Susan HardingHome sellers love it and so do buyers, but agents aren’t always so quick to jump on the video bandwagon.
73% of clients say they are more likely to list with an agent who offers video, yet only 12% of Realtors are using video.*
For you, this means opportunity, a chance to gain a competitive advantage. Here are five reasons why video can make both your listings and you stand-out from the pack.
Promote Yourself as a Market Leader
A high-definition video tour set to music with professional narration can wow buyers and impress sellers. A video tour of a listing not only helps you sell that particular property, it also improves your overall “brand”.
In addition to property videos, you can market yourself with an agent profile video, or neighborhood video tours, branded with your contact information. When potential clients search for information on a neighborhood online, not only will they find the tour, but they’ll find you!
Get More Listings
Agents often tell me they love the way our video tours not only help them sell homes but also to get more listings. They’ll show a tour sample during a listing appointment on their tablet or laptop and it’s a slam dunk, they’ve got the listing!
Once you have a video produced, distribution is key. With every video tour, we offer help with online marketing. In addition to adding the video tours to the local MLS, an agent’s website and social media, we also upload the tours to half a dozen other websites including YouTube. While some think it’s just a channel for silly cat videos (and there are some especially cute ones!), YouTube is becoming a key tool for any marketer with a visual product. YouTube gets picked up in search engines, so titling and tagging the videos with appropriate keywords will help buyers find your videos when they’re searching for homes online.
Create an Emotional Connection
“Listings with video received a 400% increase in inquiries and website views last year.”
– Domain, real estate listing service
A listing with high quality photos and video, shows off the property with immense emotional impact. It helps to create the emotional connection that leads to a personal showing. We’ve had buyers fall in love with homes during the video tour and request a copy of the tour to keep as a closing gift.
Unlike photography alone, video tours can capture the sounds of a natural landscape or peaceful garden, birds singing, and waterfall features. With the right equipment and experience, your video tour provider can provide a smooth walk-through video, giving viewers a true sense for the home’s lay-out, how rooms flow into each other, and of the neighborhood’s overall vibe.
Video Gets You Noticed Online
A video tour is like having an open house 24-hours a day, the next best thing to reality.
All of the videos we produce include an unbranded version (for the local MLS) and a branded one (with full contact information) for everywhere else online. With a call to action and contact information on each video, it’s easy for potential clients to get in touch with you.
Also, video is great for Google juice, fueling your website’s SEO, and viewers are 78% more likely to stay on a website that offers video.*
Video is More Affordable than Ever
Producing a high quality video does take time. The shooting, editing, post-production, graphics, copywriting, music, and narration make real estate video more expensive than photography alone. But with advances in technology, real estate video no longer costs the thousands of dollars it did at one time.
DIY video is also an option, and if you’re able to pull it off and create a high-quality piece, that’s wonderful for your marketing. Agents may find that DIY video takes much longer than they had anticipated, and after considering what their time is worth, decide to hire a professional. Also, quality isn't nearly as professional as a hired company.
And one last benefit: Video tours increase the overall “perceived value” of the home, encouraging buyers to pay the asking price. Video can make your listing come alive, getting you to the closing table that much sooner, while you pick up new clients along the way.
*Statistics courtesy of www.postling.com and www.census.gov
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Hi Susan- the video shots you’ve shown look fantastic! Does the home owner or the realtor usually pay for a video like the first one you shared, and how much does that typically cost? I really liked your points – thanks for the taste of real estate video – I hope you write more in the future too!
Thanks so much Judith! I work directly with agents and they are the ones who book and pay for the videos.. However, if they wanted to work something out with the home seller, and offer video as an add-on to their marketing, that’s up to them.
As for cost, it varies from market to market (and quality varies a lot too!). My base package for a high def narrated home video tour starts at $250 and goes up from there, depending on the size of the home, additional property/neighborhood video shots etc.
Let me know if you have other questions, thanks!
Great stuff.
Thank you very much for all the information you share…It is very relevant and helpful