August is Listings Tech theme month at Inman. All month, we’re digging into listing technology, a conversation which spans portals to single-listing sites, landing pages, 3-D tours, photography, videos, promotion and more.
Innovations in listing technology continue to push the boundaries of what sellers are able to share with prospective buyers. At the same time, those new technologies allow listing agents to do more in much less time for much less money.
And iGuide’s newest home capture solution, Planix, is one the best examples of how advances in camera smarts and market demand are coming together to create a new standard for what buyers know about a home before ever booking a showing.
IGuide Planix system links a rugged, proprietary base to the popular and proven Ricoh Theta line of compact, high-resolution panoramic cameras.
The Planix Core, as it’s called, comes equipped with a LIDAR scanner, USB input and mobile connectivity that works in unison with Ricoh’s companion app.
However, the primary intent of the Planix Core, beyond offering a sturdy, no-tripod-needed home for the Theta, is to simultaneously measure rooms for output of digital floor plans. The total system can capture visuals and measurement data for a 3,000 square feet home in 15 minutes.
Upon completion, all content is uploaded to iGuide’s server, so there’s no burden on your phone’s storage capacity.
The iGuide Planix solution captures faster than a stand-alone mobile device, offers online storage and can also be used for exterior scans and accommodate the addition of aerial photography.
For the amateur home photographer, i.e., the agent, it’s hard to beat this kind of solution, especially for those who want to maintain control of their content and clearly demonstrate to sellers what’s being done to sell their property.
Also, for listing agents who don’t feel the pace of the selling atmosphere requires “above and beyond” marketing, know that what you do for your clients today will become the basis of the testimonials you seek tomorrow.
Floor plans are becoming powerful tools for the busy buyers’ agents out there tying to ensure clients know enough about a home to make an informed offer before physically visiting, a common practice in this market.
Because iGuide’s Planix system is accurate to a 1 percent margin of error, its floor plans can become powerful tools for homeowners seeking tax assessment amendments as well as benefit them during a refinance, should the need for an appraisal come up.
Ultimately, with this kind home scanning sophistication available at the consumer level, floor plans can — or should, rather — become another bit of household information filed alongside insurance policies and refrigerator warranties.
Ideally, iGuide Planix would be a tool best leveraged when at the disposal of in-house marketing teams and photographers. It will also likely become commonplace within the bandolier of listing investments made by industry marketing and visual marketing vendors.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
