Kaire Downin

Virtual tours are becoming more and more usable and used in Real Estate marketing and creating amazing results! There are several types of virtual tours, including slide shows, video walk through, panoramic photos, and 360 degree views.

The size and design of the home being photographed makes a big difference on which kind of presentation will best suite the property. A house with confined spaces and smaller rooms would do better to choose a slide show presentation with one or two pans or 360 photos of outside.

When you use a picture of a smaller room done at an angle that compliments the home, try to make sure you can see more than one room. Arrange the furniture in a way that is inviting and be sure there is no clutter.

This picture captures the mood, the window, and the position in the house. Staging a house is a great idea to update a home and improve the visuals.

Making sure you schedule the photographer on a day when the weather will provide more natural light through the windows will help your pictures really show the home in a way that will be appealing to the viewers.

Outside panoramic views to show the neighborhood are also a valuable tool.

Creative Front Views of the home that will be the first picture you see on the MLS or REALTOR.com can help pull the viewer's eye in and spark curiosity enough to open the listing, instead of skipping over a drab picture that looks so much like the rest of the search results.

Some tours include audio, video and satellite images that you can zoom into. Hit trackers, 3D floor plans that you can move furniture around to see how things could look, and connections right to GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps are just some of the recent technologies that are reaching the 70% of Real Estate shoppers on the internet. REALTOR researchers state that 1/3 of home buyers first step was to look online for properties. They go on to say that 87% of ALL home buyers and 94% of buyers between the ages of 25 and 44 used the internet to search for homes. Imagine the impact that having eye catching photos brings to your listings, as well as web optimization, using reputable listing sites and Enhancing your REALTOR.com listings and MLS Listings.

I have some wonderful companies I would be happy to refer you to to help with staging and photographing your properties for Virtual Tours in the Willamette Valley. Let me know if I can help you.

The photographer who took these images is Tim Downin from www.miraculousmemories.org

Being a new Broker in Oregon, I am constantly asked what I was thinking when I choose to change my career and start building a Real Estate Business. People look at me like I am nuts, express their concern and proceed to tell me about how I will never make it coming in when "the market is just so bad". It amazes me the negativity these folks have and proves the one track mind of the person obsessed with doom and gloom, always looking on why we shouldn't do things from fear instead of following our dreams, goals, drives, desires and morals.

I owned a business for 4 years that I created from relationships. I literally grew it with no money down, no training, no idea what I was doing, just going with my instincts and born talent of working with people. I had a need, I created a product, I found others with the same need, researched my product with them, sold them on ebay and then got a site up and running. The first year I grossed $8K, not much, pretty nice for what started as a hobby. The following year I grossed $64K. I taught myself how to run a business, and when it became too much for me to manage, needing more investment than I could afford to give it, I sold it, taking the money from that business to invest in creating my next venture. I put all the money in a CD for a few months while I decided on what to do.

After researching the housing market in the Willamette Valley for over a year, and self learning business management, only coming out of that business with less than $10K, I decided to have a hand at performing the task of Real Estate sales. I took an online class, passed my test and jumped into the world of Brokerage with both feet and a smile on my face. I didn't care what the news said, I don't believe anything else they say, their perspective is for the same people who live in fear and doubt. I looked at the numbers, I still look at the numbers. And while I will not claim to be the neighborhood expert, I am a constant student, learning something about the area and our market every day.

That is why I am different from the rest. I choose to learn. After my state exam, I signed on with Keller Williams and wrote my first contract for buyers 3 days later. There is no stopping me. I refused to listen to the negativity, I found a buyer and I sold them a house, the first time I met them, the first day we went looking at the first house they went into. I realize that is not the norm. I realize it takes time and building relationships and lead generation. So I continued to hit the pavement. I went door to door in my neighborhood in October, with my kids, introducing oourselves to the neighbors since we can't take candy from strangers for Halloween" and since we were new in town, it gave us a great chance to meet people and let them know I am a Broker. I went to all the local businesses, got involved with community efforts and took a few great business folks out to lunch and breakfast.

