Browsing the blog archives for January, 2007

Using Print Advertising? – Print Quality Photos

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23 Jan, 2007
News, Photography

If you have read my blog posts in the past, you will know that I have been trying to persuade realtors to reposition their marketing dollars away from traditional print-based advertising to online sources such as our Video Openhouse Tours. Our clients are already aware of our exceptional real estate photography, but may not know about the other photography-based services we offer. For those of you that still run print ads, we offer high-resolution, 6mp photos, ideal for all print-based advertising. Pre-ordered DVD/CD’s of a complete gallery can be ordered for an additional $20. We will include the disc with your Video Openhouse DVD that we send to your office. If your are on a tight deadline, consider using our same-day service for print-quality photos. We can prepare up to 4 images and send them directly to your printer/editor for only $30.

We are commited to providing the best products and service for all our clients. Remember, our price lists for both Vancouver and Victoria are available for everyone to see on our website, Price List.

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/103/still-using-print-advertising-print-quality-photos/

Video Openhouse Blog and Google AdSense

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19 Jan, 2007
News, Technology

We share an office with the Chief Technology Officer, Theo Wong, of UberJobs (http://www.uberjobs.com/). UberJobs is a free site for job postings, resume postings, and employment searches. A couple of weeks ago, we started talking about revenue models for our two companies. Theo spoke about the enormous potential for ad revenue on websites with significant amounts of traffic. UberJobs plans to attract thousands of users with its free listings and clean interface and in return, generate income through the use of Google AdSense.

AdSense is a simple method to generate income from a website by displaying ads that are “deemed” relevant, “matched to the characteristics and interests of the visitors your content attracts”. We decided to experiment with AdSense on our blog. Our clients can rest assured that advertising will not be appearing on their custom webpages. Nor will you find ads on any other part of our website. I was just wondering if I could use the proceeds to buy a Tim Horton’s coffee.

Feel like advertising on our blog? Contact us or

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/102/video-openhouse-blog-and-google-adsense/

Real Estate Channel – 3 Free Listings

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17 Jan, 2007
News, Real Estate Channel, Real-Estate

I just spoke with Leon Ng of the Real Estate Channel (www.realestatechannel.ca). He informed me that they are offering new members 3 free listings a month for a year. To become a member, a realtor needs to only purchase one of their packages. Their packages are affordable and in return they receive a 30 second advertisement video in rotation on their network and the video hosted on their website. The Real Estate Channel works hard to promote realtor listings. They also have done a great job supporting/promoting their clients by drawing from their membership when they need real estate experts for their on-air interviews.

For our clients that are interested in this offer, we are able to produce your video for the Real Estate Channel as part of our services. Do you have a few active listings? Interested in advertising on television? Video Openhouse can help you get your listing on the Novus Network’s Real Estate Channel.

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/101/real-estate-channel-3-free-listings/

VIDEO Tab Now Available For Ubertor Websites

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16 Jan, 2007
News, Technology

For months, I have been reminding our clients to refer to their videos as VIDEO TOURS and not VIRTUAL TOURS in all of their marketing material. In a previous blog post, I urged realtors to ensure that they wrote VIDEO TOUR directly in their mls descriptions since there is no way to differentiate the various types of virtual tours, photo gallery, 360 or panoramic tour from the vastly superior video tour on the mls website. There is so much excitement about video on the Internet and the ever growing demand from users. I want to ensure that our clients are capitalizing on this demand.

Today, on Steve Jagger’s Ubertor Blog, they have announced that the VIRTUAL TOUR tab is now customizable. Ubertor clients are now able to correctly label the tab to read VIDEO TOUR! Finally, there is a way to differentiate VIDEO from the also-rans. Has anyone ever heard of the growing demand for 360 Tours? I didn’t think so.

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/100/video-tab-now-available-for-ubertor-websites/

Announcing – Improved Video Openhouse Photo Gallery

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14 Jan, 2007
News

Have you seen our new and improved photo gallery?  Users are now able to better navigate through all our photos; scroll, move forward, go back, pause. I am sure that all the viewers of our galleries will find it to be a much improved system.  At Video Openhouse, we are committed to improving all our products and services.  Please check out some of our latest image galleries:

Jacquie Darmanin, Sutton Group – West Coast (White Rock), 216 – 15150 29A Avenue

Daryl Braithwaite, Sunnus Properties, 2146 West 14th Avenue

Team Andruff, RE/Max Crest Realty (Westside), 906 West 13th Avenue

Andrew Hasman, Andrew Hasman Realty, 2750 West 15th Avenue

 

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/99/announcing-improved-video-openhouse-photo-gallery/

Using eBay to Sell Properties

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13 Jan, 2007
News

I had an interesting thought the other day.  Does anyone use eBay to sell their properties?  So I checked to see if there were any BC listings.  Currently, there are 3, except 1 is for a time share in Whistler.  So actually, there are only two.  The marketing genius that posted the first listing has advertised it as an anti-earthquake building on Georgia Street with a nice view of town and North Vancouver.  The ad does not show any pictures.  Not a chance this will sell. 

The second property is much more interesting.  It is for a custom built rancher on a half acre, close to the ocean, located somewhere on Vancouver Island.  The property comes with a 26 foot Bayline boat, a truck and 2 ATVs.  There are a hanfdul of really nice pictures.  An realtor would consider this property to be a very marketable listing.

Unlike other auctions, a real estate listing lasts for 90 days.  Anyone familiar with eBay will know that sellers are able to set a minimum price.  If that reserve price is not met, then the seller is not obligated to complete the transaction.  I am curious why someone would choose to use eBay to sell their home.  I will continue to watch this with great interest.  The auction is scheduled to last for another 80 days.

 

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/98/using-ebay-to-sell-properties/

Want To Know What Your Neighbours Paid For Their House?

Comments Off on Want To Know What Your Neighbours Paid For Their House?
Jan, 2007
News, Real-Estate, Technology

I have heard a lot about assessments these days. It is my understanding that they had not been kept up to date and with skyrocketing housing prices in the Lower Mainland, some homeowners are going to be hit with a big increase in the taxes. To help residents determine if their assessment is fair, BC Assessment has opened up their online database for free to the general public until March 15th. Type in your address and the query will return the last sale price and the value of your assessment for you and other residences on your street. Want to know what your neighbours paid for their house last year? Check it out on the BC Assessment website – Assessments and Sales by Address 2007.

Another great feature, if you are looking to buy or sell a home, is their Sales Select Sysytem 2007. The system allows you to specify a neighbourhood and property type and returns the selling price of the first 100 sales closest to July 1st, 2006 are returned. These services are always available to the general public but are free of any fees for the next 2 months.

http://www.vopenhouse.ca/blog/97/want-to-know-what-your-neighbours-paid-for-their-house/

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