RealBird Blog

RealBird Virtual Tour released - with Google Street View, Google Earth and more

We released the RealBird Virtual Tour product during the weekend: a low cost add-on to the free RealBird single property website. It is an MLS-friendly virtual tour service,  which utilizes most of the technologies we developed over the last year for the free single property websites.

This new product closes a very important loop in our listing marketing platform: The free RealBird Listing Publisher provides many ways to reach home buyers with minimum effort through 1) organic search engine marketing 2) automatic syndication to classified ads portals 3) unique and growing set of listing widgets for publishing on blogs and social network like ActiveRain 4) and additional tools to make it easy and fast to manually post on classified sites - like Craigslist - that do not allow automatic syndication.

With the new, low cost RealBird Virtual Tour add-on, you can now utilize the MLS too, as a distribution platform for your online listing presentations. IDX searches are ubiquitous home buyer tools on real estate websites nowadays. In order for your listing to be highlighted on IDX searches with the virtual tour icon and link, you have to include an unbranded virtual tour though. The RealBird Virtual Tour provides both unbranded and branded version so that you can fully comply with your MLS regulations. It is an optional add-on and costs only $9.99 per listing or $14.99 when purchased with a property domain name. As far as I know, the RealBird Virtual Tour is one of the most cost effective virtual tour on the market to reach home buyers through widely deployed IDX searches.

Unique features include:

• Large Google Street View where available - your virtual tour is now also a neighborhood tour
• Complete web analytics - get detailed traffic analysis for your virtual tours using Clicky, Google Analytics and MyBloglog. You will be able to see which local competition brings the most traffic to your virtual tour
• Unlimited variations of design themes with background images and color themes
• 7 different maps and live traffic report

See some of the examples below. You can preview your virtual tour, by creating a free RealBird account (or log in if you are already a member), publishing your listing with the Listing Publisher and preview your virtual tour using the links provided. Both branded and unbranded. Make sure you upload high quality photos for best results.

The virtual tour is an optional, low cost add-on to the free service, and we are really excited about the capabilities. So go, check it out and let us know what you think and what you would like us to add to make it even better.

Here are a few examples:

Janie Coffey's listing is one of the most unique designs and properties in RealBird.

See the unbranded Virtual Tour
Branded Virtual Tour

Listing by Brenda Magness, Brenda Blaser & Pam Yoakum Realty Group. Note the Street View and the Market Statistics tab.

Unbranded Virtual Tour
Branded Virtual Tour

Listing by Bill Gassett.  The screenshot shows the embedded 3D Google Earth.

Unbranded Virtual Tour
Branded Virtual Tour

Let us know what you think.

-- Zoltan Szendro
RealBird.com

Market statistics charts are now available for 1,778 more zip codes

The Altos Research market statistics charts and the associated lead capturing service is now available for an additional 1,778 zip codes in the US with RealBird single property websites, extending the coverage to over 8,000 zip codes nationwide.

We had a post earlier about the automatically embedded, free median price charts, but for those of you who join in now, here is the overview: The Altos median price chart is highly informative feature which provides your single property website visitors with an instant, up-to-date market snapshot and a facility to quickly contact you for more detailed market statistics (click through to the example below). The median price is a free add-on to the RealBird Listing Publisher with continuously growing coverage.

Altos Research also provides complete, real-time market reports, private labeled with your photo and contact information as their full service. This is a stunningly effective listing tool and also powerful to use for farming. I embedded Scott's introduction presentation below. If you decide to sign up for the full service with Altos, make sure you use realbird as the referral ID in order to take advantage of a 25% discount.

This is how the feature works: all of your current and future RealBird property websites - which falls into the current 8,000+ zip codes coverage of Altos - includes a "Market Stats" tab with a large chart showing the median price change in the last 90 days and in the last 7 days. Below the chart, there is a simple contact form for your visitors to inquire for more details. Since this is an automatic add-on to your single property site, no additional action is required on your side. The market stats chart will automatically appear when coverage is added for your listings zip code. (By default, this feature is turned on,  but of course, you have the option to turn it off per listing if you decide to do so)

See this Bayville, New Jersey listing for an example:

To learn more about Alto Research visit www.altosresearch.com , make sure you enter realbird below the Referral Type field (25% off for RealBird members), if you decide to sign up for the full service.

-- Zoltan Szendro
RealBird.com

How to embed Obeo virtual tours into RealBird single listing websites

The new Obeo virtual tours can be seamlessly embedded into the RealBird single property websites as the example shows below. Obeo did a great job upgrading their virtual tours, they are good looking with many different visual options.

See the live RealBird listing website below as an example:

Click on the "Virtual Tour" tab to see it in action.

