Online Video is Beginning to Become the New-Normal for Real Estate
December 15th, 2008Posted by Jim Reppond
I saw a press release the other day talking about the increase in online video viewing for October. As I looked at the numbers I realized how dramatic the shift in video viewing has become. According to ComScore, an online data measuring company, October was a banner month for online video viewing with YouTube videos outpacing all the other sites combined. Over 13.5 BILLION videos were viewed in October and more than 147 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 92 videos per viewer.
What does this have to do with real estate?
Marketing! I believe it’s no coincidence that newspaper circulation and advertising is rapidly dropping off as this online video takes off. We are in a full-blown information age now and broadband is finally becoming mainstream. This means as people become more internet savvy, they are going to expect more digital photography and video online of properties. Those who embrace this early will be the dominate players in the market.
How will agents use video?
Referrals and repeat business have been and always will be the best source of leads for agents. But in a world where online video is so prevalent, agents would be missing the boat if they don’t adapt to that reality to get in front of perspective clients.
Most agents that utilize video now have a narrow vision and not much imagination. The videos are either virtual 
tours of their listings, or self-promotional videos trying to sell themselves. I’m guilty of this as well. But we are starting to see the emergence of other real-estate-related videos. Take Ian Watt in Vancouver. Here’s a real estate agent, usually driving around in his car, giving you his point of view on everything from Realtor ethics to low-tide tunnels. And it’s really interesting stuff!
Other examples include “Neighborhood Profile” videos. This is where an agent can really add some personalized style and flair. You want to make a kick-ass neighborhood video that reflects the style and culture of the area, and of you. Linking to other videos is okay, but you won’t 
communicate anything about yourself if that’s all you do. Here is an example of TurnHereFilms‘ Ballard neighborhood video, which I think captures the essence of Ballard really well. Coldwell Banker has used them in the past for neighborhood informational videos, but they are quite expensive and not practical for most Realtors, or even brokerages.
On Seattle-RealEstate.com’s Neighborhood Descriptions page I have attached several neighborhood videos for people to get a flavor of the areas. Some of these I created myself, and some I linked to from other sources. If I had more time I would do this for every area and personalize each one.
Where to go for help?
Let’s be realistic. Not all Realtors are going to have the skills to pull-off quality, compelling videos. Hiring 
someone else makes the most sense and there is already a cottage industry of small production companies offering services around. WellcomeMat.com is a real-estate-business-specific website where local personalities and professionals connect and discuss the use of video to highlight real estate, cities, neighborhoods, parks, schools, events and local businesses. You can even request bids on projects. I find that the quality of videos produced and posted here to generally be a step up from what most 
Realtors are capable of producing themselves. Jeff Turner of RealEstateShows.com offers a unique package of coaching and video production. He has a great system for taking photos and creating simple videos with pans and zooms so that you don’t have to have actual video footage to come up with a pretty decent video. Jeff also offers great on-line tips for agents that are determined to do it themselves, regardless of their lack of skill (that’s my category).
One of the first places an agent should check into is their real estate brokerage. Many major real estate companies are actively promoting video these days and encouraging their agents to jump in while the industry is just taking off. This is a great place to look for local talent who can shoot the footage as well as do the production for you. My company, Coldwell Banker Bain, has made a major push to get agents to make promotional profile videos and consider using video for luxury property listings. They have already made arrangements with several videographers that offer reasonable rates and are experienced with working with agents (meaning those who have no acting talent). While these cookie-cutter videos may not be the best approach, they will at least get your feet wet and get you thinking about what’s possible.
8 Comments Add your own
1. David Pylyp | December 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Absolutely, I can reach a larger audience and my potential clients can have a look at me prior to out first meeting.
I promote topics related to real estate, and what I can do for my clients, here’s a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znBuVi7DsJ0
As I am a novice, but learning the technology, I know that video’s a few years from now will be much better.
For people I know, they provide a sense of humility.
David Pylyp
ElegantHomesinwestToronto.com
2. Jeremy Dodd | December 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Hey Jim,
Great post!
I’d love to hear your thoughts as to what a reasonable price is for a home listing or agent profile video.
I have an ad agency in Edmonds where we do a lot of online video. About a year ago, I spent months going back and forth with different real estate brokerages over what the appropriate price should be for a 1-3 minute home profile video, agent profile video, neighborhood profile vid, etc.
It seems to me that the same person who can afford a $700K+ home isn’t going to be all that impressed with the majority of the video you’d find on a typical brokerage’s website. Yet, that’s all most agents are willing to pay for, quality-wise.
It was a frustrating experience, because the benefits of video were widely understood by everyone, yet the willingness to pay for it was not.
Doesn’t this seem like a problem better solved by the brokerages themselves putting a videographer on staff @ $35/hour, as-needed?
Every discussion with a brokerage I had was attributable to the current or past “video guy” becoming unreliable or delivering poor quality work. It was unfortunate, but very predictable.
Glad to see you’re plugging ahead, though! I’m sure video has been working well for you. It does for just about everyone who uses it!
-Jeremy
PS: just started following you on Twitter, as well.
3. Rodney | December 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Jim,
Great post. I am a big fan of video.
Why? - Relationships. Video helps visitors to your website connect with you.. get to know you and your personality.
My biggest tip - Keep it Simple. It is not about the fancy equipment, or even the editing software but creativity, commitment and passion.
Keep up the great work in Seattle.
4. jfsellsius | December 16th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I too am a fan of video applications by real estate professionals, as users have shown their acceptance and preference for visual data.
Recently, I have been exploring branded video emails where professionals can send home /neighborhood videos, testimonials, etc. in a branded email. I ‘ve adopted such a product and am preparing a post on it..
I even used it to send some Christmas cards to friends:
http://tinyurl.com/6zoyyd
5. Jim Reppond | December 16th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Thanks for your comments, everyone!
There are so many ways to use video and it’s just getting started. I suspect there will be many new and exciting uses and applications we haven’t even thought of yet.
Joseph’s video email application is one, another is the emerging use for blogging comments, like Seesmic is doing. I think soon we’ll see a lot more online video advertising and video overlay of spokespersons like innovateads.com is doing as well.
It’s a brave new world out there!
6. Fred Light | December 19th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Video for real estate is where websites for real estate was in 1999. A few early adapters are seizing the opportunity - and those will be the people who reap the benefits in 6 years when everyone else decideds to jump in! Those who had websites 10 years ago are sitting pretty right now with all the best domains and the highest search engine rankings. Video will be the same.
We do video tours for listings starting at $139. I know many realtors who spend far more than that running worthless ads in newspapers which nobody reads! Still.
7. Northwest Indiana Mortgag&hellip | December 21st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[…] I LOVE A PARADE - Especially a PARADE of REAL ESTATE POSTS about a RECOVERY!I hinted, oh I did more than hint, I all but said what it was I cared about this week: This week’s Carnival of Real Estate is all aboutTHE 2009 REAL ESTATE RECOVERY … […]
8. Daltonsbriefs | December 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
Jim, thanks for stopping in a leaving your twitter profile, I should have checked my list of follows, since I was already following you. I think that real estate professionals using higher technologies will be the survivors, and will be the main reason that 2009 will feature such a strong recovery.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed