Some of the older generation of real estate sales associates might recall a simpler, gentler time when the selling of a house required only a for sale sign outside and a quick hand when answering the phone. Those days are now long gone. Keeping up with modern day competition keeps every real estate associate in a never ending race to stay ahead of the competition. The new name of the game is offering a new and cutting edge technology to the customers of today in order win their business and stay a step ahead of the competition.

The combined use of traditional marketing and virtual tours has now become the ‘norm’. Many real estate sales associates market the virtual tour to the buyer by posting a local ad in the newspaper and including the URL of the virtual tour in the ad. When users visit the virtual tour web site, they can take their time examining all the available tours on the realtor's web site. This cross promotion of local real estate is a simple and easy way to draw attention to the real estate agent or broker's web based virtual tour from the buyer.

BUT, what about the marketing of the virtual tour to the home seller?

With home sellers, many simply are unaware of the existence of virtual tours, or are sometimes not aware of the effectiveness of them. Presenting the virtual tour to the home seller is a completely different process, as it is sometimes difficult to convince some seller to allow a virtual tour of the property. The reasons for the seller's reluctance are varied and range from reluctance to present photos of the interior of their home to strangers, to not wanting to deal with the hassle of filming the virtual tour. It is essential for the real estate sales associate to convey the importance of the virtual tour to the seller and the similarities between preparing for a traditional ‘open house’ and an online ‘open house’. It is also important to stress the overall advantages of the online ‘open house’ via a virtual tour.

When the virtual tour is added to the traditional media advertising and marketing effort, the results improve dramatically, as buyers appreciate having the ability to remotely view potential homes before buying them; identifying worldwide interested buyers who actually intend visit the physical property. This is of course, the entire purpose of the virtual tour, to encourage visitors to travel to the physical property in hopes of selling the home and land or other real property to the interested party. Relating the importance of the virtual tour to the prospective sellers is a vital part of the real estate sales associate's overall effort to sell homes and real estate.

Selecting some of the best virtual tours you can find and presenting it to the seller to view an online virtual tour gallery or via some other format, such as a CD, can help to quell the home seller's objectives in using a virtual tour in the selling process. A professionally produced virtual tour increases the perceived quality of the home. Virtual tours do an outstanding job of conveying the general ambiance of the home or real estate in general. This method of presenting a well produced and easy to understand virtual tour for the prospective buyer to peruse is a powerful marketing tool.

Marketing the virtual tour to home sellers may be somewhat more difficult than dealing with buyers nevertheless; it is a vital marketing tool and should be routinely implemented in the seller's overall strategy.