Real estate video has been the "next big thing" for far too long. We've been hearing about video changing the landscape of internet-based real estate sales, but every year the video quality seems to disappoint. 2011 may just be the year that it all changes, due to advances in technology and the affordability of equipment.
That being said, here's my homage to advances in video quality, all apologies to Clint Eastwood:
The Good, the Bad, and the HD - Real Estate Video
I'll start with the bad, when I started experimenting with a Flip/handycam a couple of years ago. Compact, portable, inexpensive equipment is key for real estate professionals who are always on the move, but this doesn't cut it:
The Bad (you may want to turn down your volume, the wind noise deafening)
One of my favorite drives is along Alki Beach in West Seattle, but the shakiness of a car and a flip cam just don't cut it when you're going to be presenting your work to the public.
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I took a few more videos sans-vehicle in a property I sold in Kirkland a while back, and used Microsoft's Movie Maker to edit it. It was a nice little free program (it's been discontinued), and allowed some cute transitions and edits, but it's still a bit clunky.
The (Not Quite) Good
The biggest issue is the camera equipment. The flip cam is still shaky. You just can't get a truly good video without some image stabilization or a fixed video camera.
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Our marketing partner, HD Estates, has been pushing for us to do a high-quality video introduction of ourselves for a long time. We had talked about it for months, but when ActiveRain announced the contest on Monday, I called up Josh that morning and said "Let's get it done." Two hours of lighting/camera setups, ten minutes of shooting, lots of high-end equipment, two days of editing, and we have:
HD Video
Josh works some real magic with his HD property photo shoots, so I knew the video quality would be good, but I was surprised at just how cinematic the final video looked. Audio was done on an external mic, which makes all of the difference. We just received the video from Josh today, and it's going on ActiveRain before I can even get it posted on SeattleHome.com.
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For a high-end property shoot, this kind of video really makes sense, and we'll be using HD Estates for those listings. In the meantime, for day-to-day real estate video and neighborhood updates, it would be great to have a Kodak Playtouch Pocket Video Camera to replace my old flip (hint hint, AR). Wide-angle 1080p, external mic jack, HDMI, stereo audio, and most importantly, image stabilization--this could be a Realtor's day-to-day best friend.
This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain Kodak Video Challenge contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK PLAYTOUCH Pocket Video Camera, great for realtors looking to create wide angle home tours and real estate marketing videos!"
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