WE GET AROUND NETWORK WGAN-TV Live at 5 Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution
Thursday, February 1, 2024
WGAN-TV Guests “iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers! If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
Skylar Lawrence-LeBel Vice President of Marketing Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Guests: Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) VP of Marketing Skylar Lawrence-LeBel and Planitar Inc. Product Marketing Manager Chris White | Episode: 208 | Thursday, 1 February 2024 www.GOiGUIDE.com | www.GOiGUIDE.com
- Are you a real estate photographer seeking an easy way to create a professional 3D virtual tour and interactive floor plan? Do you want to do that within minutes and for less than $8? Stay tuned. Hi all. I’m Dan Smigrod, Founder of the [www.WeGetAroundNetworkFourm.com]. Today is Thursday, February 1st, 2024. You’re watching WGAN-TV Live at 5: a podcast for digital twin creators shaping the future of real estate today. We have an awesome show for you today, Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: the Newest Real Estate Photographer Solution. Our subject matter experts are from Planitar, the maker of iGUIDE: Vice President of Marketing, Skylar Lawrence-LeBel and Product Marketing Manager, Chris White. Skylar and Chris, thank you for being my guest on the show today. - Hey, thanks for having us. - Thanks for having us, Dan. - Skylar, Chris. Before we jump into a deep dive of iGUIDE Instant, Skylar, could you give us a big picture overview of Planitar: the maker of [www.GOiGUIDE.com]? - Sure, I’d be happy to. Thanks again for having us, Dan, and to all your audience and viewers. Excited to spend the next hour here with you guys. So Planitar, for those of you that haven’t heard of us, or may not be all that familiar, founded out of Canada in a city called Kitchener , about an hour West of Toronto, founded about 10 years ago. And we have one main brand, and it’s called iGUIDE. And really we’re a proprietary camera and software platform that helps digitize the built world. So, we’ll spend most of the conversation today talking about our iGUIDE offering, and that is a 3D tour and floor plan output that is created with an iGUIDE PLANIX camera system.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers! If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
We’ve got deep roots in residential real estate, so real estate photographers really offer this to agents as a fantastic marketing solution for listings. But our business stretch is really beyond that, and we have a great market fit in other industries like architecture, engineering, and design.
Page 2 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
So using our camera system and floor plans to create a DWG as-built and within insurance to document property loss and to estimate damages, and in facilities management as well. So, quick intro, excited to be here and showcase what our latest offering is with iGUIDE Instant (launched about a week ago on Tuesday the 23rd.) - Tuesday 23 January 2024. Some of the topics that you mentioned, iGUIDE PLANIX for the construction space, the insurance space. We’ve actually had Chris on the show a number of times. And so for our viewers that are particularly interested in yet other iGUIDE solutions and perhaps a deep-dive into the iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit, insurance, construction, you can see those previous shows at: www.WGAN.INFO/iGUIDEonWGAN Chris, how about giving us a demo of iGUIDE Instant and then we’ll talk about it as well. - Awesome. I’d be happy to, right to the good stuff. Okay, I’m going to share my screen. Hold on a second. Okie dokie. Can you see my screen right now? - [Dan] Yes. - Ah, technology works. Okay. So what you’re seeing right now is an example of an iGUIDE Instant. So an iGUIDE Instant provides you with an experience that includes a floor plan on the left and 360 degree visuals on the right. So the goal here is to give you a sense of where you are at all times using the floor plan, a sense of the flow of the property, and to give you the ability to look wherever you want and at whatever you want while you have that understanding of where you are. So I’ll just go through a few of the UI bits for anyone who hasn’t seen an iGUIDE before. So in addition to the floor plan and the 360 degree visuals, there’s a menu bar at the top with lots of goodies. You’ve got a photo gallery, you have the option to include video, if you wish. There is a details tab that can include a property description and also includes room dimensions, which is important. We’ll come back to that later. And there’s also a map, so you can see where the property is located and what neighborhood it resides in. But the basic function here, I’ll just walk you through the way it’s used to sort of engage with the floor plan and the visuals for whatever your need may be. So one of the cool things about iGUIDE Instant and all other types of iGUIDEs as well, is that you can click on the floor plan and easily look at whatever you’re interested in. So for a prospective buyer or someone just interested in learning about a property, that’s awesome because you can look at the floor plan and you can see, “Oh, here’s the kitchen.” And then you can click on it and you can look at it. And when you’re there, you can then engage with the 360 visuals and you can look at whatever you want. You can investigate the island, you can circle around the island and look at the pet dining area as one does, oops, sorry. And you can basically get through the property and you can answer all the questions that you have by basically navigating through the spaces you’re interested in one by one. - A few other tools baked in here. - Oh, sorry, go on. - Yeah, can you walk towards the window just to show the ability to walk through the space? - Yeah, let’s do it. So every time you click in a direction, you’ll be moved forward to the next navigation circle. So I think you can see this, the appear on the floor, sort of on a three dimensional plan, but then the circle that you, or the position or point of view that you’re currently viewing will be highlighted on the floor plan. And the field of view is shown by the little shaded cone there. And as you rotate it, it kind of moves to. - All right. And then I think for a moment, the agent for this property popped up. Can you show us where you find that? - You did? Yeah, so Skylar mentioned its roots in residential real estate. So there’s a lot of quality of life things that iGUIDEs have in general that iGUIDE Instant has as well. So agent branding is one of those things. It’s prominent, it’s very large, it’s interactive and clickable. The goal is to connect a prospective buyer, obviously with the agent selling the home, in this case for residential real estate. So it’s exactly what you think it is. It’s a headshot and company logo and contact information.
