360° VIRTUAL TOURS & STAGING FOR REALTORS®

We review the Matterport 360 virtual tour option and alternatives, including the top five 360 degree cameras for real estate and their prices.

Virtual 360° Tour Options

Companies that provide the service:

• Matterport
• iStaging.com
• Immoviewer
• Boxbrownie (launched March 2020)

Matterport was the company that originated this technology and has long been the incumbent.

Companies in Edmonton, AB. Canada we recommend that offer this service:

• Zoon media – https://www.zoon.ca/interactive-real-estate-virtual-tours
  • From $170-360 plus they have other add on options for floor plans, photography, video, RMS measurements, virtual staging and more.
• Urban Measure – https://www.urbanmeasure.com/services/#matterport-3D
  • From $129-209 plus they too offer various add on options for RMS measurements, floor plans, photography, video, virtual staging and more.

Do It Yourself Options:

Matterport

Matterport subscription/software and buy 360 compatible camera (see top 5 options below)

Matterport creates a realistic digital twin for all types of real estate enabling clients to explore and evaluate properties with ease. The virtual experience streamlines the decision making process for prospective tenants, buyers, investors, and bringing new data and precision to the property market.

Close up to 31% faster and at a 4-9% higher sales price with a 3D tour. Save time with automatically generated digital assets including 4K print quality photos and schematic floor plans.

Learn more on their website

See pricing plans below as of March 2020.

iStaging.com

A newer competitor to Matterport, based in Taiwan they have partnerships in various markets across the world and growing more into Canada and the US. They sell you with an inexpensive option (USD$50) for the hardware and uses your existing smartphone on a “rotator” mounted on a tripod and a lens clip to capture the images. Plus it all works off your smartphone and hosts the files on their servers. You simply need their app and a subscription.

All you need to create virtual tours for your business in a few minutes, a Google street view ready solution.

Learn more on their website here

Pricing plans are below as of March 2020.

Immoviewer

A do it yourself option, to edit videos on any type of computer, plus host your 360 tours.

Immoviewer’s software platform combines Automated Real Estate Video Content creation with simple, affordable and scalable 3D 360° tours. Generate individual listing landing pages from your listing feed and create Floor Plans without measuring using the fastest & most cost effective real estate 3D 360° tour software available!

Learn more on their website here

Pricing plans are below as of March 2020.

Boxbrownie

A do it yourself option to host your tours on multiple properties. Pay as you go, with no monthly subscription just pay per tour.

Boxbrownie is an Australian based company that’s offered virtual staging, photo retouching services and similar for years.

Their site quotes, “For an average-size home, the 360° photo shoot time is only around 15 minutes. Then lodging a job with our 360° Virtual Tour platform is approximately two minutes. We do the rest of the work to produce your virtual tour. Goodbye hours spent at the property. Hello extra time!” and turnaround time of 24 hours.

Learn more on their website here

Pricing plans are below as of April 2020.

Which Company is the Best For 360° Virtual Tours?

Each offers unique differences to their cost structures, services, and quality. In our opinion, below are your best options currently on the market for the average REALTOR® who carries a normal amount of inventory regularly.

Note all pricing is in USD$ and for the purposes of comparison we have put the annualized cost of Matterport, however they charge monthly and don’t have an annual discount option as Immoviewer does.

1. iStaging – The low monthly cost and flexibility make this the best option overall for the average REALTOR®. The low monthly cost at only $5 for up to 3 live tours, plus $2.50 for each additional tour make it an easy choice and low risk to start offering this service to your clients. If you carry more than 5 listings at any time in the year it gives you the flexibility. PLUS, they have a low-cost hardware option at just USD$50, you can use your smartphone with their rotator and lens clip to capture great quality tours.

2. Matterport – If you carry less than 5 listings at a time, and list less than 26 properties a year, this is your best option. Matterport is the original 360° virtual tour company, they know what they are doing and their quality is the best overall.
3. Boxbrownie – Best option for those with less than 3-5 listings a year. Their advantage is the pricing… pay as you go. Since real estate can often be cyclical throughout the year, it’s nice to just pay for each tour as you go. However, as soon as you have more than 4 listings in a quarter, you’re better off with iStaging.com or if more than 26 listings in a year with any of the other options.

Pricing Comparison For Level of Most REALTORS®

The biggest question you need to ask yourself is… How many listings do I typically bring on in a year? Then, how fast do they sell… so how many listings in inventory do you carry on average?

Note – Matterport pricing below is annual, however, they charge $69.99 monthly. We have included the annual cost for ease of comparison.

1. iStaging – The lowest annual cost and reduced additional tour cost make this the best option overall for the higher producing REALTOR®. As long as you don’t carry more than 10 listings at a time that would need tours. PLUS, low hardware cost with their USD$50 rotator and lens clip you can use your smartphone to capture great quality tours.
2. Immoviewer – If you’re a stickler for quality and carry more than 10 listings at a time, this is your best option annually. Comparing to Boxbrownie as well, as soon as you have 16 listings in a year, you’re better off with this plan with Immoviewer. Note it only includes 5 floor plans, so you’re paying for additional floor plans each time. NOTE you’d need to purchase a 360° camera to be able to capture the images/footage.

360° Cameras For Video (and photo)

In short, a 360° camera captures two images or video files from dual lenses with a 180-degree field of view and either automatically stitches them together in-camera, or offers free companion software with which you can stitch the files together – often with one click.

The main uses for these cameras are below with video examples.

1) For REALTORS® – Interative virtual tours – Virtual live open houses, or pre-recorded tours. This allows the user to choose where they want to look in full 360 degrees as you tour them through the property. With the use of a “selfie stick” or similar you can walk through the property and create an interactive virtual immersive experience for the potential buyer.

See an example of a Facebook tour here: Alexa Kebalo – RE/MAX

Top Five 360 degree cameras for REALTORS® (in order)

Can’t decide which camera you want to use for your virtual 360 tours or virtual open houses? Well we’ve scoured the internet and various industry private groups to summarize the best options that real estate agents in Canada like.

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