Blog kickoff Article
I shot my first real estate video tour in 2004. I had an out-of-state buyer interested in a property and decided a video was the next-best thing to showing the property in person. Today I post full-motion walk-thru video tours of almost all of my listings.
I'd like to take a moment here and explain what I mean when I use the term "walk-thru" and "full-motion" video.
| "Walk-thru Tour" describes the method of shooting video with a video camcorder walking through a property much the same as you would if you were showing it to a prospective Buyer. During the editing process I add voice-over narration so the final product shows the property with my comments about the property as a sound track. On most videos I add background music as well.
"Full-Motion Video" describes a video produced mostly with video footage shot with a video camcorder. The video on the right is a Full-Motion Video. Here are some more examples of Full-Motion Video Tours using walk-thru formats. |
So... in the coming weeks and months I'll post my ideas and experiences here and I hope we hear from others as well. The intent is to encourage Real Estate Professionals to become knowledgable about online video and what it means to their future in the business.
I love the idea of online video and I look forward to hearing more about how to begin getting the videos up on my site.
Glad you are staring this helpful source, and I am anxious to read more.
Laura Grace
GRI,e-PRO
www.LGRealtor.com
Pittsboro, NC
Real Estate Broker
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Laura...
Thank you for your comment. I'll try and make the blog as interesting and informatve as I can. Stay tuned!
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Ray, THANKS! Great timely sharing of information! Now will begin the 'which videocam' questions, and I'll be brave enough to begin that thread. Also, how many practice sessions did it take before you actually published today's sample?
Thanks again!
Sandi Pfister, e-Pro
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Hi Sandi... Thank you for you interest in the blog
I'll tackle hardware on my next article tonight or tomorrow. The sample video is a current listing and I've been doing them regularly for 3 years. I'd say I've done at least 40, possibly 50 so far.
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Thanks for taking the time to create this blog. I recently started my own video blog in the hopes of attracting buyers for REO properties. I worry that we stress too much over PRODUCTION and not enough on CONVERSION. So far, the only hope I have is, "If I build it, they'll come." Without advertising, I'm getting about 11 unique visitors a day. And about one contact a week (I'm only in week 4). I've experimented with slideshows and walk-through video, and the people like the walk-through better.
Looking forward to helping your blog thrive!
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Hi Sean... Thank you for your comment.
They say "Content is King" when it comes to attracting visitors and I guess that's true. But our business is selling and closed sales is what it's all about. When I worked for IBM I had a marketing manager with a picture of a farmer standing beside his roadside vegetable stand. Next to him was a sign, it read "A Pound of Crop is worth a Ton of Theory." I never forgot that sign. It expresses my thoughts on marketing and selling very well.
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What am I doing wrong? I tried to look at several of your vidoes, and they keep stopping and starting.
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Hi Carolyn...
Thank you for your comment.
I think most of the problems with the stuttering and stopping on online videos is due to the playback of the video overrunning the downloaded file. When it does that the player runs out of video to show and stops until some more is available. YouTube uses Adobe's Macromedia Flash technology to display videos on your computer. If you click on the horizontal slider at the bottom of the picture and drag it back toward the beginning you should see a dark bar. That dark bar indicates how much of the file has been downloaded to you computer. As long as the little slider doesn't pass the RH end of the dark bar your video playback should be smooth.
You should have 300+ kbps or better to comfortably view stuff from YouTube and most Flash-Based sites. But... you can even use dialup speeds if you are patient and let the video file download before playing it. BTW... the video file goes to your temporary Internet files folder and you can save it an play it back later if you want to. Want to check your line speed? Here's a free test site that doesn't require you to enter you email address.
Also.... From the Youtube Help Screen..........
"
Help Center Home > Troubleshooting > Solving Video Player Issues
Why does the video keep stopping and starting while I'm watching it?
Another possible reason for choppy video playback is that our servers are experiencing high traffic. If this is the case, there's not much you can do. However, we are continuously adding servers to keep up with demand and improve your experience on our site.
It's also possible that your video download speed is slow or inconsistent. In this case, you can try pausing the video until the entire stream is downloaded and then playing the video. Occasionally, an incomplete copy of a video can get stuck in your cache and never fully download. You can re-attempt the download by clearing your browser's cache. You'll find steps on how to do this listed here.
Other video servers may or may not buffer the video while in "Pause Mode".
Let me know if you continue to have problems.
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Hi Ray,
Looking forward to more of your updates and Realtor perspective on using video tours.
As a Wedding and Event videographer here along the Emerald Coast of N.W. Florida (near Destin), I have been getting calls from owners wanting video of their property.
My last project even included a website along with the photos and video: www.SouthernGloryOnTheBay.com
Over the past few months I have produced five home tours and all were purchase by owners. So far, I have not had a single Realtor show any interest in what I have available. All of them are using 360 tours or still pictures.
Why do you think owners see the value but not Realtors?
The few Realtors I have tried to show my samples to never called me back.
My prices start at $850.
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Hi Ray, thank you for you comments... your videos are stunning!
Our industry is sometimes a little slow to adopt new ideas. One reason might be the the fact 51 years is the average age for Realtors® in the US. It wasn't very long ago that many folks didn't even put pictures in their listings. Now it's rare to see a listing without multiple photos. Now, virtual tours are beginning to be standard fare for most top producers.
Maybe it will take some new folks in the ranks successfully using video to get the veteran's attention. I think a brand-new Realtor showing up with a strong video-based marketing plan could be pretty fomidable competition. We have some Realtor® in the group... Whaddya think?
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