Real Estate Shows Embarks on Video

But is it “video” just because the pictures move around? That worked for Ken Burns because they didn’t have videographers during in the Civil War… but slideshows shouldn’t be called “video” just because they are rendered into a video format. It’s not that difficult or expensive to do a real video tour.

Having just done the first two of many more video open houses to come, I can say that it really isn’t that difficult to do. You don’t need RES to do it, just a video camera, Windows Movie Maker (usually pre-loaded on most computers now) and a couple of hours.

Roger I have seen your stuff and I love it.

Lani it really doesn’t take as long as you say but hey..whatever is easier

Holly, that’s a very good video. And waaay better than a slideshow! Quality was pretty good for YouTube. If you use the video player I use, wordTube, you can host files yourself, allow full-screen viewing, and get better quality without the annoying “badge”.

You did pretty well, walking through a house with a camera tends to violate all of Hollywood’s rules and drive cameras with auto-focus and auto-exposure crazy. I’d change the music up instead of repeating it, if you can control the iris (exposure) try fixing that and up the exposure a bit; when you point towards a window everything darkens when you’re on auto, and it’s not always the best result. Pan a bit less, and slowly. Add some tripod shots (no zooming or panning) of the key features (trees in the breeze will set it apart from still photos). Use only two transitions: black fade or a cut. I use the Steadicam Merlin for my motion shots, it’s essential to reduce bounce and rocking motions, but pricy. Obviously, keep the lens zoomed back as wide as you can (consider a wider lens if available). But you did very, very well. Nice job!

One of the problems with agents..always trying to do things on the cheap. RES definitely works and for 125 per year, most agents will opt out for the cheaper option. So that’s what differentiation is.

By the way, if you sell a $300,000 home and get a 3% commission or $9,000 then $495 is just a bit over 5% cost to you. Hardly breaking the bank for what it does..

Barry

You are confusing “cheap” with “affordable”. Real Estate agents have a business to run, so your talk radio math doesn’t quite work in this case. Nice try though.

Roger

I never questioned the legitimacy of the price of your product. I’m sure it costs what you charge to produce high quality video (with high priced equipment) and turn a profit at the same time. My point was that at the current price point, I’m not so sure that video delivers the same value per buck (so to speak) as RES. Real Estate Shows may not be video in the technical sense of the word, but they certainly come close to it in the experience that they deliver to the buyers looking for information on a home. I’m not so sure, that a buyer, after looking at a real estate show (or slideshow) says to himself: “That wasn’t exactly movie enough for me”. That’s not saying that looking at both products, one couldn’t tell the difference. But ultimately, I think a virtual tour a la Real Estate Shows, satisfies the buyer’s need for visual information about that house. And that’s what an agent’s priority should be.

Real Estate Shows are a GREAT solution. Having more flexibility with the tool by being able to convert files to Video format makes it even better.

For anyone looking to try it out, I recommend trying out a free trial. The back end tracking information provided for each show is also very cool.

I have been a client of Real Estate Shows since almost the beginning. Jeff Turner is commited to bringing us a quality product which is easy to use, while continually updating the options offered. I have never had a client say they don’t like it. They love them! They love the stats! It is a powerful addition to my marketing and listing presentation!

As a musician (14 years in the music industry) and a guy who saw the internet revolution of music coming long before Lars Ulrich got mad about it, I’m curious to know what everyone’s thoughts on choice of music is all about. I still collect royalties from my work, so obviously I am a bit biased, but if you thought a song (let’s say a hit song currently on the radio) fit your video perfectly, would you use it? There’s no real performance rights society collection for real estate videos (I’m sure BMI, ASCAP, and others are watching it carefully though, they’re always looking for ways to collect a few cents) that I know of, but I was just curious to see what agents thought of it and what they would do and why they would justify what they would/wouldn’t do.

Matt, good question… I use royalty free tracks from Digital Juice for my videos because they are NOT “hit” tunes, they are high quality vocal-less background tracks. I’m willing to pay for content. The music publishers don’t make it easy to pay for commercial music, if they did I might consider it but I won’t use anything I didn’t create myself or purchase the right to use.

