Entegral Blog

 Entegral Tours provides a free 360-degree virtual tour solution for estate agents .  The recent live guided virtual tours update takes it even further by allowing you to host virtual tours with clients, essentially taking them on a guided tour through a home with video and voice guidance included. This not only saves on travel costs but makes for more efficient and safer property viewings. Get your free guided tour minutes If you are an Entegral Base, Sync, Flex, or OMS client we are now sponsoring a limited number of free minutes. Simply email us at support@entegral.net before with the virtual tour email address you use and we will add 300 minutes of free live guided tour time to your account. Free minutes are given to the 1st x20 users on a first-come-first-served basis. If you are not already using Entegral Tours check it out or register here . When you use the Tour system it is easy to monitor the live guided tour minutes you have left on the dashboard, as per the samp...

With the recent launch of Entegral's Tours virtual tour solution, real estate agents now have the opportunity to not only take advantage of creating unlimited virtual tours but also host live guided tours of their virtual tours. This begs the question - how do I capture a virtual tour for my listings? For some real estate agents, getting a photographer involved that has access to a 360-degree camera is the obvious solution. However, for others getting hands-on and doing it themselves is an exciting prospect - and we are here to tell you that it is possible without needing to sell an arm or a leg! The equipment The camera Just like there are different levels of cameras, there are different levels of 360-degree cameras - each to suit your budget. Since we want to ensure that no agent is left behind we are going to look at the best value for money camera - The Ricoh Theta SC and V 360 cameras. The Ricoh Theta SC is a compact device for creating 360° spherical imagery. The unique, dual...

The Entegral Tours system provides an easy to use self service virtual tour platform for estate agents.   Further upgrades have been done as follows: Upload file size for 360 degree photos have been upgraded to 25MB . This now caters for more high end 360 cameras that produces large resolution photos. Entegral Tours will automatically resize and compress 360 degree photos for optimal delivery to end users. Subsequently the load time for new tours loaded from today onwards will be quicker. A recent upgrade now also allows you to do  live virtual guided tours  and we are providing complimentary live tour time to all Entegral clients till the end of December, check it out: Reimagine property viewings with live guided tours

  We are proud to announce the launch of our new standalone virtual tour platform at tours.entegral.net . Earlier this year we launched a prototype virtual tour platform on MyProperty  and the positive feedback from agents prompted us to create a standalone tour platform that will not only receive continuous enhancements but also compliment our other products: Base , Sync , and Flex . The new Entegral Tours platform is available worldwide and accepts automated signup and payment via credit card. We provide free Entegral branded tours and agents can easily upgrade to a paid branded and unlimited virtual tour package. Reimagine property viewings with live guided tours Today we are proud to announce  the launch of a new way to do property viewings . We've fused the personal touch of agents into virtual tours with live video feeds and remote guidance. This makes virtual tours more personal, with clients able to ask questions while the agent guides them through a home in real...

Following the launch of the virtual tour hotspot feature , we've made some further upgrades to the free MyProperty virtual tour system : Auto-rotate With this setting on, your virtual tour will auto rotate on load to create a more interactive feel, as can be seen in this sample below: Initial view Simply pan the photo and hit the ' capture initial view ' button to select the first view visitors will see when opening a scene. Especially useful for first impressions but also to create more realistic virtual walkthroughs. Get started with this guide and see how you can create unlimited virtual tours on all your listing mandates with any 360 camera.

With COVID-19, social distancing is the new norm. Subsequently, more and more  estate agents are using virtual tours to enable remote viewing of homes, which also have the added benefit of allowing buyers to narrow down their home selection better before conducting actual viewings. A win-win situation for agents, sellers, and buyers. We believe that virtual tours will soon become a standard feature on most property mandates. While there are many virtual tour systems and cameras available, we took a look at a highly cost-effective option for estate agents using a budget-friendly 360 camera and hosting option. 1. Camera: Ricoh Theta SC and V The Ricoh Theta SC and V 360 cameras have been around for a while and comes in at around R5,000  and R10,000 respectively . As far as we know the cheaper SC version has been discontinued but you may still get some on online shops. There are a lot of other 360 camera options you can review here . You will also need a tripod, s...

Virtual tours for everyone There is no doubt now that virtual property tours are the perfect way to explore homes in a new world of social distancing. It also provides additional benefits to everyone, including saving on travelling time, having to clean up the home for every viewing, and giving buyers a better overview of the property 24/7. It is just the perfect way to compliment every listing. With many virtual tour systems available on the market, cost and functionality differ between all of them. Our team has scratched their heads, and since we are used to building highly optimized & efficient systems, we are able to offer a free virtual tour platform for estate agents  through our MyProperty platform. Get started right now If you have a 360-degree camera, you can get started right away or even transfer your existing tours  by creating an account:  https://www.myproperty.co.za/tools/virtual-tours No camera?  Check out this article for some suggesti...