Page 3 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- I see a little icon there before you move off of it. Yeah. - Oh, so that’s a link to a website. You can have several different links and phone numbers. It’s configurable in any way. , you sort of want, you can also do a custom banner that’s big and fancy and has images and does all sorts of stuff. This one’s quite simple. - Okay, great. And then I see a few more menu items at the bottom and the bottom right. - Yeah, this is the good stuff right here. So there are a few different ways to engage with any iGUIDE and iGUIDE Instant, and one of them is to measure. So this floor plan is interactive beyond just navigation. You can also measure on it, which is really cool. So I’m just going to zoom in a little bit. - I think as Chris gets us set up, Dan, we can highlight and maybe talk to in a bit further detail, and we can talk about our camera system. But something that really sets iGUIDE apart is the accuracy provided within the floor plans. So our PLANIX Pro camera system not only has a 360 degree camera on top, but a 2D LiDAR that sits just below that. And that’s where you’re able to get the accuracy that iGUIDE is known for, as Chris demonstrates, the ability to measure within the floor plan. - So the cool thing about this is that built into iGUIDE Instant is the ability to measure directly on the floor plan, which means you can measure for furniture, you can measure to see if your TV will fit on a wall. You can basically measure anything in 2D space by clicking and dragging lines on that floor plan there. And so that’s enormously useful for someone who’s trying to figure out if they fit in a space and if they want to go see it in “iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a person. - Okay. And there’s a few more things you can do within an iGUIDE Instant.
virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers!
- That’s right. So in addition to floor plan navigation where you kind of click on the floor plan and you go where you want to go based on room labels or where you think you want to see more detail or navigating via visuals. We also have a tag list.
If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
So a tag list is basically a list of things that you’ve identified in the home. And we call them tags because we tag something in 3D space, but that tag list is navigable as well.
Chris White
If I click on the tag list, it will take me to anything that’s been tagged. So typical items that would be tagged, I mean, it varies, but maybe thermostats, fixtures, things that are interesting, cabinets, countertops, things that have extra detail that you might want to highlight in a home or point out.
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
You can use that tag list to go directly to those things. So it’s cool, you have the ability to get the information you want, sort of off the rails. You can explore, you can go wherever you like, or you can get that curated experience where someone has picked out some things that they want you to see. And those can appear in the list. So I just showed it there too. There’s a floor selector, so you can have multiple floors, and they’re accessed either via going and clicking on the stairs or from the floor selector here, and it’s exactly what you think it is. Basement. Main Floor. Second floor. - And I see three dots at the bottom. - Oh, that’s, those are extra goodies. There’s some fun stuff in here. You can change your units; you can make the tour autoplay; you can take a screenshot and you can get help if you need it. - Okay, great. So $7.99 cents in the United States doesn’t seem possible. Skylar? - Some much smarter people than Chris and I have made it possible. Dan, with a proprietary AI system that we’ve developed and have launched with iGUIDE Instant. - And so I use the iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit or take us through the process. How do you create an iGUIDE Instant? How long does it take to get it back? How do you order it?
Page 4 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- So typical flow for any of our customers, you’re likely going to visit [www.GOiGUIDE.com]; purchase something that looks like this. So this is our iGUIDE PLANIX Pro camera system. Once you’ve got that, typically you’re going to get it within one business day; potentially two business days of ordering. You get your hands on it, go through our onboarding system. Typically you can get trained and onboarded within a few hours. So it’s a fairly easy to use system. Just this week we’ve actually launched our iGUIDE PLANIX mobile app. So you’re able to control the camera essentially via your mobile device. But you get your camera, you get trained up, you find a property that you want to capture or scan. Essentially, once you’re in the property, it’s as simple as putting your PLANIX on a tripod, and you’re going to move that throughout the home. So everywhere that you want to document or scan, you’ll put it into that room, capture it, and then move to the next room. It is a quick capture system. Each scan is less than seven seconds. You can get through a 3,000 square foot home in 15 minutes or less. Typically previous iGUIDE Instant, what happens then is essentially that data that you’ve captured, so the LiDAR measurements plus the 360 pano images are sent to us. We have a team of drafters that will take all that data, draft it, put together a floor plan, and then deliver back via our iGUIDE portal. Your finished package. - Now is that happening with iGUIDE Instant? - It is not. So that’s where the nuance comes. So with iGUIDE Instant, you submit that data again to the portal, AI is actually going to then generate both your interactive floor plan as well as the 3D tour. And you’re going to have that back within minutes. So the whole process of start-to-end capture and delivery can happen in those 20 minutes. - And is the 20 minutes taking into account how long it took to capture the space, the upload and the deliverable back to you? - That’s correct. The actual, once you’ve captured the space, you’re getting that 3D tour and floor plan within two, three minutes of hitting submit. - Okay. So perhaps to put this into context, because iGUIDE Instant is really one of a number of