Brokerages offered free 3-D models that let buyers explore listings online

Online 3-D models are on a roll. Matterport, which provides a scanner and software for the production of explorable 3-D virtual models, is juicing adoption of its product by producing free models for brokerages that enroll in its “Real Estate Innovation” program.

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Alain Pinel Realtors, ranked by Real Trends as the fifth-largest residential real estate firm in the U.S. by closed sales volume, is an early enrollee in the program. Tom Flanagan, vice president of technology at Alain Pinel, said Matterport will send a trained photographer to conduct more than 10 scans for the San Francisco Bay Area brokerage during the two-month duration of the program.
“This gives you an opportunity to really see a property pretty thoroughly,” Flanagan said of the models. “You can then submit an offer while you’re scheduling to see it.”

Pam Pollace, a spokeswoman for Matterport, said that the company is connecting other enrollees in its program with “local partners” to produce a “number of models” for free.
Word of the program comes shortly after a major breakthrough for 3-D models: Redfin’s decision to add Matterport models to all its listings. (Coincidentally, one of Redfin’s co-founders, David Eraker has launched another Seattle-based real estate brokerage, Surefield, around its own virtual 3-D tour technology.)
In furnishing Alain Pinel with models, Matterport is handing the brokerage products and services that aren’t cheap. Matterport normally sells its patented camera for $4,500 and charges $19 to render one model through its cloud-processing platform. One marketing firm, Home ScanD, charges a flat fee of $200 to produce a Matterport model for a listing.

Some brokerages, and even individual agents, have purchased Matterport’s camera in recent months to differentiate themselves from competitors, and make it easier for buyers to evaluate listings online (a benefit that could trickle down to sellers and agents by reducing showings to “lookie-loos”).
Though Alain Pinel only recently enrolled in Matterport’s program, the brokerage is already sold on the technology.

Flanagan said the brokerage is nearly finished helping TourFactory, which produces listing photos for many of its agents under an exclusive agreement, integrate Matterport models into its marketing package for Alain Pinel agents.


Original Article and photo sourced from:  http://www.inman.com/2014/09/05/brokerages-offered-free-3-d-models-that-let-buyer-explore-listings-online/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+inmannews+%28Inman+News+-+Headlines%29

Black Knight's Paragon MLS platform gains steam

Deal with Central Mississippi MLS boosts platform's user base to more than 210,000

Real estate data and technology firm Black Knight Financial Services has signed another multiple listing service to its Paragon 5 platform, bringing the number of real estate professionals the platform serves to more than 210,000.

Paragon 5 received top marks in a satisfaction survey conducted by real estate consulting firm Clareity Consulting earlier this year. MLS execs responding to the survey indicated high and increasing satisfaction with the platform and all said they would choose Black Knight again if they had the choice to do so.

Steam locomotive image via Shutterstock.

At the time of the survey in January, Paragon 5 had 235 MLS accounts with 197,000 subscribers. Since then, at least an additional six MLSs have signed up for the platform: the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors; the Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire Inc.; the St. Augustine & St. Johns County MLS Inc.; the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors; Triangle MLS; and, most recently, Jackson, Mississippi-based Central Mississippi MLS Inc. Collectively, those MLSs represent about 14,150 members.

"Our MLS committee and staff spent over a year researching all of the available vendors, and in the end we felt that Paragon not only offered 'out of the box' ease of use, but the most user-friendly experience and an ongoing product evolution to meet emerging trends," said Robert W. Conwill Jr., communications manager and MLS administrator for Central Mississippi MLS, in a statement today.
Central Mississippi MLS, which has about 1,500 members, joins other MLSs that have decided to replace their Solid Earth LIST-IT platforms with those of other vendors, including Greater Baton Rouge, Charleston Trident MLS, Manhattan MLS and North Alabama MLS. LIST-IT received comparatively poor satisfaction rankings in the Clareity survey.

Central Mississippi MLS signed a multiyear agreement for Paragon 5 because of its intuitive design; desktop and mobile compatibility; multitasking capabilities; easy-to-use and professionally branded comparative market analyses (CMAs); and a portal that enables real estate professionals to easily engage and collaborate with clients, Black Knight said.


Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.inman.com/2014/08/20/black-knights-paragon-mls-platform-gains-steam/