There is no denying that Matterport 3D tours can be your secret weapon in winning new exclusive mandates, save everyone on travelling time and enhance your listing presentation to attract more leads. Matterport 3D tours can simply be added via a link in Base , OMS or Sync. Our systems will  integrate your tour into your Flex website , and automatically send it to supporting portals like MyProperty South Africa , MyProperty Namibia and Property24. We have now teamed up with select virtual tour providers to offer exclusive Matterport 3D packages for our clients in Gauteng and the Western Cape (Blouberg to Hermanus area) with other regions to follow once there is enough interest and we've sorted out the logistics. To indicate your interest in areas we don't support yet, please click here . You can now order your virtual tour online Simply login to Base or the OMS, and on your listing click on MyProperty's promote button. You can simply open your property on MyProper...

A recent firmware upgrade to Matterport 's existing technology has reduced the amount of time it takes to capture footage when creating an immersive 3D listing tour. The firmware update increases the speed at which the camera rotates, allowing more square footage to be scanned in less time. The company published a comparison video that shows a new Matterport scan finishing 50 percent faster than it did prior to the upgrade. Matterport vice president, Mark Tepper, told Inman in an email that "real estate agents who own a camera and choose to do their own scanning can now save time, getting in and out of a property listing in a fraction of the time it would have taken previously.” He added that customers using Matterport Pro2 and an iPad Pro should also be able to capture a space in half the time it previously took. Customers wanting to try the update can register on Matterport’s website. The update is free for current customers and requires no new equipment. Tepper ...

When tenants need a new place to live but are short on time the savvy real estate agent can get ahead of the pack by using virtual tours to market their properties. Unlike traditional photography, a 360 image capture can accurately portray an apartment’s unique characteristics, and provide a clear view of all the intricate details. It gives the real estate agent the tools to highlight the areas of an apartment, including unique finishes, and design features, providing users with a completely immersive and engaging experience unlike any other. And for the busy tenants who doesn’t have the time to drive to several different listings on a day, a virtual tour gives them the tools to make a decision a more informed decision. They will still require a site visit, but now only the properties they really liked will be viewed and not the whole batch they started out with. This saves an agent time to really market the chosen few to the possible tenant. This is what Peter Lorimer of PLG E...

At the latest Apple event, the launch of ‘Animojis’ is more than just a new fun way to communicate, it is yet another definitive sign that brands (and real estate agents) should get serious about augmented and virtual reality. “Augmented reality mobile content will go beyond gaming, as we have seen before and offers new ways to visualize content and personalise mobile experiences, expanding to industries such as retail, sports, and entertainment,” predicted Roman Taranov, CEO of RGK Mobile. “Advertising will follow suit, taking on new formats and offering an immersive user experience.” Such a scenario is getting easier and easier to imagine. The International Data Corporation predicted in February that total spending on AR and virtual reality will reach nearly $14 billion by the end of 2017. “The possibilities are endless and range from Minority Report-style programmatic outdoor advertising to superimposing sporting events and concerts on top of consumers’ living rooms,” added ...

With more than half of the year already in the rearview mirror, we take a look at some of the marketing trends that have dominated in the real estate industry this year and how you can take advantage of it before the end of 2017. Lights, camera, action! Live streaming and video marketing continue to make headway into every industry and real estate is no different. By adding real estate video marketing to your digital marketing strategy, you are making your site a valuable commodity for those looking to buy or sell property which will keep them coming back for more and even refer leads to you. If you are into live-streaming then have a look at Facebook and Instagram’s live-streaming offerings. Read more about video marketing at the links below. Video marketing for real estate - here is what you need to know   |  5 Little-known Instagram features you should be using for your real estate brand  Content is King (but you knew that) Content marketing has a...

According to a recent survey by U.S based brokerage Redfin ,  one in three home buyers are making offers sight-unseen. What does this mean for real estate agents and the future of home buying? With the advancement of technology and the competitive nature of the real estate industry (and market), it is becoming clear that home buyers are starting to make use of alternatives to not only find their ideal home but also buy their new home, and the real estate agents that adapt are the ones that will thrive. While the survey is based on the U.S marketplace, this is much more than just a market shift - this is a generational shift.  The thirty-three percent of people that bought a property sight-unseen in 2016 is a massive 19 percent higher than 2015 and 21 percent from two years ago. “Millennials were more than three times as likely as their parents to make offers sight-unseen, with 41 percent having said they had done so, compared to 30 percent of Gen Xers and only 12 p...

