How's Business

[R.Perry]

I know this pandemic had devastated many people. In the San Francisco Bay area and California Central valley many of the jobs shut down, but many like UC Merced kept working. Multivista has continued to pick up some very good contracts even during these hard times. They are beginning to diversify and jump into area's other than just construction. I think once this pandemic is behind us, or under control that there are going be many new opportunities.

I'm wondering what the rest of the country and even other countries are experiencing?

 

[Fred Garvin]

Seriously dropped off. My Real Estate side, which is 80% Commercial (shopping centers, storage facilities, land for development, stand alone business) 20% Residential, is nothing for the last 4 weeks. Construction side (progression, site security, fine art images) has dropped off to by about 50% but still get a couple calls a week.

Sure could use a source like yours here......(Multivista)

 

[R.Perry]

Hi Fred, contact Mutlivist they have franchises very where, can't give no guarantees. The thing is they not only do exterior but interior photography for the construction industry, however that isn't glamour shots but point and shoot as fast as you can. Most professionals like yourself might find that very frustrating. They also do Manport walk through but I haven't been involved in that, but it is pretty cool.
The Merced site is coming to and end soon, buildings are all done, now it is landscaping, concrete, and paving, not too exciting for sure. They have outlined a fly through the entire campus they want me do upon completion and to be honest, what they want is a bit out of my league, but I'm going to give it a shot, probably several shots. They want it for the college and all the contractors that were involved in the project. I'll see if I can post a screen shot of what they want.

 

[R.Perry]

This is basically want they want, some of the flights are just above street level. The elevation on this map are not the planned elevations, much higher in some areas, lower in others, obviously will be shot in segments.

 

[R.Perry]

Here is the actual job site as of the mapping done on the 21st

 

[Recoveryone]

The good thing for commercial construction is the loans have been made already and the work will continue. Next calendar year will be the test, to see if the banks will be in a lending mood (our economy).

 

[R.Perry]

The good thing for commercial construction is the loans have been made already and the work will continue. Next calendar year will be the test, to see if the banks will be in a leading mood (our economy).

That's a very good point, government and colleges don't depend on bank loans but all other construction does.
This is my last job, wife told me I"m retiring and we are going to travel for a while. I think 72 years old is about time to hang it up.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I do terrestrial as well as aerials. At a minimum I’ll color balance and correct perspective. No skewed corners, crooked doors and slanted ceilings in my images. But yeah, run & gun is normal for MLS listings. Real Estate is a dozen or so images, if that. Commercial even less. After the initial set it’s just milestones until completion. Then it’s either a fine art terrestrial or low angle aerial for large print framed for the conference room or reception area. I also do printed photo books that document the project start to finish. Clients sometimes want these, but it’s usually for the architecture firm, project and construction companies. They use these as a record of the project, plus as marketing material. (See what we can do)

I've had the Matterport guys put the hard sell on me, but just haven’t invested in the kit. The market here is simply too hot. By the time the pics hit the listing there’s already a contract on the property or within a week it’s gone anyway. The time and $$$$ investment for Matterport walkthrough is really only for large, slow moving estates. Besides, feedback I get is that it’s an interesting gimmick that quickly looses its novelty, and slow/buggy on phones. People really only need to see a few pics to know if a property is worth going to look at. Project managers just want to make sure things are progressing well without having to visit the site so often. None of this is for Matterport.

One interesting use I’ve done is for Landscaping contractors. Provide high resolution bird’s eyes of the property for planning and design. It’s more accurate and current than Google Earth. Some of those images are several years old.

 

[R.Perry]

Fred, it is obvious you are very knowledgeable about the market and what works and what doesn't. I just thought the Matterport was a cool tool, but at over 4000 dollars is isn't a cheap one, and how much work would you need to just recover the cost of it. As always do appreciate your opinions and experience.