iGUIDE solutions. - That’s correct. - So maybe you could take us through a little bit to say, “Okay, iGUIDE Instant: $7.99 in the United States.” Is there a limitation on the size of the space? The number of scan points? - Yeah. So it is limited to 75 panos and less. It’s more than enough for a typical residential home. But there is a limitation on that. If you’re going to go beyond the 75 panos, you’d be looking at iGUIDE Standard or potentially our iGUIDE Premium offering. But yeah, we’re happy -- We can share a screen again here if you’d like, and Chris can kind of walk us through the three packages. - So, Chris, maybe if you could show us perhaps what’s the difference between an iGUIDE Instant and iGUIDE Standard in an iGUIDE Premium? - Right, good questions. Okay. So iGUIDE Instant is remarkable. You can see it here, I hope, because it’s fast, it’s very, very fast. Two other competing technologies are going to charge you for rush processing. That’s still in the six hour range. So iGUIDE Instant is in the minutes. That’s bonkers. It’s really fast. - We’re the fastest. I think in terms of our delivery and output, they’re going to get both a 3D tour and floor plan. We are the fastest currently available. - When I was a real estate photographer, I would’ve killed for this. But iGUIDE Instant isn’t everything. So it’s AI generated; it’s not going to be -- it does include room dimensions. So that’s really great for listing information that’s required in some areas, but it doesn’t include area totals. So there’s no square footage information. So if that’s something that you want, you could go up to the iGUIDE Standard package instead. The iGUIDE Standard package is not AI generated, it is professionally drafted by our drafting team. And that means that it has area totals, or square footage totals, GLA compatible, or interior area if you prefer that. But it also has a few other things. So the Standard package has colored floor plans. So you may have noticed that when I was showing you the example before the floor plan was just black and white. So black and white is an option for all iGUIDES, but if you get a Standard iGUIDE, you can then get the option of having all of our different color profiles. So in addition to that, they’re all kind of listed here on our processing page. You’re also going to get a few things that are hugely valuable.
Page 5 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
So for example, you can download a regular iGUIDE and just keep it; so offline download is something that we’ve gotten a lot of feedback about. People really like the ability to just -- they can just take their data and keep it. That’s a big deal. You also have access to some add-ons that are not available for iGUIDE Instance, such as AutoCAD files or ESX files that work with a software called Xactimate. The floor plans as well are downloadable in PDF and SVG formats. So you get more with an iGUIDE Standard than you do with the iGUIDE Instant, but that explains the price difference. And then the package that goes up from that is iGUIDE Premium. So iGUIDE Premium. -The biggest difference is that Premium has more detail in the floor plan. So you’re going to see things like fixtures, appliances, and you can kind of see it on screen. But as the price goes up, the detail goes up as well. - Okay. So just for clarification, I believe we talked about for iGUIDE Instant it includes the 3D tour, it includes interactive floor plans, but it doesn’t include a floor plan that’s a PDF. - That’s correct. - That’s correct. - So if you really need to deliver to your client a PDF floor plan, then you would need to move up to either iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium. - Yeah, the two big things are yes, downloadable floor plans, and then also that square footage information. So that’s required in a lot of areas that have residential measurement Standards. And so if you need that, then iGUIDE Instant is probably not the right choice for you. You’d want to go with me with iGUIDE Standard instead.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers!
- Okay. So that probably takes us back to Skylar maybe to talk about why was iGUIDE Instant developed/offered? How does Planitar see the market using one product versus the other?
If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
- Sure. So market feedback that we received, Dan, over the years was that for some photographers and specifically the agents they’re serving, speed is important. So they want to be able to get that listing up on their local MLS as soon as they can. And you’re getting into some situations where you’ll have agents actually create an MLS listing and then create a duplicate a couple days later once they’ve got the stills and the video done, and you end up with these two listings.
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
So knowing that speed was important, but still wanting a marketing solution we went back to our offering to see how we could, how could we deliver a product that addressed that, that want or that need? So that was kind of the cornerstone of iGUIDE Instant and how it came to be. Obviously we’ve moved away from a per square foot cost with iGUIDE Instant. It’s still per project, which our operators love the fact that there’s not a subscription with us today. You’re still paying per project, but instead of 2.3 cents or 3 cents per square foot, iGUIDE Instant being $7.99, it’s a cost effective solution to still get that marketing package and that content delivery system that you’re able to provide. The other nice thing with iGUIDE Instant, if you so choose, you can easily upgrade. So we’ve made it easy for a photographer to move from Standard, sorry, from Instant to Standard. The original cost you would’ve paid for Instant is then deducted from the invoice for Standard. And it’s something that you can easily do within the portal itself. But yeah, we felt there was a market need, speed was important; still using our capture solution with the camera system that we’ve had available. And really was the main reason that we brought this to market. - Were there other benefits in addition to speed? - So, I mean, take a look at the cost compared to others in the market for what we’re offering. It’s obviously very competitive.
