The real estate industry is visual. Buyers want to visualize the home they seek to make an informed decision. This is why visuals are such a powerful tool in real estate marketing.
Therefore, videos offer an excellent way to enhance real estate listings and help buyers better understand what’s currently on the market.
How Videos Work When Marketing Real Estate: One Agent’s Story
Let’s consider one real estate agent’s story:
As a real estate agent, I know how to use videos to showcase properties. After all, the right video makes all the difference in selling a home quickly and for the right price. However, sometimes it’s a real challenge.
I listed a house for sale – a wonderful home that had sweeping views of the mountains and a large, open floor plan perfect for entertaining. But it was also a fixer-upper, with outdated fixtures, a need for fresh paint, and an overgrown backyard.
This posed a dilemma from a sales standpoint. I had to do some quick thinking to get potential buyers to see beyond the home’s current state and imagine its potential. So I decided to produce a walk-through video.
I used the video to highlight the home’s open floor plan, the natural light, and panoramic mountain views – views from all of the house. Next, I created a property video that showed the home’s potential, using images of similar properties – before and after they were fixed up.
Why Videos Make the Difference: Ways to Use the Media
Needless to say, you can use videos in a way that makes still photos or text almost obsolete. That’s because videos offer a more comprehensive look at a property. They also allow buyers to virtually tour a home without visiting it first.
This can help greatly if you have someone from out of state or out of the country wishing to buy real estate. Videos offer an emotional connection as well – a connection that sets a house apart from other houses in the marketplace.
For example, let’s pretend you’re seeking a home in the Camarillo real estate market. Viewing property videos of homes in the community enables buyers to narrow their choices and choose those houses for which they’re pre-approved. It’s an ideal way to canvas a community’s listings.
Watching a video allows buyers to understand better a home’s layout, condition, size, and features.
Types of Videos Used in Real Estate Sales
Real estate videos are used in one of several ways. Let’s look at the most popular formats.
- Walk-Through Videos: These videos show buyers on a property tour, walking them through the home’s layout and features. Walk-through videos are shot using drones or helicopters (to get an idea of the property’s features from above) or created on the ground by videographers. They may incorporate images, text, and other visuals for a broader touring experience.
- Property Videos: These videos highlight the key features of a property. They typically include images, text, and audio that showcase the real estate in the best possible light. In addition, they provide an overview of the surrounding area, amenities, and local attractions.
- Feature Videos: Feature videos are similar to property videos, but they focus on a specific feature or area of the property. For example, a feature video might focus on the outdoor space, like a pool or garden, or a specific room or feature, like a kitchen or fireplace.
- Virtual Open Houses: Virtual open houses are videos that allow buyers to explore a property without physically touring it. These videos are shot using drones or other cameras and include images, text, music, and sound bites – all meant to provide viewers with a complete tour of the property.
- Video Testimonials: Video testimonials are a great way to provide potential buyers with an insight into the experiences of current or past homeowners. The videos may include images and text to emphasize the owners’ experiences further. The text may assist people with hearing problems or be added as a translation tool.
6) Storytelling: Videos are a great way to tell the story of a property. They showcase the property’s history, highlight interesting features, and relate to an owner’s story. Stories, told through videos, provide potential buyers with a deeper understanding of the property – which helps set it apart from other listings.
Other Visuals
The above types of videos represent some of the primary ways that videos are used to enhance real estate listings in the marketplace. In addition to these methods, there are also other tools that realtors use to create interesting visuals.
For example, virtual staging is a great way to showcase a property and show buyers what a property looks like with certain furnishings and décor.
3D tours are also produced to give buyers a detailed property tour, allowing potential buyers to explore the property in a distinct virtual setting.
Why Videos Work
As you can see, videos are an effective way to enhance a selling strategy. Below are more reasons why a video gives sellers and buyers a competitive advantage.
Videos capture people’s attention and create emotional connections
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a well-crafted video can tell an entire story. High-quality videos allow potential buyers to visualize themselves in the property. This helps them form an emotional connection before setting foot inside a house.
Video tours also provide an immersive, 360-degree view of the property, giving viewers a better sense of the space and layout of the property. This is much better than using property descriptions and static images to sell a property.
Videos increase a home’s online visibility.
Videos are essential for improving SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and boosting online visibility. Many popular search engines rank web pages with video content higher in the search results, making it more likely that potential real estate buyers will discover a property.
Realtors generate more interest in property listings by providing users with engaging and informative visual content.
Videos create shareable content across multiple platforms
One of the great advantages of video content is its shareability across various platforms. With just a few clicks, potential buyers can share property videos on social media channels, email them to friends and family, or even embed them on their websites or blogs.
This increased exposure helps to attract more interested parties and ultimately leads to a higher probability of selling a property.
Videos establish professionalism and credibility.
High-quality videos demonstrate that a seller is committed to providing potential buyers with the best possible experience when looking for a new home. They offer valuable insights into a neighborhood, nearby amenities, and any unique features the property may have.
Videos save time for both agents and buyers.
Needless to say, video tours offer convenience for both the agent and buyer by reducing the number of in-person showings. Buyers who have already viewed a property’s video tour are more likely to show a genuine interest in a home, leading to a higher sales rate.
One Final Thought
By capturing attention, improving online visibility, offering shareable content, establishing credibility, and saving time, videos truly make a difference in the real estate industry.
