Comments on: Marketing Homes for Sale with Video Tours

By: Karen Goodman

Karen Goodman — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:49:53 +0000

the best advice I can give you is to read everything you can online about marketing real estate. Watch what the successful agents are doing. Then work hard and don’t expect fast results. It takes time.

By: Carlos Zometa

Carlos Zometa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:15:01 +0000

Good Morning, I just started a video marketing business in El Salvador for selling houses like you. I believe it is the best way to buy and sell properties. I have adds in newspapers but I have not sell too much so far. What advice can you give to increase my sells?

I will appreciate your recomendations.

By: Karen Goodman

Karen Goodman — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:28:51 +0000

I don’t think you need to hire a professional to take your videos. In fact, online research suggests that anything that looks too much like a commercial gets less attention. Reality TV is the trend now, and people watch videos that look real and give them the truth.

I am still shooting videos of my properties and the nearby community. But I found someone in my office that does a better job than me. She downloaded some free or inexpensive software, and she uses the video on her point & shoot camera. Our current strategy is to do 2-3 videos per property. One is a short teaser style video to get people interested (Animoto.com real estate pro account). The 2nd is a walking tour of the property using captions and background music. We purposely do not narrate the videos since so many people watch them while at work and likely have the sound muted. When possible, we do a 3rd video highlighting the community. We try to keep the walking tour at 5 minutes if possible and the teaser at 2-3 minutes.

Here is my YouTube channel that will show you our recent videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/kgoodman67?feature=mhum#g/c/B980E26E8893BD43

Good luck!

By: Angela O'Sullivan

Angela O'Sullivan — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:29:53 +0000

Hi Karen,
Thank you for this informative post. We are in the construction business and are currently trying to market homes in a property development here in Ireland. The climate is difficult for selling property but I believe there are buyers out there and I intend to find them. One avenue I am exploring is video marketing – as you are discussing here. I have been getting prices from service companies but the prices are way outside our budget. I have been thinking about taking the shots myself – after all, people just want to get an idea of what the property and surrounds are like. How have you been getting on since? Are you happy with your Flip camera? I know this is an old post, but I am just starting to research the possibilities for on-line/social media for property marketing. Thank you.

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:31:40 +0000

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

By: Karen Goodman

Karen Goodman — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:44:21 +0000

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.

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:13:12 +0000

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.

By: Robyns Online World

Robyns Online World — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:18:32 +0000

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!

By: Karen Goodman

Karen Goodman — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:59:42 +0000

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.

By: Cylia

Cylia — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:43:53 +0000

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.