Page 6 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- What that means; not every listing is equal in the marketing package or the marketing budget that we go along with different listings is going to vary. What we wanted to do was help and equip our real estate photographers with another solution or offering within their toolbox. And iGUIDE Instant delivers that at $7.99. It is a lower cost solution that they’re able to still include in their package. Potentially their tier one didn’t include a 3D tour before. They’re now able to include a 3D tour with floor plan in an entry level photography package, for example. So I think it’s going to open up much more of the market. It makes iGUIDE even more accessible for some, for those operators that already have a camera today but aren’t including iGUIDE on every shoot and now increases the likelihood that they’re able to deliver even more of a final package to their client, which is great. - I can add to that. - So Skylar’s bang-on with the speed thing. - Speed is king. Everybody wanted their tour yesterday. Another bonus though that is really nice to have is that iGUIDE Instant doesn’t include the square footage total. So not everybody is really that interested in having a really well measured house, they really want a floor plan for the understanding that it brings. It allows you to visualize the space in a different way. So iGUIDE Instant gives you exactly that without having to worry about square footage totals and area totals. And the more complex facets of measurement, if you want to upgrade to that, you absolutely can. But some clients don’t see the value there, they just want something that looks like a floor plan that gets the job done initially. So you can grow into more advanced measurement after sharing iGUIDE Instant initially. - So I think so far I’ve heard two benefits. First is the speed of delivery for the real estate agent that wants it yesterday, I think even in some of your promotional literature for iGUIDE Instant talks about delivering it even before you’ve left the property. Do you want to speak to that at all? - Yeah, so you go ahead. - I was going to... - I was just going to highlight the app, but take it away. - It’s a really cool experience to be able to -- and we’ve been doing it a lot to be able to go out and shoot a property. And we’re not kidding, like it only takes 15, 20 minutes to shoot a whole house. Maybe not like a 9,000 square foot mansion, but like a two to 3,000 square foot house, pretty big house. So you can shoot it pretty quick, 15, 20 minutes and then you can basically submit it right there while you’re standing on site and while you’re chatting or whatever. It’s being processed in the background. And you can share it -- depends on what you have available to share it on -- mind you. But you can share it right there, right at the property. Like, that’s nuts. You can’t get any faster than that. That’s crazy. So - I think you want to talk to the iGUIDE Report, the delivery, how it’s nicely packaged? - Well, it, so yeah, you’re going to get an email and when you create the iGUIDE, there’s always this nicely compiled amount data basically in an email that gives you all the links you need when you’re listing a property and all the property information you as well. So that email can be sent; you can configure it to be sent as soon as it’s done processing. So you could have that thing that you’re going to give your client and that they’re paying for and delivered before you’ve left the building. Like, that’s nuts. It’s nice because it gives you the opportunity to talk about the value that that product brings. There’s always this delay with deliverables in any sort of real estate marketing. Like, you shoot photos and then it’s like, wait a couple days until I process and you are going to capture data for floor plans, wait a couple days. So with this case, there’s no waiting anymore. You just get it and you can engage with it right away. - Chris, if the photographer does set it up to get delivered to the client right away, does that mean after the fact you can add the photos? After the fact you can add the video? After the fact you can add any additional ...? - A 100% yeah. And that’s very common because different workflows have different time frames so photo editing is different
Page 7 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
for everybody. So some people edit themselves overnight, some people send their photos away and the link or the URL for the iGUIDE remains consistent. This works for all iGUIDEs by the way. - So just for clarification, the AI is not picking pictures to put in that photo gallery that you showed us during the demo? - No, so the photo gallery is populated by the user and we know from experience that most real estate photographers especially have their own photo workflow and we’re not going to mess with that. That’s a point of pride for them. And the iGUIDE gives you that content delivery platform. So you can include your photos in that gallery if you want to. We encourage you to do that along with video if you’ve done that, as well. And those can be added at any time. They can be added later that day or at any point. - Okay. Skylar, you mentioned as another benefit in the United States, $7.99 as a price point. Could you speak a little bit more about what that price point might enable for a real estate photographer? - Yeah, I think in the simplest form Dan it, it enables a real estate photographer to include a 3D tour with floor plan in more of their packages. So they’re bringing even more value to their client -- being the agent -- with those shoots that they’re going to. So maybe in tier -- they’ve got three tiers. Tier one today doesn’t include a 3D tour virtual or floor plan because cost being part of that barrier and they want to keep that tier one priced accordingly. Now they’re able to still deliver that to their client and include it across the range of offerings that they have. So the net value of that being not only adding additional services to their existing customers, but being able to market that then to the wider audience and their territory and potentially bring in new clients because of the new offering that they have available. - Is it too soon to know how real estate photographers are pricing or offering this, is it À la carte? Is it an add-on, is it part of a bundle? - Yeah, so it varies depending on markets and by photographer. I would say at this point, it is likely too early for Chris and I to comment on exactly that or market response. We had a soft launch and went live mid-November at the PMRE Conference to select customers and audiences. But with the full launch here, just being in the last week or so, it’d be something we’re happy to come back and share in the coming months. I would say the initial feedback that we’re receiving, both from photographers and agents alike, is that it’s very positive.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers! If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
They do like the speed, they still like the output quality. Although we are using AI to draft, the AI is performing quite well and the output that they’re getting back meets their requirements and they’re happy with the iGUIDE package that they’re receiving - Are there other -- are there other benefits in addition to speed and price point? - Yes. So the killer package for most people is still photos. This is residential real estate, mind you, and then something to back that up. So the real killer point about this is the value, like for $7.99, you get a floor plan with a virtual tour with room dimensions, that’s nuts. And if you combine that with photos, that is an absolutely killer combo. And so the value that you can provide at a very aggressive price, because the price is low, is incredible I think. - Does your research show what percent of listings in the United States presently have virtual tours? - It’s varied. Like it’s changed considerably over the last few years because of conditions. I won’t say anything specific, but the general sort of rule of thumb is anywhere between 20 and 40% depending on the area to have virtual tours. That’s pretty normal. It kind of varies. Depends on house sales prices- Market yeah. - Amount of listings. I think what’s interesting on the flip side of that, Dan, if you look at what buyers are looking for on a listing, so you’re going to buy a home 73%, 74% in a recent industry study want a 3D tour.