More notable features on Michelle Young & Michelle Boulot's RealBird listing website :

1. Great use of the background image visual customization feature. Online visitors have a short attention span, especially when they arrive to a listing website through home searches on major portals. The background image in this case captures attention, makes the site stand out and as with previous examples, communicates one of the main characteristics and selling point of the property instantly ("exceptional view")
2. The embedded Plugoo chat enables visitors to chat live with the listing agent. Plugoo is one of our favorites. It is light-weight and connects to your existing IM client: GTalk, Y Messenger etc. No need to log into another service every day and your visitors can use the online widget without being on the same IM network as the agent is.
3. Altos Research market stats chart ("Market Stats") tab shows an upward trend in median price for the zip code. Great impulse for the visitor to consider making the call sooner than later.

This site is as close to perfect as it gets, in terms of utilizing and benefiting from the flexibility and many features RealBird has to offer of for listing presentation and promotion. Good job, Michelle & Michelle.

To embed your own Obeo virtual tours into your RealBird listing sites, copy the the following iframe code into the "Embedded media" section of the property website editor:

<iframe src="http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/Default.aspx?ID=463882" style="border:0px" width="100%" height="600px" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Replace, the highlighted Obeo virtual tour ID with your own of course. It's that simple.

-- Zoltan Szendro
Create your own Single Property Websites on RealBird for free, in minutes

Altos Research Market Intelligence

We had so many new features released with the RealBird Listing Publisher 3.0 that we did not have time and space to elaborate on each of them just yet. In upcoming posts, I will introduce the unique concepts behind many of them, including team marketing, new SEO features, virtual open homes and using viral marketing widgets in unusual ways. Let's start with one of our favorites: Altos Research charts  embedded in your single property websites. 

Through Altos Research powerful charts and reports your visitors can receive an instant and visually meaningful insight of the local market condition, right on your single property website, with an easy way to contact you for the full market intelligence report. It's a perfect mix of information transparency and lead capturing.

The core value of listing syndication is that you push your listing information a few click closer to online locations where the actual home buyers and sellers hang out. You reach out for them using technology, rather than sit back and wait for them to come on their own. It is proactive marketing at its best. The RealBird Listing Publisher - with the integrated MLS search and now with the embedded market intelligence charts - syndicates more than just your listing, it delivers your other real estate services and your value-adds to the edge of the Internet, using your current, active listing as a delivery mechanism.

This is such an important feature, that it certainly deserves a more detailed feature overview. Scott from Altos Research created the presentation below explaining the benefits of the integrated RealBird and Altos Research offerings and the feature set of their full subscription services.

As a special offer, they provide a 25% discount for RealBird members.

-- Zoltan Szendro
RealBird.com

Disclaimer: We receive referral commission from Altos Research if you buy their services through us. Having that disclosed, I strongly suggest that you consider their full offerings over the free charts embedded in your RealBird sites. I can't imagine any buyer or seller who would not be totally blown away with the market insight you can provide through your Altos Research services.

RealBird Listing Publisher 3.0 released

It's been a while since our previous major feature release of the RealBird Listing Publisher single property website and listing syndication service. We have been adding and improving features on-going, like support for the Google Street View widget and Microsoft Bird's Eye View, embedded slideshow and new default theme, and today, we have a major upgrade to announce with many unique and powerful presentation and marketing features. See below the list with examples.

Virtual open house - Live chat with your visitors

For the first time, you can use your single property websites as interactive presentation tools; effectively: virtual open houses. You can engage your visitors right on the spot, interactively, real-time, before they browse away to check out other listing websites. The new Listing Publisher provides you a way to add  3rd party chat widgets of your choice. Just like with the 3rd party video and slideshow support, we do not limit you to a particular provider, use one of our recommended services or add your favorite chat application. You can use Plugoo.com, Meebo, or Kyte.tv for audio and video chat, LivePerson.com for proactive chats or any other services you prefer. Many of these chat services also run on mobile devices so you will be able to participate in conversations even while you are on the go.

Tip: You can even provide live shows and market reviews using ustream.tv or similar services. Just like with syndicating the embedded RealBird MLS search tool, and getting additional real estate services one step closer to potential clients, you can  use the distributed single property websites to capture traffic for your live real estate shows. The options are pretty much endless.

I highly recommend to add the Plugoo.com chat widget to your RealBird sites, at least. With Plugoo, you can keep using your regular IM (Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo Messenger) to interact with your property websites' visitors, even from your mobile devices.

Example: Tina Merritt's listing : Popular Baylake Pines

Real-time market stats and lead capturing - powered by Altos Research

We met the guys at Altos Research more than a year ago, and we have been talking about integration ever since, but never got the time to actually do it. This time we pulled it off! For over 6,000  zip codes in the US we are now automatically include a "Market Stats" tab, a large, up-to-date median price chart for the zip code and a lead collector for your visitors to request more market research data. Within 1 hour of the release, one of our client received the first lead via this service. IT WORKS !  This is one of my favorite new features. New markets are added ongoing, so even if it is not yet available in your market, keep this feature on, we will include the charts automatically as soon as your market is available.