Bill, there’s a tradeoff between the time spent “selling” and the time spent doing marketing materials. Many agents with the volume hire assistants or staff or sub out what they need. I just happen to have the time, and ability, and that makes it effective to do it myself versus hire out. We all need to choose our set of services and how we accomplish what we promise our sellers. (I’m not suggesting video is necessary for every home… just saying don’t promise video and deliver something else.) I disagree with anyone who claims to have too many listings to actually service them “properly”… if you get to that point, you need to refer out or hire on. That’s my opinion… I’m sure a lot of agents will disagree with me. That’s really unfortunate. As for home sellers, instead of focusing on numbers like commission and market value they ought to spend a bit more time looking at what they are getting. I’m proud to have had sellers write unsolicited accolades because they though I had done a better job for them than any other agent had – that’s good value, and that’s what we should all strive for, the money will follow.

Will have to take a look at this service. Thanks for sharing.

Erion, you don’t need to agree. But results is exactly what I meant. You took my statement out of context simply to twist it and disagree with it. I don’t need to argue with you. My statement “what they are getting” wasn’t meant to describe a raft of useless bells and whistles that sound good. It meant choosing an agent who can deliver a sale, has a good reputation, knows what he is doing, is well respected by other agents, and delivers an ultimate selling price that’s above the area average with fewer headaches. That’s what I said the first time and I’ll say it again. You don’t need to offer video to do that… you need to work smart and do a better job than the competing properties, and that will vary from market to market, house to house. For some high-end sellers, it means a well-connected agent who knows people. But I’m tired of hearing sellers complain their previous agent “didn’t do anything”. And some agents don’t… do…. anything… lockbox (combo), 1 pic (if any), MLS, two lines “great home, good neighborhood, close to everything, too many upgrades to mention, must see” and it’s off to the next listing appointment? Not my style. Brings us all down, actually.

As for home sellers, instead of focusing on numbers like commission and market value they ought to spend a bit more time looking at what they are getting. I’m proud to have had sellers write unsolicited accolades because they though I had done a better job for them than any other agent had – that’s good value, and that’s what we should all strive for, the money will follow

C’mon Jonathan…seriously it’s getting really old with so many agents making statements on blogs and then saying that’s not what I said. Ok..I’m a moron, I don’t know what someone means when they say that “cheap and affordable are two different things. Geez…it’s not like I went to college or got my masters or have spent any sort of time interacting with people.

I apologize Erion. You did’nt say you couldn’t afford the $495. I misunderstood what you were trying to say when you said “cheap is not the same as affordable”.

What are we 3rd graders here? That’s one of the issues in the re blogosphere. Everything is a personal attack, everything is putting words in one’s mouth. How about just writing what you mean then and being direct when you make statements. Ok..I’ll Play along with this game…

Hello Erion, I seem not to understand you, please explain in more detail what EXACTLY you meant when you said “You are confusing “cheap” with “affordable”. Real Estate agents have a business to run, so your talk radio math doesn’t quite work in this case.” It would really add to the conversation here for myself and guys like Jonathan. We seem to be at a place on some re blogs in regards to linguistics where it is not proper to read betwenn the lines so please do tell..what is it that you meant with that statement.

It’s really..really getting old.

Deafening silence…

> seriously it’s getting really old with so many agents making statements on blogs and then saying that’s not what I said.

The key is to read that statement and take the meaning, Barry, not add the meaning that you want the statement to have. And you’ve used the same “I didn’t say that” argument with your 90% article once upon a time … several of us, myself included, read a statement where you had a question.

Real estate marketing is full of expensive solutions, most of which aren’t worth the first two cents. If I can accomplish what I want for $129 a year (or less, since I can put together slide shows through the RE/MAX site and also Point-2-Agent), who is to say I’m wrong?

On the idea of elliptical conversations, I think all of us would benefit if they disappeared.

Damn, just deleted my own comment. It’s just not worth it…

Dan, you wrote “Barry, Since you are not an agent, your analysis of whether or not $495 for a video makes good business sense for a Realtor is nothing more than a uneducated guess. (I don’t think you would like people telling you how to run your biz”

Can I state for the record..I AM IN THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS once and for all. You don’t have to be a licensed real estate agent to buy and sell houses. Hate to break it to you Dan but it’s a real big world out there and there are some who make a great living buying and selling houses who do know a bit about real estate. My statement wasn’t an educated guess. It was based upon proven experience and the retrun on investment that I have received on my transactions.

Our radio show is a marketing vehicle that is a component of our business. It is not our MAIN business. Real estate acquisitions and sales is our business and video and RES are both utilized.

We use video for certain properties and RES on others. So we spend a LOT of money on equipment and infrastructure to run our business.

I continually, sometimes painfully, re-invest in our business and it is necessary. Roger mentioned the Steadicam Merlin. It costs $800.00, saw how it looked in his video, ordered one right up…did not blink..slam dunk of a choice.

