Selling your Home with a Video: The New Way to Sell
As the home selling market becomes increasingly competitive many sellers
are looking at ways in which they can garner the attention of buyers
using some unique and innovative methods. One way to do that is to
use a video to sell your home.
In the past, home buyers had to go on when reviewing homes was a stack
of grainy, out of focus snapshots-if that. Today homeowners and agents
are creating customized video home tours that reveal every room in the
house and even feature narration with a music soundtrack.
Such videos can then be uploaded to a variety of websites including
various real estate sites as well as the much viewed and popular
YouTube.com. Estimates indicate that as many as 70 million videos are
seen on YouTube on a daily basis; making it an ideal format to market
such home videos.
Real estate agents who have begun using such innovative Internet
marketing techniques believe that video home tours allow a house to come
alive for possible buyers. Not only are home video tours being posted
online, but agents are also burning copies and handing them out at
various events such as open houses. In some cases, video home tours are
believed to actually reduce the amount of time a house is on the market.
Not only do such video home tours provide advantages to sellers and
agents, but buyers benefit too. Buyers who have been looking for just
the right home for some time and are weary of traipsing through one
house after the next and reduce the amount of time they spend actually
touring homes. This is a clear advantage in a market where there is an
abundance of inventory. Home buyers who are Internet Savvy also clearly
appreciate such new and technologically advanced efforts. The National
Association of Realtors reports that as many as 80% of all home buyers
are now using the Internet in order to search for their next home.
Video home tours clearly take the old adage "A picture is worth a
thousand words," to an entirely new level. Not only do buyers get to see
the interior of the home, they also get the advantage of seeing how the
home flows. Far different from the 360-degree tours that have been used
online in the past, video home tours show the house as it really is.
Such streaming videos are more fluid and provide far better visuals. The
narration also provides benefits, keying buyers into the home's best
benefits. Below is an example:
While high-end luxury properties are increasingly using such home video
tours that is not to say that they do not provide advantages for more
modestly priced homes as well. Most such videos cost around $150 to
produce including the video, professional music and narration as well as
postings to various web sites. Sellers who have sold their homes in
record time find the cost is very affordable, especially in terms of the
response and return they receive. In fact, some sellers are even quick
to point out that money which was traditionally spent on magazines and
newspapers in the past can't hold a candle to the leads that are
generated from video tours seen by buyers online. In addition, there is
also the undeniable advantage that these streaming videos are available
to prospective buyers online 24//7. The videos can literally stay online
until the home is sold.
More high-end properties are taking advantage of what are often referred
to as mini-documentaries. Homes priced in the $3 million price range and
up can benefit from having an entire crew come out and spend hours
setting up lighting as well as working to stage the home. The resulting
video has a high definition, professional quality and includes
customized information such as broker information, still photos, floor
layouts and community attractions. Such a video runs around $1,500.
Regardless of the price of the home, one thing most home videos have in
common is the absence of a price. Sellers and agents have learned that
ideally it's best not to include a price. This prevents the video from
becoming outdated in the event the price is reduced in the future.
While home video tours certainly appear to be the wave of the future
when it comes to selling homes, they have already begun to evolve into
even more advancements. Some companies are now also offering podcast of
the home tours that can be downloaded to portable devices such as an
iPod or cell phone.
If you're thinking a home video tour might be just the right thing to
sell your home, do exercise caution before attempting to create your own
video. While most homeowners now own a variety of video equipment,
creating a professional quality video is actually more complicated than
it might first appear. For example, if the lighting isn't handled
correctly, the color could come out wrong, resulting in a poor first
impression on buyers. In the end, the price to have a professional video
produced can be more than offset by the returns you receive.
