Recently I started experimenting with using video to promote homes and condos for sale.
Virtual Tour Options:
A few years ago, tech savvy agents started adding 360° virtual tours to their listings. If you haven’t seen any of them, the basic concept is that a video camera is placed in the center of a room and slowly pans so you get a complete view of the room.
There were a couple of problems with these virtual tours. They were really expensive so agents only hired videographers to do the virtual tour on a couple of rooms. The rooms were often distorted, so it was hard to get a feel for the true size of the room. Though these virtual tours were a nice perk to have on a listing, the bottom line was that they didn’t sell more homes and most agents stopped using them because the cost wasn’t justified.
When you click on a listing today and see a link for a “Virtual Tour”, you will typically find a photo slide show with shifting pictures set to music. I set up a slide show for each of my listings.
Most sellers expect a virtual tour, and since there isn’t any added cost, I’m happy to obligue.
However, slide shows with shifting pictures don’t add any new information for a potential home buyer.
In St. Louis, real estate agents are allowed to include up to 99 pictures in the MLS listing and add captions to each picture. So, other than some pretty music, these slide shows don’t add any value to the home sale listing.
Video Tours to Market Homes for Sale:
Video tours give buyers a piece of information that they can’t get from pictures and marketing remarks. Video allows you to see the flow of one room to the next. Video can also let you see small details that would be overlooked in the regular pictures. I’m not going to upload a picture of a ceramic tile floor in a bathroom to one of my MLS listings, but I can easily capture the floor in a video.
Video also allows me to showcase the community.
I can include shots of nearby recreation, parks and shopping districts. MLS rules in St. Louis don’t allow us to include any pictures other than the home for sale or subdivision/complex amenities, so there is no way to SHOW a buyer what the shopping district looks like or the amazing park 2 blocks away.
My videos give buyers the information they need to get excited about a property. I show them how one room flows to the next and include important details such as walk-in closets and laundry rooms. Then I finish off with a quick overview of what they will find in their new community.
I’ve only shot a few of these videos, and I’m learning more about what to do and what NOT to do with each one. I know these are not polished shoots, but then again, I don’t think my clients want to pay a higher commission so that I can have a professional video created for their homes.
All I know is that if I was a buyer, I would happily live through a so-so video if it meant that I got more information about a property.
Check out my first few attempts at video tours.
If you were a buyer, would a video like this help you decide if you wanted to go see a home?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Where else can you find such current information? What it all boils down to is gettting to the gist of the matter in as little time as possible. Wouldn’t you agree?
Hi Karen,
I think the videos are a GREAT idea (and what a beautiful blog :-p) – one thing that might make them better, if it’s easy in your editing software, is to add captioning to rooms like “master bedroom”, “master bath,” etc. – especially if they are unfurnished when you are filming them – otherwise it can be hard to tell one carpeted drywall box from another. Also – I saw on one that there was a sign that said, “Refrigerator included,” but I couldn’t quite read it, so a caption would have helped there.
I never did care for the 360-degree tours – they took a long time to download and just made me dizzy!
If I were in your area, I would definitely pick you as a buyers’ or sellers’ agent because of your thoroughness and determination to differentiate your services by staying on top of new media.
Cynthia – I agree that I need to add captions to the videos. Currently I’m working with the free software that came with the Flip Camera I’m using. I tried one other program, and it allowed me to insert a page in between clips with a title, but I didn’t care for the way it handled transitions. I’m guessing that as I get a bit better at this, I’ll end up trading up to better editing software.
I have definitely learned that I sometimes move the camera too fast and that splicing the transitions together cuts off a second or two at the beginning and end of each clip. Next time I’ll leave the camera at the starting point for a few seconds longer!
You should have seen my first attempt before I realized you could splice clips together. I kept the camera rolling with I tromped up the steps in a 2 story!
I use videos all the time. People love to see it all as it looks. The more video’s the better.
When marketing a home that is worth HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars, I don’t think watching something akin to Uncle Bob’s shaky home movies is a professional way to market a home. You need to make the home look as good as possible, not like the Blair Witch Project.
It’s dark, the lighting is bad, the camera is shakey. It’s just not professional.
Considering the size of the commission that real estate agents earn, isn’t it worth a few hundred dollars to have it done professionally? It also makes YOU look professional, not like a kid with a camcorder.
Sorry.
Cylia – I appreciate you taking the time to share your opinion.
The reality is that agents don’t keep the entire commission they make on a sale. Plus, we have a ton of expenses related to running a business that commissions need to cover. As a self employed professional, my commissions need to cover my office supplies, marketing, MLS access, continuing education, health insurance, the list goes on and on.
For most agents, including me, the choice is either to do a video ourselves or to not offer video at all. Keep in mind that very few sellers are putting down money up front. We only get paid when homes close. There is never a guarantee we will get paid to cover out of pocket expenses. I can’t think of any other professionals who don’t require a down payment before they start working. I know that I paid my website designer 50% before she started working on my website. Even a painter won’t start working until you give them some money to buy paint. Still, agents are willing to take on jobs that may not end up paying at all in the end. Bottom line is that we have to make wise choices on how to spend money. I honestly think that most buyers would prefer a ‘blair witch’ video that gives them a sense of the floor plan over no video at all.
That said, I respect that you may see it differently. I know that everyone isn’t going to hire me. You probably are one of the ones who wouldn’t.
I love the videos that you are doing. Those slide show “videos” that most real estate sites offer are just the same still pictures and aren’t worth my time at all. I think your videos show a better perspective of the actual size of the rooms also. Have you considered talking during the videos and explaining some of the things about each room during the video? That might be really useful too.
As far as if I were a seller and had an agent using a flip to make a video – I would be all for it I think – unless maybe I was selling a multi-million dollar home – then maybe I would want more. I think for most of us though we really appreciate when a Realtor just actually wants to do a good job for us and uses multiple tools to help sell our home.
Good job!