Hidden Dangers of the Virtual Tour for the Home Seller

One of the marketing tools used by realtors in an attempt to sell your home is the virtual tour. What happens is an outside company comes in and creates basically a panoramic movie allowing the viewer to virtually walk through the interior of the home. At first I thought, well it could have value. But after consideration and the 50 years of experience I have, I knew a movie is not the same as being physically there.

When a buyer calls and has a conversation with the realtor, in the absence of a virtual tour, obviously the buyer asks questions rather than coming to conclusions while watching the tour. This develops an empathetic relationship between the buyer and the realtor. What it really does is save time for both realtor and buyer since the realtor now understands what is important to the buyer.

Today this marketing tool may lead to disastrous consequences. The economy being what it is, the last thing anyone would want to do is divulge the contents of their home and where they are located to a potential criminal. These tours provide the layout of your home, windows, doors, means of egress and ingress, potential hiding places, closets, etc. Also visible are the inhabitants, their ages and whether or not there are young children. The tour takes you outside to show off the beautiful grounds, privacy, proximity to other homes and the affluence of the neighborhood.

What a wonderful gift!
A blueprint for the criminal!

North Shore Long Island Real Estate Market

The North Shore of Long Island certainly is a curious real estate market. Why would the $600k-$800k market be so adversely affected and the $1 million to $2 million market the least impacted? However, once you get over $2 million, whether it be new construction or existing estates, there is buyer resistance.

Could it be that the $600k-$800k prospects represent the largest group of buyers with income to support that price range, yet feel value is dropping and their jobs are in jeopardy due to the economy? Factor in rising school taxes, cost of utilities, heating a home and gas, you have few buyers who are comfortable.

So what happens over $2 million? Maybe the rich aren’t getting richer…