We have already spoken about the increase in popularity of videos on Facebook and how you can livestream for marketing purposes . But how about real estate videos for your real estate website? Here is what you need to know before hitting record. By adding real estate video marketing to your digital marketing strategy, you are making your site a valuable commodity for those looking to buy or sell property which will keep them coming back for more and even refer leads to you. Before you rush out and invest a huge amount of money into expensive video equipment, you will need to answer a few questions first regarding your video strategy. Who or what will be featured in your videos? How long will each of your videos be? Will you employ the services of a professional videographer or do it yourself? Once you have answered these questions you can start by planning your videos. A good place to start is by filming an introduction - you can describe why you are passionate ab...

Virtual Reality (VR) is poised to take marketing by storm in 2017 - and while you might not think that it has a role to play in real estate marketing, we beg to differ. The Stats Gone are the days where only tech geeks with deep pockets could afford VR technology, with the latest advancements it has become accessible to the masses. The latest statistics reveal that 30% of Forbes Global 2000 consumer-facing companies will experiment with augmented and virtual reality this year. Companies such as Matterport uses 3D Showcase to "bring listings to life" - their 360° panoramic tours lets buyers actually move through a property as if they were really there. With this technology at your fingertips, you are creating an on show day for visitors to your listings without them having to leave their sofas. This is the perfect solution for home buyers from out-of-town or even from another country that cannot attend a show day easily. Peter Lorimer of PLG Estates , recently...

Our self service virtual tour solution has always been available free of charge to OMS clients. Now we have created an industry first cloud-based self-service virtual tour system for real estate groups that operates as a standalone web system. It is technically easy to integrate into existing property management systems and because it is running on our cloud platform, provides 100% uptime. It also provides consistent performance whether one or 100 offices are loading virtual tours. It comfortably supports high traffic websites and the plus side for real estate groups, is that there is no additional bandwidth costs . An unlimited number of tours can be uploaded per property and depending on the contract, unlimited tours for the office or whole group. This results in enormous cost savings, since typical virtual tours will easily cost at least R1000 per property. Our self service virtual tour solution requires a standard digital camera, tripod and the software we provide. High q...

  Here is a great example of a property for sale in Lonehill,Sandton with geocoding done, over 30 photos and a good description added. The screenshot below illustrates that if you geocode your property in the OMS and mark as ‘show on map’ the property details view on MyProperty and your own website becomes so much more interesting and valuable for potential home buyers. In the sample below the property location was marked (A) and as a result Google Streetview (B) was enabled together with the unique Driving Directions (C) feature. Google Streetview is autmatically enabled if you have marked the property to show on a map, and Streetview is available for the street. Now if you’ve done this and and it is one of those special properties Tweet us @MyPropertySA and we may just retweet it to our followers and give you extra exposure on MyProperty.co.za too. Click here for twitter inst...

Entegral was proud to co-sponsor South Africa’s first real estate online marketing conference in Cape Town on 9 and 10 March 2010. The event was a success and all participants walked away with a clearer understanding of how to maximise your efforts for online real estate marketing. It presented some interesting views and statistics on social media integration for real estate. Adriaan Grove, Entegral MD , presented an interesting view of Google’s impact on the real estate industry and how the role of the traditional estate agent is changing to a new breed of estate agent, the ‘virtual agent’. What was also clear, is that mobile marketing is a relatively untapped channel for estate agents to explore and that it presents lots of opportunities for early adopters of the technology. We were presented with some fascinating mobile stats by mobile industry expert Rick Joubert . RE/MAX Southern Africa CEO, Adrian Goslet, also presented at the conference and shared some interesting facts ...

Looking for a website or find out how we can help you get the best possible internet marketing? Advertise on your own website, MyProperty South Africa, Namibia, RealEstate.co.za and MSN.co.za with one user friendly online system. Catch Entegral at the IEASA National conference and Expo on 27,28,29 September, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa. For more information on the conference please visit IEASA: http://www.ieasa.co.za/other/conference.html

Entegral is busy with an extensive re-branding exercise that has now seen the re-vamp on its products and services logos. The result, after a number of brainstorm sessions with Jaco (our lead graphics designer and 'branding guru') has been very successful. Entegral's new logo is an 'evolution' on the old one, rather than a complete new design that no one will recognise. It features a cleaner and more professional design that is pulled through into all our products and services, creating a consistent look and feel throughout. Our real estate channels, MyProperty South Africa and Namibia's logos went under the 'knife' too, and now features a cleaner look and feel. The Entegral ('e') is now included on all our products and channels. Next in line was our Virtual Tour solution , which is now called '360 tours'. Our next step is a revamp on our MyProperty South Africa and Namibia websites and the launch of an Entegral website that will show...