Originally published 12/5/09. Updated 4/24/10 to reflect current services to Arch City Homes sellers.
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. Until recently, I set up a simple slide show for each of my listings.
However, slide shows with shifting pictures don’t add any new information for a potential home buyer. And to be honest, they are pretty boring to watch.
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.
Instead, I recently started spending some extra money so I can offer my clients production quality video that includes pictures, video and captions.
Video Tours to Market Homes for Sale:
For most properties, I also provide a live-action video tour. These videos give buyers some information that they can’t get from pictures and marketing remarks.
Video allows you to see the flow from 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. Buyers can get a feel for the floor plan and see 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 videos shot with my Flip Video Camera 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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{ 10 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!
I like the videos, I own a small video production company and recently been researching to see if there is a market for low cost pro video for home preview. now that it’s so easy to put high quality video on sites like youtube I would think most home owners would spend a few dollars for a pro video. a good video could narrow down prospects to the most serious, as a home owner i know every time the agent called wanting to show the house it might not be the most continent time, and after several times of that i might be looking for a new agent. Lets say a pro video walk through cost the home owner $300 and maybe it would go something like this.. i would work with the listing agent we would come up with a quick story board, i would mic them up and would shoot the video as the agent shows the home, of course in post production we would add text, background music and the listing agents contact information at the end of the video.. the video wouldn’t be no more then 5-7 mins.
Not only would this help sale a home but would be great advertising for the agent.
Shane – I agree that video can be a big marketing plus. But I think you’ll have a hard time getting agents to spend $300 unless they are selling homes in the $500+ range. Homeowners expect agents to cover all marketing costs, and we only get paid when a house closes (IF it closes). The reality is that a large number of homes never close, either because the seller is unwilling to price the house where it needs to be, they aren’t willing (or able) to sell for what it is really worth or they decide the problem isn’t their price but the agent…and they switch agents hoping to get better results. Every agent has a % that don’t close, and we would be out of business fast if we spent this kind of money on every listing for just one piece of the advertising puzzle.
The goal is also to get as many possible buyers to the house. It may be inconvenient to the sellers, but buyers pick homes where they get that WOW feeling, and no marketing will give it to them. We’re not looking for marketing which will screen out the homes for buyers, but will encourage them to come check it out. If I was a buyer looking at homes online, I wouldn’t really care about the quality of the video as long as it gave me what I wanted…lots of pictures and a feel for the floor plan.
I’m sure there are agents that would agree with you though. You should definitely target agents working in the more expensive parts of town if you want to make a go of it.
I guess part of my question is that why would the agent pay the $300 ?
If i put my house on the market it would be nice to have a option for a very good video home tour. I would pay extra for it, it’s just like selling anything else a bad first empression and i’m clicking right on to the next house. your right that customer needs to feel that WOW factor… how many more prospects would get the wow factor from seeing a well done video?
don’t get me wrong i think most any video is better than no video… but a bad video just like bad pictures will turn a prospect off before you ever get a chance to talk to them.
Copy this link and then paste it into your browser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTqiGCf-RGs&feature=related
it will take you to a good home preview.
Is there rules that would prevent an agent from trying to sell a video tour?
Yea i know it is a 6.5 million home… but the same thing could be done for a 150K home.
Thanks