Video Openhouse

I recently came across a website that claimed to list new houses & condos Canada wide. This site had listings in Ontario, Alberta & BC. I wanted to learn more so I entered their forum area to see what people were saying. To my dismay, the forums were littered with spam, I could not count a single legitimate post.

Real Estate Blogs & Forums can be a great addition to a real estate website. If you are thinking of starting or maintaining a blog or forum, I would suggest getting advice from someone who can help you maximize the benefits. Dara Sklar of Realty Support can assist you with all of your website needs & questions.

I had a friend forward some interesting information about Google’s new Tools For Real Estate Professionals webpage.  It seems that Google has increased interest in the real estate industry.  And they have some very impressive statistics support their cause.  They claim that “over 56% of all Internet searches on ‘real estate’ and related terms are conducted on Google … and the majority of those searchers are actively looking for listings or referrals to brokers and agents.” 

By providing a suite of useful tools for professionals in the real estate industry, is Google attempting to bolster their listing service, Google Base?  That would seem to be the case.  Recently, Google Base upgraded their interface and created tools to easily publish real estate listings.  Posting a listing on Google Base also ensures that the property will be indexed by their search engine.  Google’s listing service is a great tool, but it is a distant second in comparison to the free listings leader, craigslist.

Most of you will already be familiar with the tools:

Google AdWords - Cost-per-click keyword advertising for effective local lead generation

Google Maps - High performance mapping experience

Google Earth - Harnesses the power of 3D satellite imagery

Local Business Center - Submit business listings easily

SketchUp - A powerful tool for creating, presenting, and modifying 3D models

The Tools for Real Estate Professionals webpage failed to mention their other free products such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Online Spreadsheets and Picassa (photo organization).  By providing easy to use tools, Google will be able to attract more real estate listings, and ultimately create a better search experience for anyone looking for real estate.  But can they catch craigslist?

Want to captivate your Internet audience and increase the average visit length to your website? I have some simple tips that might help you accomplish this goal.

1. Provide High Quality Compelling Content - I don’t want to sound like a broken record but I cannot stress the importance of having great content. Video is in high demand on the Internet and is the single best method that I know to attract vistors to your website AND keep them longer! Great pictures are another way to add great content to any website.
2. Great Titles and Snippets - If you blog, tempt the reader with captivating titles and eye-catching written content that will motivate someone to look further in to your website. Provide the first 2 sentences of an article with a link that will allow them to READ MORE…
3. Engage Your Audience With Interactivity - I think the best examples of this on realtor websites are mortgage calculators, live chat and property listing serches. Provide more than just textual information by providing utility for the visitor. How much can I afford to borrow for a mortgage? Let’s compare prices for recently sold houses in this area. Essentially, to obtain the desired information, the user will need to interact with your website. You may find them coming back again and again.
4. Create Communities - People want to interact with others who share similar interests. One of the Internet’s strengths is it’s ability to create communities. Forums, chatrooms, bulletin boards and blogs that allow comments all keep people returning to and staying at your site. Again, these examples all provide a common place to exchange information with others in your “community”.
5. Provide Informational Resources - Les Twarog’s website (www.lestwarog.com) is a great example of a website that provides really useful information to anyone interested in condos in Vancouver. He has created a detailed list of all the buildings in the downtown core with individual links to information about each building. Information about each individual building consists of links to the buildings strata website, developers website, address, number of stories, number of units, photographs, map, and floorplans.

Essentially, create something of value for your visitor. You must keeep your design attractive and navigation easy-to-use, but it is the value that will keep visitors coming back and staying longer.

Do you own rental property in the Vancouver area? If you do, consider having a video produced. The video only needs to be shot once and could be used every time the house/apartment is available to rent. By harnessing the demand for video, you will ensure that you receive top dollar for your rental. It’s also a great way to screen interested applicants before they come knocking on your door.

If your property is being marketed as an executive or corporate suite, this will allow the potential customer to view the residence from any location in the world. If your clients are from out of the city or overseas, ensure that they can take a tour of the property, without being in Vancouver! Kurt Sigouin of Azure Properties manages numerous luxury properties in the downtown core and is having us produce videos for all his listings as they become available. Here are his first 4 videos and picture galleries:

Seawalk North (1625 Hornby Street) — video - pics

West One (1408 Strathmore Mews) — video - pics

AZURA 1 (1438 Richards Street) - video - pics

Shaw Tower (1077 West Cordova Street) — video - pics

Having read over thousands of real estate ads, it is obvious that some realtors make a greater effort at writing descriptions for their listings. I often wondered how important a well-written description is to the potential buyer, especially with the rise of high-resolution images and video and virtual tours. Do I need to be told that the kitchen has stainless steel appliances when I can see it in the pictures or video? Well someone has just released a study on just this topic. I read this on the CBC website this morning:

Nothing deters a house-hunter like the terms “must-see” or “motivated seller,” suggests a new Canadian study on language and real estate.

