The value of photos was brought home to me after seeing how two women clients focused on MLS photos.

After looking at some homes we were back in the office looking in the MLS. I left the room and when I came back they were going through the list of homes and they only looked at the photos, they didn't read anything!

My style is to focus on the numbers and details while these two clients were rocketing through the photos to narrow down the list. If they liked the small photos they would enlarge the photos and make a decision on whether to see the home.

I felt like an anthropologist observing clients in the wild.

Anyway, there is a certain segment of buyers out there who focus on photos first.

Nice - some people claim pictures don't mean much but I just don't see it. I like looking at properties with larger pictures, especially when they're high quality pictures that highlight a properties important details.

Jay,

Now you can recommend your internet tool instead of other internet tools. You have been quoted in this article on Yahoo. Six Secrets of Internet Home Buying, http://biz.yahoo.com/usnews/080506/06_six_secrets...

I'm still seeing the little photos after clicking on the "show me big photos button".

Thanks for the link love! :-)

@Paula ARMLS has changed, but not that much! :) This IDX solution is a third-party "add on".

@Jeff it is indeed impressive. Star client, cool! They provide the tools, I just implement them.

@Frank - I sent you an email. *Thanks* for commenting! (and searching!)

@Andrew - Franks saved searches are also displaying the smaller pics. It's not just his saved favorites....

@Andrew - Frank is a heavy user of my IDX. If I go into the back end and click on one of his "favorites" it does indeed bring up the small photos. I don't know if it's because they were tagged as favorites when the photos were small? If so, can they be "refreshed" so he can see larger pics?

I assume you have access to my back end? If not, let me know and I'll get you in there.

We certainly want those using the system to see the spiffy new photos!

@Frank: What MLS are you with? If you're with ARMLS, you should already have it. If you're with, say, Austin BOR or any number of the other MLS's that either don't want to or can't provide us with higher-resolution photos, you and I are out of luck until they change their policies or technology.

Great looking stuff Jay! I had the privilege of being walked through Diverse Solutions products yesterday and to say what they offer is impressive would be an understatement...you are their star client by the way...many time through the preso Robert would begin by saying 'Jay Thompson uses this feature really well...'

The larger photos are fantastic!

Those guys have done a great job.

The only things I can think that Diverse Solutions needs are 1) video tutorials for beginners, and 2) a bird's eye view map of each home like on MSN maps ( I love those bird's eye view maps).

Andrew - I'd *love* to see some short videos for IDX searchers. Also, I owe you some answers from the email you sent awhile back. Sorry, been *swamped*. Will get back to you by the weekend... (Thanks for adding Golf Courses!!)

Andrew,

I like the videos a lot that teach me how to use your product. Great stuff!

What I was thinking of, however, were videos for users to see how to use the IDX front end.

I've had good luck using video tutorials so I'll eventually do one for your product when there is a break in the action. It's better when it's me doing the video anyway because users can see a bit of my personality while I explain how to use your IDX. It would be nice, nevertheless, if I had a canned one I can use in the meantime.

Wow! You already had bird's eye view programmed! Well done. Please keep an eye out for any changes to Microsoft's licensing agreement.

Thanks for the response.

[It kinda spooky how Jay's blog can instantly conjure up people like Andrew and Chris Pearson.]

@John:

We actually do have video tutorials in the agent control panel now. Is that what you mean, or were you talking about for the IDX front-end itself?

We developed a birds-eye view module over a year ago for the IDX and still have the code for it actually, but we decided to remove it from the front-end due to concerns over Microsoft's licensing restrictions. Whereas Google and Yahoo! seem to be much more open to allowing liberal use of their maps API, we didn't want to get in trouble with Microsoft as, the way we understood it, their licensing didn't play too nicely with the licensing of Google Maps. We'll continue to keep an eye on it though and post on our blog if anything changes.

-Andrew Mattie

Software Engineer, Diverse Solutions

Those are nice large photos. That is a huge bonus for the consumer.

