a FSBO. I think most in the industry feel that a FSBO is not giving them self the best opportunity to sell their home at the best price.

I have done hundreds of hours of research of online listings. The listings with virtual tours are really not virtual tours in most cases. What they are is slideshows, and most photographs that I have looked at are less flattering of the property than I feel they could be. This is an important distinction, because at Connecticut Virtual Tours, we create 360-degree panorama HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, using professional equipment and state of the art software. We are partnered with RTV, the leading virtual tour provider in the world. In short, we are dedicated professionals who are dedicated to marketing real estate.

There’s more!! The photography is only part of the solution we provide. We are experts at social network marketing and we promote the virtual tours that we create all over the Internet. We drive traffic!! We get results!! This is the solution for any real estate broker or agent in today’s market. We have created beautiful virtual tours for a wide range of properties, from a $200,000.00 condo to a $13,850,000.00 luxury home.

All of our virtual tours are viewable in full screen HD and can also be viewed on an iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and many other smart phones. The tours also come with a real time stat report, which you will receive weekly.

If you are NOT selling all of the property that you want to sell, then maybe you owe it to yourself to try something different, something progressive and current, something that could put you out in front.

Call 203-885-0207 today and Dave will help you get started.

• Home Buyers who used virtual tours as a significant portion of their home-buying experience spent an average of two weeks with a Realtor® looking at homes, compared to those who did not use the internet, who spent an average of seven weeks looking for their home. (2008 RIS Media)
• As of August 2006, over half of American adult internet users (61%) have taken virtual tours of another location online and on a typical day, more than six million people are taking virtual tours in cyberspace. (2006 Pew Study)
• According to the 2007 NAR home buyer and seller profile, for the first time ever the Internet has tied with the agent for most important information sources used in the home search (84%). As of the end of 2007 65% of agents have their own web sites.
• 79% of repeat buyers & 84% of first time buyers use the internet to search for a home. (2006 NAR Survey)
• Images are one of the biggest reasons Internet marketing has become so popular. (2007 NAR profile of home buyers and sellers)
• 54% of home buyers who are searching for their next home on realtor.com will not even look at a home unless there is a featured tour. (NAR, January 2006)
• The median income of Internet searchers is much higher, at $86,900, compared with $50,400 among those who did not use the internet to search for a home. 2007 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
• 96.2% of travelers use the Internet as a source of information when planning a trip. (2006 Pew Study)
• 84% of all buyers and 87% of first time buyers use the internet as an information resource during their search for a home. In the 25-44 age group this number jumped to 91% of all home buyers.
• Home buyers use the internet slightly more frequently (66%) than real estate agents (64%) and much more frequently than newspapers (17%), home magazines (10%) or television (2%).
• Only 1% of homebuyers did not find the internet useful and 100% of those that use a real estate agent take two weeks to search on their own before contacting their real estate agent. 64% of all home buyers used the FIRST agent they contacted.
• 33% of all buyers are now using social networking sites with 19% using them at least a few times per week.
• 80% of internet shoppers say images are imperative when deciding to buy or use a company’s product or services. (2006 Pew Study)
• A compelling use of virtual tour technology will keep visitors on your site, and will also keep them coming back.
• In cyberspace, a site with a virtual tour and interactive media will receive 38% more views than a competitor’s site that is lacking media. (2006 Pew Internet Life Study)
• 80% of consumers search for information online. That means at least 60% of your marketing dollars should be spent optimizing your company online.
• The daily cost for print advertising varies from $66-$150 per day and has a shelf life of about 30 days. Print advertising has a limited market penetration based on your distribution and does not allow the consumer to interact or engage with your product. The cost of an online interactive virtual tour is about 27 CENTS per day and has a shelf life of 365 days with WORLDWIDE penetration. The cost to interact with your client is MUCH less when you use online interactive media.