09 Jan Video – Great or Gimmick?
Hi, again! I’m back with some really gripping information about video tours or visual tours for real estate listings. Depending on your position (seller, buyer or realtor) in the real estate listing process, you may want to research making a video or visual tour for your particular property. Let’s take a look from all three perspectives…
Pretty Pictures will Make a Difference – click here to look at MLS listings.
If you’re a seller, you want all the bang for your buck you can get. More is better, in terms of internet exposure. Loads of photos are important. Have your Realtor take a ton of ’em. Photos of features, vignettes, special finishes, fireplaces, whatever you love about your house will make an impact. Have as many photos as your agent’s MLS will allow to be put in your listing. Be sure they’re well-lit, so the details are visible. Your pictures do NOT have to be professionally done, but tell your realtor not to use them if she doesn’t know how to lighten them if they’re dark. Dark is a turn-off for most people. If your realtor IS using a professional, be sure to have the photographer get the features you think are the best features of the home. Suggest view, fireplace or interesting architectural features to your realtor. It can be mostly interior if you think that’s the best thing about the home, but don’t leave out pictures of the exterior. Buyers will think the house is unattractive or has no curb appeal whatsoever. And of course, the reverse is true for the exterior and not showing the interior.
How about video? Okay, here’s the deal about video. There are professional videographers that really know what they’re doing. I know some of them. They really are great at what they do. I just can’t afford them. It isn’t that they aren’t worth what they charge, they are! I just can’t pay for that service for every listing I have. So, what do you do? Whip out that smart phone, that’s what! Take a 3 minute video of the features you love about the house and upload it to YouTube. Include it in your listing in the local MLS and on line. You’ll have some reporting available to you through Google Analytics and you’ll certainly know how much it’s been viewed. There’s nothing like a video to give buyers a real feel for the spaces of a home, and they also appreciate knowing how the floor plan works. An up-close and personal view of flooring and other finishes can really be helpful in the marketing of a home.
Choose Great Images for your Listing Photos – Click here to See a Smart Phone Video
Visual Tours are another way to showcase your home’s best features. It’s basically a slide show, with pictures that are stitched together to present a panoramic effect and give buyers an idea of the size and scale of rooms. This isn’t a bad way to market a home and show off its features. Another plus with Visual Tour is that you can track how many views you’ve had and where they come from. Visual Tour is realtor-friendly and can really help put your best foot forward. There are many different companies that offer a visual tour. Your realtor will most likely be familiar with one of them.
For Buyers, what do you need to be really interested in listing? We’re all such visual creatures, it’s photos, of course! What do you think of when you see a listing with only one or two photos? It’s a less than desirable home, certainly. If it’s not, there’s something the realtor doesn’t want to show you, right? Well, would you believe that many realtors only have a hand full of decent photographs for a listing? It’s true, and in this tech-crazy business, that’s not working smart! The internet is out there, working 24/7, and that little smattering of photos that someone puts on a listing just doesn’t do it for you, does it? Wouldn’t you really be more drawn to a listing with lots of pictures and a video or visual tour? Of course, you would! You can even begin to imagine how the house would look with your furniture and personal items scattered throughout. It’s through the use of photos and video and visual tour that it all comes together for you, right?
Interesting Features Should be Given Special Attention – click here to see a professionally-made video presentation.
If you’re a Realtor, you’re going to want the maximum exposure for your listing. That’s a part of your responsibility to your listing client. Chances are pretty good you’re in competition with other listings, and you may wonder why a home sold that you consider to be not as nice as the home that you’re offering. One of the things that you can absolutely do is have as many nice photographs as you can put together for your listing, whether you take the photos or you hire a professional photographer. Lots of photos will interest folks who are searching on the internet, and when there’s so much to choose from, lookers will always default to the listings that have lots of photos. “Oh, well, I knew THAT!” you say? Okay, then why is there only one photo of some of your listings showing up on the internet? You can’t expect a lot of activity when only one picture is out there with your competition showing 20-30 pictures.
Okay, so how about video or visual tours? Either will get you noticed more on the internet. Something to perhaps consider is the possibility of a YouTube video. Did you know that YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world? Yep, it’s true. So, even if all you’re doing is taking a short video of the best features of your listing with your smart phone, you may be way ahead of other people who don’t do anything in the way of video or visual tours. The lighting doesn’t have to be professional. What you’re basically doing is showing the house or property to your audience, pointing out the features that you think are great features. You’ll be able to track the number of views your tour has gotten and Google Analytics will help you see where the views came from.
Take care until next time, everyone! Have a great week!
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