Blue Dasher is coming to your town

My Florida Regional MLS is proud to announce its newest partner -- Blue Dasher Technologies, the creators of Dasher Virtual Drive.

This new "virtual drive" technology adds sizzle to listings and will allow you and your potential buyers to "tour" the neighborhood at the street-level with a full 360-degree rotation capability. With a simple click on the virtual dashboard, you'll be driving through neighborhoods viewing homes, grocery stores, schools, malls and any place of interest without burning a single ounce of gasoline. Dasher Virtual Drive can change the way you showcase homes.

We are launching Blue Dasher in two phases, based on geography. You will be given an opportunity to "test drive" this amazing new technology -- absolutely free.

How it Works

While viewing a listing in MLXchange, you can click on the Blue Dasher crossroads icon to begin the Dasher Virtual Drive process. Through a new browser window, you will "virtually" be placed in front of the listing of your choice with a view of the house from the street. You can rotate the view from your position to a full 360 degrees. Clicking on the "drive" button located on the virtual dashboard will take you for a simulated ride through the neighborhood. Left and right turn signals will let you choose your way at each intersection! Other buttons and controls give a real-life feel to your virtual neighborhood drive experience.

Seeing is believing. Click on the player below to view a brief video demonstration of Dasher Virtual Drive in action:

Advertising Signs

Virtual yard signs add advertising impact to your listings. Within the Blue Dasher web server, red-and-white "For Sale" signs are placed by you in front of your listings to help advertise the property's features to other Blue Dasher users and their potential buyers. Instead of aluminum signs, these signs are completely virtual. You'll attract prospective buyers, and your sellers will love this feature.

At the beginning of the "test drive" period, you will need to manually enable the virtual signs for your listings to ensure that they are placed in the ideal location in front of your property while maximizing the view.

Click here to read a short article demonstrating the virtual sign activation process>>

Once you understand the functionality of a virtual yard sign, you'll quickly see the marketing benefits. Click on the following 30-second video to learn more:

The FREE "Test Drive"

Everybody likes "free;" and here's your chance to experience it for yourself. As we launch Blue Dasher, you'll get to receive the many benefits of this new technology and participate in the "test drive" for free. We will be releasing the program in two phases, based on geography. Each phase -- lasting about a month -- will give you full functionality, complete with virtual yard signs. Please note that the virtual yard signs will disappear at the conclusion of your test drive, unless you enroll in the program prior to the ending of your test drive period. By enrolling during the test drive, you can save up to $20 per listing (active, temporarily off market and pending status). Subscription costs and the enrollment procedures will be covered later in this article.

[Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article listed the Phase II dates as Nov 24 - Dec 29. This version contains the official Phase II dates of Dec 8th - Jan 5th.]

Set your Phasers on "fun"

Are you ready to have some fun? We're about to get started in your area, commencing in two separate phases. So set your phasers on "fun" because the results will surely "stun."

The members of the following associations/boards will start their free test drive period and participate in Phase One, November 10 – December 9, 2009:

PHASE ONE Boards/Associations (Nov. 10th – December 9th):

• Desoto County Board of REALTORS®
• Englewood Area Board of REALTORS®
• Greater Tampa Association of REALTORS®
• Manatee Association of REALTORS®
• Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of REALTORS®
• Sarasota Association of REALTORS®
• Venice Area Board of REALTORS®

The members of the following associations/boards will start their free test drive period and participate in Phase Two, December 8 – January 5, 2009.

PHASE TWO Boards/Associations (Dec. 8th – Jan. 5th):

• Bartow Board of REALTORS®
• East Polk County Association of REALTORS®
• Lake Wales Association of REALTORS®
• Lakeland Association of REALTORS®
• Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association
• Osceola County Association of REALTORS®
• REALTORS® Association of Lake & Sumter Counties
• West Volusia Association of REALTORS®

Once Blue Dasher is "live," you can view and advertise listings provided they are located in the following counties listed below. Please note that the counties will also be "phased in," as indicated:

"TEST PILOT" Phase - (Test Drive/Free Trial Period Oct. 20 – Dec 9)

• Charlotte
• Lee

PHASE ONE Counties - (Test Drive/Free Trial Period: Nov. 10 – Dec. 9)

• Desoto
• Hillsborough
• Manatee
• Pinellas
• Sarasota

PHASE TWO Counties - (Test Drive/Free Trial Period: Dec. 8th – Jan. 5th)

• Lake
• Orange
• Osceola
• Pasco
• Polk
• Seminole
• Sumter
• Volusia

Be sure to check that the counties are live when you are advertising your listings. For instance, GTAR agents will participate in Phase One but Pasco County properties will not be live until Phase Two. The map below illustrates the coverage areas:

Click to Enlarge

Dasher Virtual Drive Subscription Benefits

1. Dasher Virtual Drive of streets, neighborhoods and points of interest.
2. Send links with customized reports to Home Buyers.
3. Home Buyers can also experience Dasher Virtual Drive.
4. Ability to set a Virtual Drive Landing Page for the best perspective on a property.
5. Image Maintenance - Request Updates to keep all imagery current.
6. Full access to Customer Service.

What is the cost?

Blue Dasher is absolutely free during the "test drive" period. Here are the costs when you continue with the program:

Dasher Virtual Drive Subscription Packages:

Advertising Listing Packages (Virtual Signs):

Although there is no obligation to continue with the program, we believe that you and your clients will enjoy the freedom, time and cost savings to advertise your listings.

When you subscribe to the basic Dasher Virtual Drive package before the end of the "test drive" period, Blue Dasher will let you keep all the virtual signs that you have already advertised, for FREE! This benefit will allow you to save up to $20 per listing and save you the time of having to place new virtual signs in front of your listings. However, if you wait until after the "test drive" period, your virtual signs will expire requiring you to purchase and re-advertise those listings. Please mark your calendar to remind yourself to subscribe before the conclusion of your test drive period. MFR will also send out a few reminders at the end of the free period so you don’t forget. If you are unsure to which test drive phase you are assigned, or have questions in general, please contact the MFRMLS Help Desk at 1-800-686-7451, option 1.

To Subscribe

Simply go to the Blue Dasher management page from your MLXchange home page. Once you are logged into MLXchange, you are ready to subscribe to the service and to purchase virtual yard signs. As stated in the previous paragraph, please keep in mind that the virtual signs will "disappear" at the end of the test drive, if you do not subscribe; so be sure to subscribe to Blue Dasher before your "test drive" period ends and save up to $20 per listing.

Blue Dasher Webinars

To learn how to use Dasher Virtual Drive, join us for a webinar.
Webinar Calendar

Download the Navigation Plug-in and Start Driving Today!

The navigation viewer software from Blue Dasher will need to be installed on your computer prior to using Dasher Virtual Drive. Please click on the following link to install the plug-in and start driving today:

http://nav.bluedashertech.com/bdtmfr.html

Although you can drive today, the virtual yard signs will not be visible in your respective counties until the launch date of your "test drive" period -- either November 10th or November 24th. Please refer to the map for coverage areas and details. [link to map on pop-up window]

Thank you for participating with My Florida Regional MLS. We are excited to have you as one of the very first REALTORS® in the entire nation to experience this exciting new program.

Happy Motoring!