Paul Anglin, an economy professor at the University of Guelph, analyzed home sales in Windsor, Ont., over a four-year period.

“There is a basic question about how house prices are determined,” Anglin said. “I was building on earlier research that was looking into that question.”

Anglin found that when realtors described houses as “beautiful” or “gorgeous” they sold 15 per cent faster and for as much as five per cent more than a comparable house. A house that was described as in “move-in condition” sold in 12 per cent less time, on average.

“I guess it makes sense that every house is beautiful to somebody,” Anglin said. “I’m surprised that that just attaching the label would make a difference.”

Toronto realtor Ian Shaw said it’s important to accentuate the positive aspects of a house but said the adjectives must be accurate.

“If you say it the wrong way, you can actually turn people right off,” he said. “I think language is quite important.”

Anglin found that when houses used descriptors including “as is” or “must see” or promised a “motivated seller,” the houses took longer to sell and often sold for less.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/12/22/real-estate.html

It seems that the description may be a cue or trigger to motivate the potential buyer to look for more information. This leads to the question, if you already have had a video produced and it is linked to the mls website, how can you increase its number of views? The mls website does not allow for any differentiation between “Virtual Tours”. According to the mls, a virtual tour can be a gallery of images, a 360/panoramic tour or a video. It becomes very difficult to harness the demand for video when there is no way of determining the type of “Multimedia” that resides on the other side of the VIEW MULTIMEDIA link. We always suggest to our clients that they write “VIDEO TOUR” in all descriptions. I will also make it a point to suggest that a well written description with words that entice the Internet audience, will drive even more views of their video as well!

We attended the Vancouver Real Estate Tech Meetup held by Ubertor founders, Michael Stephenson and Stephen Jagger earlier this week. The Meetup is a chance to learn about the changing Real Estate market and technologies that are currently available. Stephen’s brother, Michael Jagger of Provident Security, spoke briefly about how blogging has impacted his business and about residential security issues.  Thanks to Dara Sklar of Realty Support, who suggested that we write about security issues surrounding the use of video or virtual tours.

Our Video Openhouse tours are essentially an online open house. In our marketing material, we state that “our tours captivate the Internet audience by featuring the best features of a home.” In our photography and videography, we try to focus on the elements that are a physical part of the home such as fireplaces, custom work such as floors and mouldings, bathrooms, kitchens. Although it is not always possible, we specifically try to exclude any stereo equipment, televisions and other valuables from our shots.

Most home owners have already discreetly hidden or removed their items that they do not want publicly displayed, in anticipation that there will be showings of their home. Recently, during a shoot, I was asked not to show a specific painting in any of the video or photos. With some co-operation and communication with the owners/residents, it is conceivable that all these security and privacy concerns can be addressed.

When filming amenities in the many condos scattered across the city, inevitably, there will be people working out in the gym, swimming in the pool or using the rooftop patio. Again, privacy concerns dictate that we try our best to avoid having people featured in our photos and videos.

I consider our Video Openhouse tour a great replacement for the traditional open house and a far safer alternative. I have often heard from realtors that most open houses attract more curious neighbors than interested buyers. Concerned strata councils often request agents meet all open house attendees at the front door of their condo to avoid allowing access to random strangers. Graham Kirby has a listing at 1861 Beach Avenue that illustrates how our video tour is being used as an alternative to the open house approach. His clients were very specific in their desire not to have people wandering through their exclusive condo. Interested buyers are being referred to the video first, essentially being pre-screened before they enter the property itself. If the video is edited with these issues in mind, I believe the security concerns are far greater with a house full of strangers at a traditional open house, than there are with any video or virtual tour.

We recently produced a video for our 2nd holiday/vacation accomodation. Helene Kelly of the Auld Dublin Guest House had contacted us to create a video tour of her Bed and Breakfast at 988 West 19th Avenue. And what a charming place it is! Here is the link to the video:

Video - Auld Dublin Guest House

Video is a great way to showcase your summer rental home on the beach, Bed and Breakfast and/or condo in the mountains. Even though we specailize in the production of video for the real estate industry, we are always open to new ideas and new markets. If it involves video on the Internet, let us work with you to fulfill your vision.