The value of photos was brought home to me after seeing how two women clients focused on MLS photos.

After looking at some homes we were back in the office looking in the MLS. I left the room and when I came back they were going through the list of homes and they only looked at the photos, they didn't read anything!

My style is to focus on the numbers and details while these two clients were rocketing through the photos to narrow down the list. If they liked the small photos they would enlarge the photos and make a decision on whether to see the home.

I felt like an anthropologist observing clients in the wild.

Anyway, there is a certain segment of buyers out there who focus on photos first.

Nice - some people claim pictures don't mean much but I just don't see it. I like looking at properties with larger pictures, especially when they're high quality pictures that highlight a properties important details.

Jay,

Now you can recommend your internet tool instead of other internet tools. You have been quoted in this article on Yahoo. Six Secrets of Internet Home Buying, http://biz.yahoo.com/usnews/080506/06_six_secrets...

I'm still seeing the little photos after clicking on the "show me big photos button".

Thanks for the link love! :-)

@Paula ARMLS has changed, but not that much! :) This IDX solution is a third-party "add on".

Jeff it is indeed impressive. Star client, cool! They provide the tools, I just implement them.

Frank - I sent you an email. *Thanks* for commenting! (and searching!)

Andrew - Franks saved searches are also displaying the smaller pics. It's not just his saved favorites....

Andrew - Frank is a heavy user of my IDX. If I go into the back end and click on one of his "favorites" it does indeed bring up the small photos. I don't know if it's because they were tagged as favorites when the photos were small? If so, can they be "refreshed" so he can see larger pics?

I assume you have access to my back end? If not, let me know and I'll get you in there.

We certainly want those using the system to see the spiffy new photos!

@Frank: What MLS are you with? If you're with ARMLS, you should already have it. If you're with, say, Austin BOR or any number of the other MLS's that either don't want to or can't provide us with higher-resolution photos, you and I are out of luck until they change their policies or technology.

Great looking stuff Jay! I had the privilege of being walked through Diverse Solutions products yesterday and to say what they offer is impressive would be an understatement...you are their star client by the way...many time through the preso Robert would begin by saying 'Jay Thompson uses this feature really well...'

I am still gettting the tiny photos previously served up, has this feature been released yet.

The larger photos are fantastic!

Those guys have done a great job.

The only things I can think that Diverse Solutions needs are 1) video tutorials for beginners, and 2) a bird's eye view map of each home like on MSN maps ( I love those bird's eye view maps).

Your IDX solution rocks! Is this courtesy of ARMLS?

Andrew - I'd *love* to see some short videos for IDX searchers. Also, I owe you some answers from the email you sent awhile back. Sorry, been *swamped*. Will get back to you by the weekend... (Thanks for adding Golf Courses!!)

Andrew,

I like the videos a lot that teach me how to use your product. Great stuff!

What I was thinking of, however, were videos for users to see how to use the IDX front end.

I've had good luck using video tutorials so I'll eventually do one for your product when there is a break in the action. It's better when it's me doing the video anyway because users can see a bit of my personality while I explain how to use your IDX. It would be nice, nevertheless, if I had a canned one I can use in the meantime.

Wow! You already had bird's eye view programmed! Well done. Please keep an eye out for any changes to Microsoft's licensing agreement.

Thanks for the response.

[It kinda spooky how Jay's blog can instantly conjure up people like Andrew and Chris Pearson.]

@John:

We actually do have video tutorials in the agent control panel now. Is that what you mean, or were you talking about for the IDX front-end itself?

We developed a birds-eye view module over a year ago for the IDX and still have the code for it actually, but we decided to remove it from the front-end due to concerns over Microsoft's licensing restrictions. Whereas Google and Yahoo! seem to be much more open to allowing liberal use of their maps API, we didn't want to get in trouble with Microsoft as, the way we understood it, their licensing didn't play too nicely with the licensing of Google Maps. We'll continue to keep an eye on it though and post on our blog if anything changes.

-Andrew Mattie

Software Engineer, Diverse Solutions