Press for Vid2r

Have You Vid Toured?

Vid2r featured in Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News Real Estate Section

By Dan Polimino
Saturday, March 1, 2008

Eric Manthey is the founder of Vid2r (pronounced VidTour), an innovative company in Denver that produces narrated videos of properties for sale. Over the years, photography and virtual tours have helped sell their share of homes, but just recently video has picked up momentum.

What's the difference? Virtual tours are moving slideshows developed from still photographs. Video tours, on the other hand, are like using your personal video camera to tell the story of your home, room by room. Great idea, isn't it. So why hasn't someone done this sooner? Some said it was too expensive to shoot video, edit it, narrate it and post it on the web. Others maintained that video of inanimate objects doesn't play well. Both camps have changed their tunes.

Inexpensive camera and computer equipment now make high-quality video tours easier to produce and more affordable than ever. Founder Manthey says video tours "give a better presentation of the home's features." He also notes that voice-over narration is a major plus because for the first time you can hear someone guide you through the home, pointing out the can't-miss details.

Manthey started Vid2r in 2006 with just a few clients, but now he boasts almost 100. At the end of this year, he'll be entertaining offers from venture capitalists interested in his product. Manthey reaches out to real estate agents and consumers alike. For the buyer, he says "it's a much more entertaining way to look at homes." And for the seller, what better way to showcase your home?

Vid2r is absolutely affordable for agents and consumers. For as little as $149 you can get a fully narrated, produced video of your home, plus 20 still pictures. Vid2r will also post the video to the MLS as well as 11 other sites like Yahoo, Realtor.com, Meta Café, AOL, YouTube and Google.

Remember, the challenge in today's market is gaining a competitive edge and getting your property in front of as many people as possible. Which means, maybe you should be Vid touring.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Towne and Country Properties. He can be reached at Dpolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.CoDreamHouse.com.

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Eric Manthey From Vid2r Says Video Is The Next Big Thing

Vid2r featured on Broker IPTV November 9, 2007

Eric Manthey From Vid2r Says Video Is The Next Big Thing for real estate brokers and to become placed in search engines for the web 2.0 world

BrokerIPTV: We are talking today with Eric Manthey founder of Vid2r. Eric thanks for being with us. What is Vid2r, how did it get started?

Eric Manthey: Vid2r produces stream video tours of residential real-estate and we deliver them in an online media player. It’s very similar to a single property website and its search engine friendly.

BrokerIPTV: Now, some agents say well a video taping none moving objects, are they excited about it, is that a concern? What’s your thoughts about that?

Eric Manthey: Well, they absolutely love it because the big change between the video tours and the panoramic tours is that a video tour is a very realistic to what the property really looks like, what it resembles when they are in the property. An agent has an opportunity to tell a prospective buyer, exactly what they want them to know about the house, rather than giving them an old distorted, static image that spins around, and then the buyer is left to guess what it is in the property that's there.

BrokerIPTV: You are more than just video, you are like a one-stop-shop, you are doing stills [photographs] and posting the video in places for people, is that right?

Eric Manthey: Absolutely, we understand with the Web 2.0, its very hard for people to keep up with all the changes. So, aside from the video tours themselves, Vid2r is a complete internet marketing suite. We have over 10 top search engine websites that we place these on. We have flyers that print from the tour, mortgage calculator, school information, community profiles. So, when somebody visits the Vid2r we want to give them the most information that we can about their home that they are looking to buy.

BrokerIPTV: What's been the response from both the consumer and the agent?

Eric Manthey: They love it. We are still new, we are still trying to get the word out there, but the agents that have used us have had a very great success. Obviously the consumer loves it, streaming video's blowing up online, its taking over the internet as whole. So, I think it's the right place and the right time for it.

BrokerIPTV: Is this affordable?

Eric Manthey: Absolutely, if agents are doing panoramic tours right now, we fall into the same exact price ranges. We are going to range from $140 to a full blown HD tour that is $400.