Page 8 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
So they’re wanting and they’re looking for that 3D tour with the idea that it gives them a better feel for the home to what Chris was mentioning before, it allows them to walk through an experience and spend more time looking at that listing and figuring out if, if they want to go see it in person. So 73%, 74% of buyers are asking for that. So I think trend lines of where the industry will go, we’ll see 3D tours continuing to remain popular and increase the flip side of that floor plans again. Any industry study buyers when asked, floor plan is always in the top three, sometimes even two right behind still photos. So floor plans are important. The buyers are wanting a floor plan on a listing. And I think it’s great that with iGUIDE Instant we’re able to deliver both within the same package at a cost that is really second to none in the industry right now. - Interesting statistics in terms of actual listings that have a virtual tour, interesting statistics in terms of the number of buyers that wish listings had virtual tours. Do you think iGUIDE Instant is this killer solution that is going to result in dramatically more virtual tours and interactive floor plans available on listings? - I mean, for Chris and we can only hope for 100%. - 100%. - No, but in all seriousness, I think it is a product that hasn’t been brought to market yet, there are some solutions that will have one or the other. So you’re able to get a floor plan, but not the 3D tour or you’re able to get 3D tour or not the floor plan, we’re able to deliver both in a time that is quicker than anyone else currently available at a price point that really allows photographers to add this to their toolkit potentially at a tier one entry level and really included on more of their listings. - And the upgrade process before we actually say -- well, let’s just talk -- I just want for clarity the reasons to upgrade from iGUIDE Instant to iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium? I think I’ve heard a number, which was if you wanted the total square footage; if you wanted actual floor plans; that could be included as a PDF in the- Downloadable. - Yeah, downloadable floor plan. If you wanted color floor plans; if you wanted furniture and color in floor plans; if the listing was more than 5,000 square feet; - 75 panos you could capture a larger space. But – - So the limitations, not the square footage, it’s the number of panoramic images, the number of panos. So the limitation of 75 panos, let’s assume that’s about 5,000 square feet. - Yep. - If you’re outside the United States. So presently -- the iGUIDE Instant is presently only available in the United States. Are there other reasons that you would need to go from iGUIDE Instant to iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium? - I mean, those are the main ones, Dan, I would say we sum it up to, you want total square footage that you’re not going to get on iGUIDE Instant; you want a downloadable PDF of the floor plan; you’re going to want to upgrade to Standard. And if you want fixtures included within that floor plan, you’re going to want to go to Premium. Those are the main three that most would upgrade from Instant to Standard. - Okay. And can you speak to the process of, “okay, I’ve delivered to the client, the iGUIDE Instant” and the client comes back and asks one of those three questions. Notwithstanding how the photographer might price and upsell a higher add-on; but just from the iGUIDE to the photographer, how does the real estate photographer do the upgrade? - So we’ve made it very simple. Essentially the email that delivers your iGUIDE Instant, there is a button within that that you can click on and it delivers -- it takes you to the portal and it’s an upgrade path, but it’s a few clicks of a button within the iGUIDE portal on your account that you’re going to be able to ask for a Standard from that same project that you submitted and got an Instant from previously. - And what’s the turnaround time to now get the new deliverable that has color floor plans; or color floor plans and furniture. So essentially using your drafting team and also includes the total square footage. - 24 hours or less Dan. As of January 1, 2024, we’ve actually moved to a 24 hour draft team. So we have professional drafters available around the clock and are able to deliver within 24 hours. Typically I can comment on it, I won’t give it an hour, but it is much less even than that. Potentially even the same day.
Page 9 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- Does that -- are holidays, weekends, anything? Are there any exclusions? - There are. We have a whole holiday schedule and we send our customers; our service providers notice in advance, but they’re few and far between, but some of them are Canadian, I’m being honest. - Yeah. And Saturday and Sunday? - No, there’s no regard for, so that’s another point. So it’s now seven days a week. There’s no Sunday, there’s no days off. Essentially it’s 24 hours from when you submit the data regardless of the day of the week. Yeah. - So this is super-interesting based on what you just described. It may be that the real estate photographer plans on doing both. I mean in one sense you may have a listing that’s $150,000, $250,000. The only way that you might be able to affordably do a virtual tour for that perhaps is with the iGUIDE Instant. But that said, if you’re doing a half a million dollar listing and above, I’ll just pick a number, not necessarily the right price point, but a real photographer might just add iGUIDE Instant as well as what they normally do for iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium. Because now they have a competitive advantage to be able to say, “Oh, by the way, I’m going to send you the first pass of the tour within an hour of us completing the shoot or today, later today, but tomorrow I’ll deliver to you everything that you normally have expected.” So this may just be value add with existing customers with existing real estate agents. Is that, does that sound like a scenario? - You bang on! You’re too good at this, Dan okay? We have a solution for this already. Listen to this. So iGUIDE Instant didn’t come out of nowhere. We’ve been testing it for ages. And if you buy an iGUIDE Instant, our upgrades are really cool.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers!
They’re all just sort of like paying the difference. So if you buy an iGUIDE Instant at any time, you can upgrade to a Standard of Premium and you’re not penalized in any way other than the delay in terms of time. Because it takes a bit longer if you wait.