My reference to Erion was that if $495 looked to be “not affordable”…why ? 3% of $300,000 is 9k.

Seems to me like an absolute no-brainer. Surprised many of you did not feel the same. I KNOW that when I buy a house I am most assuredly going to sell it for a pretty good profit. Tools that allow me to sell the home and fit in my budget are to be looked at.

Dan..since you asked…I run my business by allocating 20% of every dollar earned to be spent towards marketing and infrastructure.

If I make $30,000 on a deal, I know I have $6k to spend on further dominating my market and improving my infrastructure. Do you think it’s cheap to operate a radio show…condenser mics alone can cost upwards of $500-$1,000.

If an agent isn’t sure they can sell a home, then why get involved with the listing? I only want to get involved in deals that pay me. I don’t need the practice whatsoever.

In a slow market in florida we hope to move 5-10 deals this month. Accordingly I am constantly looking for ways to up my game. One of the reason I spend so much time with you lovely folks.

(Jonathan even gave me an idea about Canadian buyers not too long ago)

So…my question…or statement…to Erion was how could $495 be seen as unaffordable to one who had a listing that they stood to make several thousand dollars on?

I may have posed the question incorrectly, but the question remains.

If you stand to make 3-6% on the sale of a home, how can $495.00 be too much to spend?

Sincerely,
Resident Moron

“If you stand to make 3-6% on the sale of a home, how can $495.00 be too much to spend?”

Because if only 20% of your listings sell (that’s higher then our market average currently) that would mean it is way to much.

Using your fuzzy math that means the average agent would spend $2500 ($500/20%) per listing that sold just for one marketing concept. Even using your inflated 3%, $9000 average that is 28% ($2500/$9000) of the total commission without any other expenses. Lets not forget about the brokerage taking a cut off the top. We will be nice and call this 36% (what KW takes) which means the agent actually only sees $5,760 ($9000*64%) and the $2500 is now 43% ($2500/$5760) of each closed transaction.

Your numbers look worse once we take into account that in the real world most markets haven’t seen 3% co-ops in some time and many markets the average sales price is much lower then $300k. Don’t forget about all the other expenses we have for each listing and to run the business in general. Not to mention I don’t work for free, need to put food on the table and make an above average income or why bother taking all these risks.

This is a business and without running the numbers there is no way to make an educated decision. You need to know what you average commission is, what percentage of your listings actually sell, what your TOTAL marketing costs are per listing, what your soft costs average per transaction, how much profit you expect per listing, and then and only then can you make a financial decision. At $500 per listing this would not make sense for my business and I can say that for a fact. Not being cheap, just making a smart business decision.

Ken..are you kjididng…”fuzzy math” , “inflated 3%”…”the real world most markets haven’t seen 3% co-ops”

Ummm…if what you lament is correct…why are you in this business? And I mean that with all due respect..seriously.

There is no “fuzzy math”. 3 percent is standard for most agents in this market (although I would not get involved in a deal for 3%), the 3% stated is nowhere near inflated (ask Ines).

You are in the Chicago area are’nt you? Are you saying the median home price in the Chicago area is below $250,000 – $300,000 (not counting the hood obviously)

What is more disconcerting is that you said that “only 20% of your listings sell”

Whoa ..I mean whoa…and that’s ABOVE average? You guys have a much bigger problem if that’s the case.

Like I said above, I don’t need the practice. Why in the world would you be in a business where 80% or more of the time you fail? (sorry you didn’t say the word fail…but I don’t know how else to explain it)

I sell 100% of the properties we put on the market. I would rather be shining shoes than hitting 200.

That’s possibly the reason I don’t comprehend things with some real estate agents.

Are you telling me, seriously, that it is normal for most agents to whiff on over 80% of the listings that they take?

You’d do better going all in at your local casino..maybe even better. I know it’s a bit off topic but can some of the other AG crew chime in on this one. 80% of listings fail??? No way…you’re really pulling my leg on this.

Excuse my naivety but Bill Lublin, Daniel, Benn, Lani..someone tell me this ain’t so!

(I couldn’t resist “Resident Moron”)…

If there is a very low probability that spending it does anything toward selling the property, it’s too much to spend. If there is zero probability that a marketing cost will sell a property, then 15 cents is too much to spend

Jay concentrated my Cafe Americano of an idea into a Quadruple Shot Espresso!

@Barry

So you can understand, let me give you a little bit of insight into the decision making process concerning expenditures in our brokerage. When we consider whether or not to take on an additional expense the questions that MUST be answered is the following:

“How is this expenditure going to help in getting the home sold? How does this expenditure compare with other alternative options in getting the same job done?”