BrokerIPTV: Must you have your own website in order to take advantage of your service?

Eric Manthey: No, its great if you do, but I think with the search engine optimization we have built, you probably are going to come across a Vid2r before you find your own website.

BrokerIPTV: So, people could go to Vid2r to view a home or any of those other websites where you post a video...people could go there as well?

Eric Manthey: Correct.

BrokerIPTV: Like YouTube?

Eric Manthey: Correct, YouTube, Yahoo!, AOL, Google. And we try to make sure we get it out there. So, when somebody is looking for a home, its going to come out pretty high in the search engine.

BrokerIPTV: Eric, thanks. Great talking with you, very interesting stuff.

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Eric Manthey Of Vid2r Talks Web 2.0 For Real Estate Brokers

Vid2r featured on Broker IPTV

Eric Manthey Of Vid2r Talks Web 2.0 for real estate brokers.

BrokerIPTV: We are talking today with Eric Manthey founder of Vid2r. Eric thanks for being with us. Web 2.0, we are starting to hear a lot about this, agents are starting to hear this and they are getting that blurry eyed look and can you explain to them what Web 2.0 is?

Eric Manthey: Web 2.0 is just the evolution of the internet in itself. The old version of the internet was a place you would go for reference, a place you would go to check for information. The new Web 2.0 is a lot more user friendly, its interactive, you have blogs, you have community websites, you have places where people can come and interact and put their own information, which I think is a good way for social networking, things like that.

BrokerIPTV: From your experience, when you meet real-estate agents at companies, how savvy do you think they are about utilizing the web, internet, and Web 2.0?

Eric Manthey: I don't think a lot of agents are very savvy right now and I think that the biggest reason for that is that your average real-estate agent is very, very busy. There is a lot to learn online, with Web 2.0 and they just don't get around to it. That's where somebody like Vid2r comes into play, and we handle everything in a one-stop-shop for them.

BrokerIPTV: Or if you are a GenX or GenY and you have grown up with the internet, or have been there along the way, then you have a little bit of an advantage?

Eric Manthey: Absolutely.

BrokerIPTV: Ok, how about some websites that realtors should absolutely know about or be participating with?

Eric Manthey: Well, there is a whole bunch of things out there right now, but I think some of the key ones that the agents need to start looking at is, places like www.welcomemat.com, where agents can post their own photos, their own video if they are doing that sort of thing. There is a great new community website for real-estate agents called ActiveRain. You can go there, you can blog, you can meet other real-estate agents and I think it's a good way to network, meet other people and just grow your network as a whole, as a real-estate agent.

BrokerIPTV: Now, a real-estate agents says, "I want to post my listings, I will do the video but I want a website that is really producing and I read all the time about who is on top, who is going to be on top, who would you say that you absolutely have to deal with?"

Eric Manthey: That's tough one. I would again have to say ActiveRain, because the search engine optimization that they have done has been very, very good. If you post a blog, something like that on ActiveRain, you can be guaranteed that somebody is searching for real-estate in your area, it's probably going to pop up in the first page or two. So, I would definitely say ActiveRain.

BrokerIPTV: A realtor says "I haven't spend a lot of time on the internet, how much time should I be concentrating on my internet real-estate versus doing real-estate the old-fashioned way."

Eric Manthey: I would probably have to say the majority of your time should really be concentrated on the internet. In today's day and age, its a proven statistic, 80% - 90% of people start their search on the internet. If you can't wow them online with a good presentation, they are not going to spend their time coming out, taking a look at the house.

BrokerIPTV: Right. I am real-estate agent, I want to learn Web 2.0, what's the fastest way I can get up to speed?

Eric Manthey: Fastest way is just dive in and start reading, start looking around. I would recommend at least an hour or two hours a day and just get out there and play around with things and see where it goes.

BrokerIPTV: Eric, thanks for being with us, it's a pleasure talking with you.

Eric Manthey: Thank you very much.

BrokerIPTV: Interesting stuff.