I was lucky enough that our KW leaders in our market center, Sue Long and Terri Woods, invited Gary Carpenter from Floyd Wickman's SMART training to come and give us one of the most meaningful lessons of my life. I learned an incredible amount of wonderful things and was able to really start my foundation, building good habits before old bad ones set in. I was lucky enough that I didn't have to relearn things, I was a blank slate. I targeted FSBO and EXP listings. Being new in town, I have no sphere to work with, so I get to work the area that most of the Brokers here seem to hate. I introduce myself, ask questions about their situation and figure out if I want the listing and how I can help them, if they even need me. I build relationships and truly live by the get by giving philosophy. I listen. I creatively find solutions to help them, and if I can sell their house, GREAT! If not, I am learning loads about people and the area, it is a win win for sure!

So I am here, almost at the end of 2008, still fresh and green. I have been licensed for 3 months and I have 3 listings, one sale, one sold listing and a handful of prospective buyers working with me. I am focusing on properties and communities I love to work with, I work in an environment that promotes growth, sharing, working together and towards a common good. I can honestly say I love my work and it was a GREAT time to get involved. learning valuable trade techniques, business habits and working with the strongest of the best Agents in the area, the ones who dont' give up, the ones that see their work as a BUSINESS not a JOB. The people who care too much about the people they work with and the community they are involved in to just find something else. I am so proud to be part of it. And when things look better in the charts and stats, I will be ready! I will keep working, build my book of business, get to know my neighbors and neighborhood better, and be ready for the changes as they come. I am excited to be part of this community and even more excited to be part of the Keller Williams Family!

Welcome to my Blog. This is a first for me and I am hoping I can keep up with providing powerful and educational information to help people find what they need to make excellent decisions about their real estate investments.

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Kaire and I just moved to Oregon from Florida. I joined Keller Williams Realty in September and am so glad that I was able to work with such a wide variety of brokers. It truly is a Family atmosphere with a culture of kindness and caring that creates a partnership that has given me the confidence and tools to work hard and do my best!

I moved to Oregon for many reasons. I was intrigued by the progressive attitude that many people have, the environmental consciousness that many other parts of our country lack was a huge attractor for me and my family. Our area has some of the best recycling programs and green energy programs available and the companies that provide it are always looking for ways to improve. Habitat for Humanity provides ReStore stores as an alternative to buying new hardware and home improvement supplies. Public forums like Craigslist provide a place for trading, buying and selling goods and recycling products that would otherwise find their way to an early occupancy in a landfill.

The home styles in the Willamette Valley reflect on the rich history of the early settlers. Many styles from cottage bugalow styles to ornate victorian, gothic to colonial, and a wonderful newer "green" building style coming up all over, are scattered through the towns and cities of the area. We are also lucky enough to have historical preservation societies that help to maintain the value of these treasures, teaching people how to care for these homes. There are several historical building salvage stores that provide real artifacts from torn down buildings to help with restoration projects to preserve the integrity of these masterpiece structures.

More than making a living in Oregon, there is enjoying life through recreation and exploration! The landscape in Oregon is some of the most amazing, with snow capped mountains, hiking trails, fishing, camping, skiing, rafting, rowing, the list goes on and on, so many things to do and see, even in the rain, there is recreation abound! The coast offers many sightseeing opportunities with several lighthouses, wildlife viewing areas and amazing seafood restaurants, you can't go wrong!

The weather in the Valley is mild and enjoyable for most of the year, sunny warm summers and cool wet winters, beats blizzards, blackouts, hurricanes, and droughts anyday! Average temperatures between 80's and 40's exculde extremes. Rich soils, luxurious gardens, dense forests and pasture land are some of the benefits of living in Oregon.

So as you can see, I was sold on the Northwest Paradise and hope to enjoy it for the rest of my life! How can I help you to enjoy it too?