If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
But if you order an iGUIDE Standard or Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
And then the link, it’s really cool, the link will stay the same and as soon as the drafted floor plans appear with the square footage totals, it automatically gets updated. - Oh, that sounds awesome. Same URL. Okay. That’s cool. - Yeah, yeah. It’s super. - So just for clarification, if going forward, as of today, Thursday, February 1, 2024, if you order an iGUIDE Standard, you’re going to get the iGUIDE Instant as well. - Essentially. So we call it something different. We call iGUIDE Preview to not confuse people. So that they know that they’re ordering this particular package, but then they have this extra feature and Preview is meant- For clarification. Yeah. Chris, just for clarification, and iGUIDE Preview is essentially an iGUIDE Instant, it’s just a different name to be able to include it with iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium that for our audience, essentially, hey, if you’re thinking about this particular strategy of you already have existing clients, or frankly you already want to price it out as an iGUIDE Standard and iGUIDE Premium, you’re able to provide the value add of being able to have a deliverable 24 hours faster, six hours faster, or 12 hours faster. Skylar, I want to be careful I don’t say something I shouldn’t, but I think iGUIDE is promising 24 hour delivery. The reality is you often deliver faster than that. - That’s correct. Yeah, that’s accurate. Dan.
Page 10 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- One thing that we didn’t talk about, oh, and that’s awesome. I think the fact that you have this iGUIDE Preview. Wow! Yeah. Yeah, yeah, no, I, because again -- real estate photographers are always looking at how they can help their clients and how they can help differentiate themselves from other real estate photographers. And now you’re offering a solution that says, “Hey, do iGUIDE Standard deliver everything your client needs in terms of color floor plans or floor plans with furniture or total square footage for for MLS,” [I lost my thought there.] but you can still be able deliver this added value to help your client who wants the tour yesterday and essentially deliver same day; you have a same day solution, even while you’re still gathering everything else. And it’s the same URL. That’s really awesome! - That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. - I believe that one of the things, I’m just trying to think of one of the things that we hadn’t talked about on the iGUIDE Instant, I’ll come back to that. Chris, how about holding up the iGUIDE PLANIX? I know we did an entire show on this, again: www.WGAN.INFO/iGUIDEonWGAN but maybe for those that have this it is totally new. Can you take us through what that camera’s doing it maybe a little bit more of a novice - Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, a little, little closer. So on top of the camera system is a 360 degree camera, a two lens 360 degree camera that with a tap of a button is going to capture a 360. But the magic is in this thing here, which is a LiDAR scanner. So what we do is we take 360 images and we take LiDAR and we smash them together. And what it allows us to do is interpret that data when combined into very accurate floor plans, because LiDAR data is a measurement from the camera to the wall. And image data allows you to determine what it is you measured. So our draft people and the AI can figure out what is structure and what is not, and get really accurate floor plans out of fairly messy conventional environments. - How accurate are we talking, if we were to nerd out for a second? - Well, if I were to just throw a stat out, I’d say [.5%] linearly measured on a floor plan, or 0.5% rather. So the accuracy is remarkable in two ways. One, the actual percentage is way better than the sort of conventional industry norm of 2% or even 1%. But accuracy is more than just that number, which nobody really understands. It’s all about completeness and sort of follow up. So our drafting team and the AI as well are very good at creating floor plans that don’t require a lot of revisions. That’s a small quality of life thing nobody really talks about, but the combination of those two things is what sort of makes the magic, the basic process of using the cameras. Skylar already mentioned it, but you take it, you bring it to a property that you’re going to scan and you move from locationto-location. And it’s very similar across all technologies at this point, but it’s basically all about coverage. So you’re scanning everything once; essentially depicted in the product that you’re trying to make for your clients. - So mainly interiors, you’re mapping interiors, - Mostly interiors, But great- You can do the exterior. - Segue right into the exteriors. This thing’s great outside, so you can shoot exteriors as much as you like. It’s very common for people to do a few exteriors on a property. And our drafters will also include exterior elements onto the floor plans like decks and porches and outdoor patios and things. Three seasons screened in rooms and such. But the camera system itself is extremely efficient at capturing a space in very few scans. And one of the strengths of this particular hardware is that you can capture basically one scan per room if you want, or you can increase that to create a different type of experience. So not everybody cares about creating a really immersive virtual tour with hundreds of scan positions. That’s cool if you want to make that. But some people really are more focused on floor plans. So that means that the effort involved in scanning can be significantly lessened because you need fewer scans. One scan per room is often enough. - And do you need to have line of sight between each scan or literally you can put a scan in the middle of every room and that’s sufficient for the drafters. - So for newbies, we recommend that line of sight be maintained, but for people who are more experienced and who understand what coverage looks like, it’s not specifically required. So line of sight, glad you mentioned that. Really good setup there. Line of sight is really important for visual navigation because if you don’t have line of sight, that means that when you’re immersing yourself in the property, you have to jump through walls to get places. So that’s kind of gross.