Example: Stunning Custom Home in Keller, Texas - www.705wickhamcourt.com

Mini Single Property Website widget to embed in sites and blog posts

The Mini Single Property Website is a new, powerful listing widget in your viral marketing toolset. If you like the original slideshow widget, you will love this one. Besides being nice and effective it has two major improvements. It is a viral widget: it provides you and your audience a way to quickly and easily grab and share it on social networks, social bookmarking sites and through email. The widget also maintains the visual theme of your single property website including the unique photo backdrop feature and custom color theme. No more boring widgets, spice it up as much as you wish. Stay tuned for new  RealBird viral marketing widgets coming soon. We are already working on some. See the current set of real estate widgets RealBird provides.

Example courtesy of Janie Coffey

Update: Embedded widget removed due to some bug with the Typepad blog hosting platform. Thanks for Rick at Phoenix Real Estate to point this out. We found the fix. the widget is back again below

See it in action on Janie's Horse Properties blog or see one embedded in this Philly real estate blog

What's nearby: powered by Google

This new feature turns your single property website into a local information hub. Your visitors can easily map any points of interest around your property with the built-in Google Local Search. Most importantly: schools and city amenities. Check it out on Bill Gassett's Medway, MA single property website. E.g. Enter "schools" in the text box on map and get instant nearby results.

Bargain alert - Notification if your list price is below Zillow's Zestimate®

The new Zillow API mashup will show a bargain alert on your site if your list price is below Zillow's Zestimate®. It is an automatic marketing pitch for grabbing the attention of the visitor, using the industry standard Zillow Zestimate® for emphasizing bargain pricing. If you property is priced above the Zestimate®, the feature becomes automatically hidden. We only use Zestimate® when it helps you with your online marketing efforts. This is an optional feature, you can turn it on and off, just like with most of the RealBird features, but I think this is an excellent tool as it merges the best of the features of RealBird and Zillow and only used when it benefits your marketing efforts.

Example: Highlands Ranch, CO listing  or Wonderful Ranch Home

Printable flyer with a twist - private labeled driving directions included

Many of you have been asking for it and now we have the solution: a printable version of your single property website. We also added an invaluable tool to it. You clients can print driving directions together with your flyer branded for you with your photo, logo and contact information. A new editor is provided in the member area which lets you configure the description and feature highlights. Having an optimized content for printing helps you create a flyer which prints pretty without changing the content on your full-featured property website and also helps you with search engine marketing by providing a second version indexed by search engines with related by slightly different content.

"Listing slug" - excuse us for the name, but this is powerful SEO

We borrowed the term from the Wordpress blogging platform, which uses "post slugs" for blog post Url customization. The concept is the following: having relevant keywords in the Url may increase search engine ranking. Having some variation between your property title's keywords (also important SEO content) and your Url keywords may increase ranking even more.  Besides helping you getting better ranking, this feature can also help you with better click-through rates once your property site is found by search engines.  Google and the other search engines also highlight keywords in the Url on the SERP (Search Engine Result Pages) which increases click-through rate. By default we use your property website's title in the Url, but for even better keyword targeting, you can override the single property website's Url keywords with related, but slightly modified terms. This is an advanced feature. If it is confusing, you can just skip this feature. RealBird will generate this for you automatically using your listing's title. To access this feature, use the configure tab in the listing editor.

International distribution

Through our syndication partnership with DotHomes ( a UK company ), we are now bringing international exposure for your listings. This is an automatic syndication feature. Publish your listings on RealBird and they will be automatically distributed to DotHomes.com (They are in the final stage of the implementation so it may take a few more days from the date of this post to have your listings appear)

Tracking more details of the property website activity

For those of you who are crazy about web analytics, we added more tracking via Clicky's new Ajax tracking code. Please note that this feature is only available for Premium Clicky subscribers.

Private labeled real estate yellow pages

Last but not least, we have released our first service of a series of upcoming team marketing tools. The RealBird Private Labeled Yellow Pages lets you private label the RealBird real estate yellow pages portal at SearchOnMaps.com. See the example below. Enter a US city, zipcode or address and see the private labeled portal.

Benefits:

• Branding and lead generation
• Team marketing - the RealBird community markets each others' listings
• Backlinks to your site and blog from a portal with high PageRank
• Single property websites are co-branded also
• It's free

Example widget:

See it also on Katy Schaff's blog embedded in the right sidebar

If you like to be featured on this blog by showing one of these features on your own RealBird listing sites, just comment on this post with your RealBird link included or send us an email.

-- Zoltan Szendro
RealBird.com