Fred Light

• Manage |RSSConnect NY 2009
• Manage |RSSConnect SF 2008
• Manage |RSSReal Estate Marketing
• Manage |RSSReal Estate Marketing 2.0
• Manage |RSSReal Estate Trends

There's a reason most people don't want to watch Uncle Bob's vacation home movies.... Using that "technique" (shaky, unedited, "raw" video with horrible audio) to market a home costing hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars... just doesn't make any sense. If you actually speak to buyers looking online for property, you'll find most are NOT thrilled with that type of presentation. It doesn't need to be flashy or slick at all, but it needs to be watchable. A barf bag should not be a prerequisite for watching the video. And it needs to accurately represent a product that is potentially selling for a great deal of money. You owe that to yourself as well as your seller. I can't imagine that you would respond positively to a shaky, blurry, "raw" commercial with bad audio for a Lexus or a Mercedes, would you? You would mock an advertisement like that! Yet you're selling a product worth many, many, many times more than a Mercedes! Why should bad marketing be acceptable in real estate when you would not accept it anywhere else? But, most realtors feel that taking dark, crooked, blurry photos of furniture pieces in a home (since that's about all you can shoot with a typical point and shoot camera) for the MLS is an acceptable way of marketing a home, so this is just a moving version of that philosophy - I don't expect things to change much for the majority of real estate marketing today - it can be pretty awful. The sideways toilet with yellow water I spied on the MLS just last week proves that point yet again! But I would suggest if you want to truly present YOURSELF as a professional, present your BRAND as professional, and present your PROPERTY in a professional manner, that you NOT walk around with a $150 FLIP camera and horribly bad audio as a marketing tool for the public. Unless you really want to spend a great deal of time learning how to edit video and shoot video and deal with lighting issues, etc., you're better off not doing it at all or hiring a professional. Most real estate video tours can be had for under $200-$300, which is pretty reasonable considering the reach it has to potential buyers and the professional way it can present YOU, as a savvy marketing agent to potential clients. Think of the sales pitch you give to potential FSBO sellers about why THEY shouldn't be selling their own property themselves. The same philosophy applies to you in this regard, does it not? Real Estate Video Tours http://www.NashuaVideoTours.com Online Video Marketing http://www.BostonWeb.TV

I was wondering when someone was going to write about this.

Not a surprise at all.... I've photographed and shot real estate videos for nearly $100M worth of houses in the Boston/ New Hampshire area in the past 7 months..... 3 houses worth $20 just two days ago.

A ton of high end homes are coming on the market.... I'm shooting homes over $1M 3-5 times a week. Very few are selling.

I see a problem.

I am stopped regularly (weekly) by police, security, etc. Happened just yesterday in fact. If one has a big camera and a tripod, you are immediately assumed to be a terrorist! A blog I read regularly actually is selling T shirts that say "Photography is not a crime". It's a serious and common problem. I've had police tell me I couldn't take photos from a parking lot at a state owned beach. I told him I would move out to the street. He told me I can't take photos OF the state owned beach - from anywhere! Most of these clowns have no idea of the law. Of course, there are dozens of mothers ON the beach taking pictures of their little ones splashing in the water. THAT'S OK, of course. I have the "Photographer's Rights" book with me at all times for the past 4 years, and I've had to reference it on many occasions. Whenever I go out to do community tours for agents, as I did yesterday, I warn the agent that security or cops will hassle us at some point. And 95% of the time, I'm right! When I do video tours of homes, I usually do a drive through the neighborhood with a camera mounted on my car. I had a woman WAIT almost an HOUR for me outside a house for me to finish up and come back to my car. She saw the camera on the car and wanted to know if I photographed HER. I said if you were in the field of view as I was driving, chances are I did, but I honestly didn't remember and didn't pay attention. She DEMANDED by pictures and threatened to destroy my camera unless I gave her those photos... she was going to call the police.... A total nut job. And she waited for an HOUR to prove that to me. People are crazy sometimes. Considering people have their photos taken driving through intersections, in the shopping malls, at the grocery store, at the ATM - pretty much everywhere - I don't understand why people are so paranoid when they see a camera. Real Estate Video Tours http://www.NashuaVideoTours.com Online Video Marketing http://www.BostonWeb.TV