Page 11 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
So if you want a better 3D tour experience visually, typically you scan more to create that line of sight. But if you don’t need that because you’re really focused on floor plans or measurement for any of the iGUIDE packages, it’s not strictly speaking required. You just have to scan each space that needs to be interpreted by the drafting team and then appear on the tour. - Okay. And how many buttons on that iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit? - Oh my, there’s so many. No, there’s just one. I’m kidding. There’s just one button. That’s it. It’s really easy. - Is that one button turning the camera on as well? - That’s all it does. Yes. - Turns the camera on, turns the LiDAR on and- It does. Yeah. The whole thing is all- One button system and connected to your phone. - One of the weird bonuses too is that a lot of people have the Ricoh THETA Z1, those are the 360 camera on the top. - Well that’s a Ricoh THETA Z1 360 Camera. - Fun fact you can buy the bottom if you’ve already got a Z1 and you can put your own Ricoh THETA Z1 on here. But one of the flaws with the Z1, it’s a great camera, it’s probably the best two lens system you can get right now. But its battery isn’t good. It’s not an all day battery, it’s not something you can use a lot. But that’s fixed by the iGUIDE PLANIX Core unit you see below it because it has a giant battery and it provides pass through power, so it turns the Z1 into a beast because it gives you LiDAR and it gives you all day battery. - Awesome. So Chris, you and I actually did an hour-long show on iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit. So for our viewers that want to take a deeper dive into the camera itself: www.WGAN.INFO/ iGUIDEonWGAN We’ve been talking about the price of the iGUIDE Instant as being $7.99. Obviously you need to have the iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit in order to do this. So I want to say around $2,500 more or less.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers! If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
- That’s correct Dan. I will, we can share with your viewers. We actually have a promo on currently to align with the launch of iGUIDE Instant. The iGUIDE PLANIX Pro system right now, not only are you going to get a hardware discount, so it’s $350 off US, but in addition to that, you’re going to get iGUIDE Instant for free until the end of April [2024]. So buy the camera- That’s the end of April, 2024. - That’s correct, yeah. You can buy the camera today and you’re going to be able to produce iGUIDE Instant through to the end of April at zero dollars. - So, so the process of buying the camera, so go the website is: www.GOiGUIDE.com - That’s correct. - From there you can either go to a link to buy the camera now. - Yeah. - Or you can schedule a demo. - That’s right. Yeah, we go to the specialist. - Those two next steps to say, for those that are ready to buy, just go to the buy link and go buy the iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit
Page 12 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
and it’ll be shipped -- very quickly. There is a discount right now on iGUIDE PLANIX Core as well. So to Chris’s point, if you already have a Ricoh THETA Z1 and you don’t need it calibrated with your iGUIDE PLANIX Pro, you can buy the iGUIDE PLANIX Core off the shelf. It is cheaper Core right now on promo it’s about $1,350, $1,400. Attach [Your] Ricoh THETA Z1 to the top and you’re able to produce iGUIDE with that system as well. - So for clarification, iGUIDE offers two different kits. One kit that comes with the Ricoh THETA Z1 camera, one Kit that comes without the Ricoh THETA Z1 camera. The Ricoh THETA Z1 camera for those that already have a Ricoh THETA Z1 and want to just use their camera to attach to the iGUIDE PLANIX CORE Camera Kit solution. - You got it. - So in terms of -- for those that still kind of have questions, is scheduling a demo; is that the next step? - Yeah, you’re welcome to schedule a demo. We’ve got iGUIDE specialists happy to connect typically within the next business day. You can reach out to us on any of the social channels. We’re very active on Facebook, Instagram, as well as LinkedIn. We’d be happy to connect with you there and answer any questions that you’d have. There is an actual iGUIDE operator forum that we have both existing operators on, as well as prospects and folks that want to learn more about 3D tours and exactly what makes iGUIDE unique. So you’re welcome to check out our iGUIDE Facebook forum. There’s also an iGUIDE forum so there’s many resources available -- And there’s also the [www.WeGetAroundNetworkForum.com]. I think Chris would be happy to answer your questions there too. - Of course. - And there actually is a special landing page for iGUIDE Instant. So if you’re in particular interested: www.GOiGUIDE.com/iGUIDEInstant - You got it. - So are there things about iGUIDE Instant that we haven’t talked about that we should talk about? - I mean from my perspective, I think we’ve covered the value of iGUIDE Instant to the extent we need to, what I would say are things that our customers have come to love with iGUIDE in general; it’s simple to use. Really we continue to have our customer at the center of what we’re doing. We’ve got some exciting things coming out in 2024. When we were talking about Capture, for example, and Line of Site Survey, which is the app you’re going to run. We’ve added alignment guides on that. So we’ve made it easier to use and it’s actually going to provide feedback as you’re capturing on site. Just this week we’ve launched our iGUIDE PLANIX mobile app. So whether you’re on Apple or Android, you can go to the App Store and download that to connect to your iGUIDE PLANIX camera. But simple to use is important for us, not only from a capture perspective, but usability. Once you get your iGUIDE tour whether it’s Instant, Standard or Premium, the navigation experience is very similar. There’s always going to be the floor plan in the bottom Left. You’re able to get data about the property that you’re viewing through, that you’re able to understand the property and then navigate with those hotspots that Chris was demoing earlier. So I think that’s important. The quality that you’ve come to expect with iGUIDE still remains with Instant, which is important for us that you’re getting good visuals, you’re getting a pleasant to look at floor plan and you’re getting the accuracy, especially in the Standard and Premium offerings with our team of professional drafters that are able to provide that and turnaround time that was really industry leading. So we’re quite proud about that and excited for 2024. Chris, anything you want to add? - Okay, the, okay, I will say this. So iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. Like, that’s bonkers! - Bonkers. I’m going to remember that marketing term. - It’s a very long pause after I say that. - Well, I’m thinking about bonkers. I’m going to remember that term, bonkers.
Page 13 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- The headline for this show. Dan, use that! - Yeah, speak to hosting. How long is a tour -- How long is an iGUIDE Instant hosted and also an iGUIDE Standard? And iGUIDE Premium? - So that’s a good question. So at an iGUIDE Standard and iGUIDE Premium include hosting for one year with the option to renew at no cost currently. In residential real estate, since a year you almost nobody needs a year. That’s sort of irrelevant. iGUIDE Instant, in order to keep that cost low, has a hosting limit of 120 days. But interestingly, you still have the option to renew for free after 120 days for a period of time that we haven’t determined yet. So as it is right now, you can just renew it. So 120 days is when it will automatically lock, but you can renew it if you want after that. And if you did renew it, when we do have the pricing in place for that, it’ll be very low cost for probably exactly the same cost as what you initially paid. So an additional $7.99, don’t quote me on that. - On iGUIDE Standard, iGUIDE Premium, have you ever charged hosting? - No, we never have, but it’s never been an issue because most applications for those are irrelevant after a year. So we’ve just given our customers the ability to renew it as often as they wish. - And for clarification, do you need a subscription? - Nope. - No subscriptions- Per project, no subscription. - You buy the camera and you’re paying per project. And I think, Dan, if I can, one kind of piece to highlight for folks that maybe are interested in iGUIDE, interested in iGUIDE Instant, but not wanting to buy a camera today, we do have a service operator network. So we have thousands of operators across North America that are happy to assist and provide an iGUIDE just by contacting them. So at www.GOiGUIDE.com you’ll find a service operator map or service provider map, you can find a location and most regions there’s going to be a good number of operators that would be able to provide an iGUIDE for you today without having to buy a camera.
“iGUIDE Instant might be the greatest deal of all time. You get a virtual tour with floor plans. It’s quick to capture. It’s quick to get delivered, and you get room dimensions and you get it for $7.99. That’s bonkers! If you order an iGUIDE Standard or iGUIDE Premium right now, you get something called a Preview, which is essentially iGUIDE Instant. So while you’re waiting for your fully drafted floor plans, you can get an Instant Preview that you can use just like iGUIDE Instant and share if you want.”
Chris White
Product Marketing Manager Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) www.GoiGUIDE.com
So it’s an option if you’re interested, you’d like to try out iGUIDE, but not interested in purchasing a camera. I would definitely recommend looking through our service provider network. - And if I’m a real estate photographer, I watched today’s show. I decided I’m going to get an iGUIDE PLANIX Camera Kit. I’m going to offer this as a solution. Is there a charge for getting listed for being part of your network? - There’s not no fee. We’re happy to include any service provider that purchases a camera on our operator network. - And we’ve been speaking today from a real estate photographer’s perspective, is there anything to add? I imagine you have some real estate agents that are somewhat tech savvy and still decide to go forward with iGUIDE and anything to add from a real estate agent’s/broker’s perspective? - I don’t think so. I mean, I think it goes back to what we highlighted with some of those stats in terms of where the industry is going. Buyers ... both sellers and buyers are interested in having 3D tours with their listings and at home with the listings that they’re looking at. Floor plans continue to grow in popularity and are always near the top of the list. So I think it is an agent -- you want to position yourself and evaluate how your marketing properties that you’re listing, I would highly recommend looking to include a 3D tour and floor plan as part of that marketing package. Not only for the home you’re selling today, but it really positions you as a leader in your market to potentially bring in new referrals and listing opportunities
Page 14 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
- Win more and bigger premium listings. Skylar, I’m going to give you almost the last word. Perhaps you could just take 30 seconds, give us the whole pitch, the whole megillah in 30 seconds. - Sure. So here at iGUIDE we’re very excited to launch iGUIDE Instant. It’s a truly affordable 3D virtual tour with an interactive floor plan offering that’s going to be delivered to you within minutes from capture. - Skylar, Chris, thanks for being on the show today. - Dan, We Get Around Network. Thank you for having us. It was a pleasure to be your guest. - Yeah, Thanks. We’ve been visiting with Vice President of Marketing, Skylar Lawrence-LeBel and Product Marketing Manager, Chris White; both of Planitar, the maker of iGUIDE. For Chris and Skylar. I’m Dan Smigrod, Founder of the We Get Around Network Forum. And you’ve been watching WGAN-TV Live at 5.
Page 15 of 17
WGAN-TV | Maximizing Profit with iGUIDE Instant: The Newest Real Estate Photographer’s Solution | Thursday, February 1, 2024
Page 16 of 17
Watch WGAN-TV
the companion live stream show for the
We Get Around Network Forum
Scan to Watch WGAN-TV Live at 5 5 PM ET on Thursdays
Scan to Watch WGAN-TV Live at 5 On-Demand
WGAN-TV Podcast (Apple Podcasts App)
WGAN-TV Vimeo Channel
WGAN-TV Roku Channel
WGAN-TV YouTube Podcasts
WGAN-TV Android App
WGAN-TV Training U
WGAN-TV Podcast (www.WGAN-TV.com) is the official podcast of the We Get Around Network Forum. We Get Around Network Forum is the best PropTech community of professional Matterport (and related) digital twin creators and providers shaping the future of real estate today. WGAN helps you connect the dots to succeed faster. Join us: www.WeGetAroundNetwork.com
Join the Discussion www.WeGetAroundNetwork.com Copyright 2024 | Reprinted with the permission of We Get Around Network (WGAN-TV)