I can understand that high quality video might work for certain types of homes. I will grant that for certain home high quality video might be the only way to go. But in the Houston Real Estate market, the average home price is about $150,000. And most importantly, when it comes to getting the job of providing prospective buyers with visual information about the home, Roger’s video product would not do a better job that RES for the homes that we sell. Just the same way that hiring a professional photographer would not do a better job at selling the home faster than if I purchased a wide angle lens camera and learned to take good quality photos.

After all, with your “$495 argument”, an agent could put in a lockbox that featured an Intel dual core processor or build real estate signs with sterling silver frames or put Tablet PCs instead of fliers (all these ideas are trademarked by the way :-)) but it wouldn’t get the home sold faster.

And that’s what drives my decision making when it comes to expenses.

It amazes me that a short blog post about a product can result in 50 comments…

Folks, really…. Let’s spend this holiday weekend doing something other than bickering about Barry’s opinion. It’s pretty obvious that Barry likes to stir stuff up… that’s his thing and it does make a lot of us re-think why we do things. There is value in that, even if his delivery isn’t the best.

However, I really think that most of you have far better things to do with family and buisness than keep feeding who are controversial just to be controversial.

There is no requirements for anyone on here to answer to anyone on a blog about your business practice, and it’s really starting to feel that is what some are doing. It’s between you and your clients.

Barry once again you are putting words in someones mouth.

I used 20% as a number that happens to be higher then our market average (currently 18.6% of listings sell in our market). Our team does much better then that average, but was using an average to be fair to everyone. What my number is has nothing to do with your fuzzy math.

So do you think Russell Shaw might know what he is doing? If so how about reading this quote from his recent post. (https://agentgenius.com/?p=2129)

What is interesting (besides the utterly horrible long term downward trend of my major stats) is how “good and bad” we are doing compared to the market. For the past twelve months my percentage of of listings taken to those listings sold is 60.9% That is just awful, in the past 12 months we aren’t selling almost 40% of the listings taken. It is just awful and at the same time, a hell of lot better than almost everybody else here. Most agents in my market area are selling about 20% in that same time period. Not selling 80% of what was listed. Most of the better agents are running around 41 – 43% sold.

No listing agent sells 100% of the homes they list, it is impossible. Again you are NOT IN OUR BUSINESS, but for some reason you can’t see the difference.

Are you telling me, seriously, that it is normal for most agents to whiff on over 80% of the listings that they take?

In the current market, yes. Even in our best market the average never was higher then around 50%.

I don’t comprehend things with some real estate agents.

No, Barry you don’t comprehend much about our business and why our business isn’t the same as yours.

I am not going to argue on topics you know nothing about. That includes commission (national average is 5.1% last time the stats came out, even lower in my area) and just about anything related to being a real estate agent. If you have anything else to add then fine, otherwise you are acting like an authority on a topic you know nothing about and it gets really old having to see your asinine comments. When you stick to topics you know about you share some useful information, sadly you don’t stick to those topics.

This is a great article. It’s nice seeing sites that make it easier and more time efficient for agents to be better at marketing properties =)

@ Erion

If you look at the listings that don’t “move” they are many times listed by an agent who puts up 1 – 2 photos, has no virtual media, enters generic information in the description field (Call this one home! Beautiful two story house, awaiting new owners!), and who works for a large office where the managerial/broker support is almost non-existent.

If homeowners knew about the small percentage of agents who “work” this way, they should be outraged, as should the Listing Broker.

@Frank

No doubt there’s many agents out there who don’t care about staying up-to-date with new technology (or new to them, at least). It’s also amazing how many brokers are hands-off…If I was a broker and had the legal responsibility for some of the schmucks I see, I’d either be really embarrassed or erm…not smart.

Bob, actually 20% of listing taken vs listing sold is slightly above the average for our market over the past 12 months. It isn’t an anomaly other then it’s a bad market. There are more agents at or below the 20% number then above it.

Not that it really matters, but I find it interesting…

A baseball hitter that is successful just 30% of the time over his career will likely find himself inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Cal Ripken, of the 3,000 hits club had a lifetime average of .276

Babe Ruth made it to first base less than half the time he went to the plate

Before anyone jumps all over me, I know you can’t compare baseball to real estate and both of the above made it to the Hall for many reasons.

I just found it interesting.

Jay your opinion does matter and I am a big baseball fan.

