In conversation with Tim Denbo of VirtualTourCafe, we asked a simple question: "Why should agents create a virtual tour for their listings?" Tim obliged with a compelling list of substantive reasons. After you've had a chance to check out our list, please comment below and tell us:

• Do you use virtual tours?
• Why/why not?
• Which solution do you use?

If you're not using a virtual tour solution, here are five reasons you may want to reconsider.

1) Sellers expect it.

Your sellers don't live in a cave; they've seen other online real estate listings, and they'll expect you to live up to the most compelling of these. Chances are, the listings they find most compelling will include a virtual tour (we'll talk about that in a moment).

Now, we're not saying that you should simply bend to whatever your customer wishes. After all, many leaders caution against blind adherence to the old adage that "the customer is always right." You're the expert – you know what works and what doesn't. That being said, when the thing your client asks for has the potential to be helpful and is relatively inexpensive, it might be prudent to follow their wishes.

2) Buyers will spend more time looking at your listing.

"Studies have shown that consumers are drawn to listings with the most pictures and virtual tours," Tim explains. The more people see your listing and the more time they spend there, the better. 'Nuff said.

3) You can prove yourself as a marketing expert.

In our competitive real estate market, anything you can do to prove that you're motivated, effective, and tech-savvy is crucial when you're trying to win a listing. It helps if you can offer potential clients a list of the tried-and-true, modern marketing tools you use for your listings. Virtual tours are a nice addition to this list and look great when you're showing clients a visual example of what you can do for them.

4) It provides an opportunity to gather leads.

If, when, and how to force registration on your website is often debated among real estate professionals and online marketing experts. If forcing registration feels like the right choice for you, a virtual tour provides an excellent opportunity to do so. Of course, the contact information submitted then becomes a lead for you.

If requiring registration isn't something you're interested in, your virtual tour is still an opportunity to gather leads through options such as "save this property," "learn more about this property," and other lead capture functions.

5) They can be relatively inexpensive.

"With our solution, you can create a virtual tour yourself for under $20," says Tim. VirtualTourCafe is one option for creating virtual tours; take some time to do the research about your options in our product directory.