A virtual tour link in Stellar MLS is the field on a listing that holds a web address for a walkthrough of the home, and Stellar accepts only one kind of tour there: unbranded. Stellar MLS is the multiple listing service for Orlando and most of Central Florida, so this is the rule for every 3D tour, video tour and slideshow attached to a listing in the region.
The pages that come up for Matterport or Zillow 3D tours in Orlando sell the tour. None of them says what Stellar will accept in the link, or what is already sitting in that field when your tour arrives. This post sets out both, from Stellar's own rules documents and its Property Panorama page.
What Counts as Branding on a Stellar Virtual Tour?
Stellar's image rules cover photos, images and virtual tours together. None of them may contain:
- company or agent logos, or agent photos
- the agent's or the office's contact information
- commissions or bonuses
- direct or indirect branding for an agent, brokerage or team
- text or graphics of any kind, other than the Stellar MLS watermark
People are prohibited too, including people in costume, in tours as well as in photos. Stellar's compliance course puts it in one line: only unbranded virtual tours are permitted in the MLS.
The one exception is the tour company. A third party virtual tour vendor's contact information may appear on a tour, as long as it is not interactive. The vendor's name in the corner is allowed. A clickable button to the vendor's site is not.
What Can the Virtual Tour Link Point To?
| In the virtual tour link | Stellar's rule |
|---|---|
| A 3D tour or a photo slideshow tour | Allowed, if the page it opens is unbranded |
| A YouTube video | Allowed embedded, with no visible channel information |
| A page showing the listing agent's name or contact details | Not allowed |
| A link to a brokerage, another business or a social network | Not allowed |
| Anything that is not a virtual tour | Not allowed: only virtual tours go in the tour link |
Stellar's rules say the link must be a valid URL and may not contain any participant or subscriber names or links to third party business or social networking sites. A tour link violation falls under Level I of Stellar's automatic fine schedule (Article 11). Tours entered in the MLS also print on the customer reports agents hand to buyers, so whatever the link opens is in front of other agents' clients.
What Is the Free Tour Already in Your Listing?
Stellar subscribers get a free unbranded tour from Property Panorama, called InstaView. It is built from the listing's own photos: the first five for the tour and the first three for a short video, in the order they were uploaded. It needs at least five photos, and it updates when the listing changes.
The field that controls it is Create Free Automatic Virtual Tour, and Stellar sets it to Yes when a new listing is entered without a tour URL. That is the usual order of events: the listing goes in when the photos arrive, and the 3D tour follows. Setting the field to No stops the free tour being created and removes one that already exists. Stellar's own listing course suggests agents planning their own tour say No to the free one and add their unbranded full tour when it is ready.
Property Panorama says InstaView generates only for the primary agent on the listing.
How Do You Check a Tour Link Before You Paste It?
Open the link in a private browser window, signed out of everything, and look at the page a buyer sees. If it shows an agent's name, photo, phone number, email, a brokerage logo, or a button out to a brokerage or social site, it does not belong in the Stellar tour link. Put it in your social posts and emails instead.
That applies to our own work. The Total Package ($499) includes a single property website branded to the listing agent, with a Request a Tour button and the agent's contact details. That is what makes it useful for marketing, and it is also why it never goes in the Stellar tour link. The Zillow 3D tour or Matterport tour from the same shoot is the link to check for the MLS.
When Should the Tour Be Ready?
As close to the photos as possible, so the free slideshow never has to stand in. Jet Media Productions captures the 3D tour on the same visit as the listing photos, and both are delivered within 24 hours. Photos with a Zillow 3D tour or a Matterport tour are $349, and the Total Package adds the video tour and the property website for $499. Our 3D tours page compares the two tour platforms, and real estate photography lists every package.
This article is general information, not compliance advice. Stellar publishes its current Rules and Regulations on its own site, and those rules govern. Ask your broker if a tour is borderline.
Listing going live this week? Book photos and a 3D tour on the same visit.