As i have stated, I am not looking to “bash or demean” agents. I look to highly successful people for insight. I ask probing questions becasue I want real answers..not rhetoric. I believed this site to be one that appreciated elevated conversation.

I also believe AG to be far and above other sites that preach the real estate gospel. I for one as a believer like to hear my sermons in english rather than latin :)…that I am sure you understand.

In every wak of my professional life I have had and have welcomed substantive discourse. Nothing I ask is meant to bash and demean. This thread began long ago about a product that I wholeheartedly support. RES.

In fact we have had Jeff on our show and have used his product. When Roger brought up video it piqued my interest.

Enrion mentioned that the cost may be more than some were willing to pay.

I questioned that based upon a simple risk reward scenario and then it blew up. To the point where I was met with resistance and called asinine.

No.until today, I did not know that the business model of conventional real estate agents was based upon a 20% success rate or less with the notable exception of a few top performers. Yes, we sell 100% of the properties we bring to market and I thought it odd that those who were only successful 20% of the time would find this business to be of their liking.

So I asked deeper questions. For some reason, too many people do not want to accept that I am in the same business as they are. (as I stated above)

To be it seems somewhat astounding that some reply as if they are on an island and that one needs a piece of paper to be valid in the discussion. This is wholly untrue and ignorant.

I’m not demeaning agents, I am asking questions and I think valid ones at that. If asking questions about business (this is a business forum isn’t it?) is demeaning then yikes…why bother invite opinion unless it’s from the choir only?

I’m not lauding ay superiority whatsoever. I know what works for me and just as you share things based upon your experience, I share what works based upon mine. Is mine more important, absolutely not. Is my experience, well also absolutely not.

I’ll leave the soapbox of declaring myself oz to someone else we know…but in the essence of transparency I think it’s odd that what normally ends up happning is the emotional implosion of those questioned rather than engaging in true discourse.

I am not looking for controversy..I am looking for answers. I am beginning to think that as soon as I comment people get on the defensive. That is truly unfortunate.

I am highly inquisitive and it does not matter whether I am on BHB, Fark, Huffington, Kos or anywhere, I am going to ask questions and seek out answers. Do you realize it is only on real estate websites that people respond like they do here. Most sites encourage and revel in spirited discourse and dissenting opinions are encouraged.

Funny thing is, I don’t necessarily have a dissenting opinion here, I just ask questions that most seem to be uncomfortable with.

No jay, my intention is not to bash or demean. My sole intention is to elevate discourse beyond the inane AR type discussion and to see what makes this business tick.

Finding out that it is accepted that 20% is a benchmark is astounding to me. Shocking. Was asking and Bringing it to light wrong?

Was asking someone why they felt $495 to be unaffordable wrong? Actually at this point I’ve learned another thing.

I actually agree with Erion. If I only looked to close 20% of my lisitngs I’d be hesitant to spend any additional money on them myself.

But then again, that’s what caused this imbroglio…why would anyone be in a business wherein the costs of truly marketig a property can only be recouped on 20% of their transactions.

Not demeaning or bashing…just learning.

Thanks Bob,

I only take on deals that I am quite sure I can sell. Not demenaing anyone when I ask, why would I want to be involved with a property I know can’t sell. Like I said ealier. I don’t ned the practice. If I get involved with a deal, I know I can sell it.

Maybe it’s the financial forensics we do, maybe the regression analysis, maybe it’s a databse of buyers and agents who are looking for deals an knwo we deliver. We sell retail and wholesale deals. banks call us, homeowners find us, agents bring us deals and buyers…we spend a ton on marketing, spend a lot on PR and have buyers around the world looking for deals.

We have sold homes from $39k to over $1.5M most in less than 5 days even in this market.

I don’t think..no I know we are not unique. We know people across the Country moving 10-20 deals per month consistently..many in hours, some sight unseen..

We cheat..we use RES in teasers and video in the full package. We utilize the flip video camera as well as the large dvc.

We run commercials on TV, we own our own email server, obviously we have our radio show and 3 blogs..and we have a lot of fun.

I wouldn’t do this if it were’nt fun. Last weeke we had a guy read our blog, email 3 times, fly over, go out on a rdie along on 2 dyas, and he bought a $350,000 home to rent out. We also found him a tenant from our other marketing.

It works,

Julie, one of the agents asked the broker what was in it for him, the broker. He suggested that the broker had to be getting a kickback. How exactly do you get a kickback on something when neither the client nor the agent pays anything? Subliminal ads in the virtual (drink Guinness today) tour?

Hey rich…only if your buying homes in da hood!