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How smart New Hampshire realtors can blow away the competition!

For the past four years, in good times, in OK times, and now in difficult times, I have monitored the number of properties on the market that offer virtual tours (and I'm using that term very loosely).

The ratio has been almost exactly the same, regardless of the economy and in spite of the fact that the number of properties on the market has exploded in the past year. Roughly 20% of all properties in Hillsborough Country have a virtual tour on the MLS system. Only 568 properties out of nearly 2,700 on the market.

Numerous polls and studies done in recent years show that the quantity of photos, the quality of photos and the presence a virtual tour help make properties stand out, receive more views, and help get perspective buyers in the door. And yet, with a record number of homes on the market, only 1 in 5 have a virtual tour of any kind! And many have photos that are embarrasingly bad.

To make matters worse, probably 500 of those virtual tours are just regurgitated photos that have been recycled from the MLS and put into an inexpensive program that now zooms in and out and in and out - set to music! The zooming is random, so oftentimes we're zooming in on the arm of a sofa (are you selling furniture or homes?). And of course, being small, low resolution, low quality photos in most cases, when you zoom in, the slideshow gets blurry.

Does this offer a buyer anything of value? NO. In fact, you're insulting the buyer by forcing them to take extra time to download your "virtual tour", only to find the EXACT SAME information they just saw, only now it's ZOOMING! What is the point? Buy downloading a virtual tour, a buyer is expecting more information. More photos, more angles, larger photos, neighborhood photos... MORE than what they've already seen on the MLS! And most of these so called "virtual tours" are just giving them the same and wasting their time. More importantly, these slideshow programs are what they see time and time again when they find a listing that even offers a virtual tour. Same old, same old. Most even have the same (default) music in the background, and most offer absolutely nothing of additional value.

How can your listing stand out among the rest? How can you stand out as a professional and as someone who understands how to properly market real estate? How can you make your listing engage the buyer so they pick up the phone and visit in person? How can you use high quality marketing to make you look like a professional?

Virtually all buyers begin their search online. Your internet presentation is THE first thing buyers see. It's your 'curb appeal'.

Pretend you're a buyer. Compare these three listings, all listed for over a million dollars. I'm sure all three properties are beautiful homes - in person. Based on what you see here, which would make YOU interested? Which home LOOKS like a million dollar home?

Look at this listing with it's tiny 12 photos and no virtual tour.

Look at this listing presentation and virtual tour

Then look at this listing and it's presentation with professional photography and a narrated, full motion video tour?

Which would you choose?

Posted by Fred Light - Real Estate Video Tours for MA and NH on 02/25/2009 06:55 AM

Comments (6)

Video in the Online Marketing Channel

real estate photography, real estate video tours, new hampshire photos

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6 Comments on How smart New Hampshire realtors can blow away the competition!

FEB

First choice, the video...although I think it's a little too long, but love the storyline! Curiosity challenged me to pull up $1 million 'Plus' homes in our marketing areas to see how many had MLS Virtual Tour links. There were 241 homes and approximately half of them (127) had virtual links. Out of those 127 homes, I looked at the top ten, most expensive homes ($3.8 mil to $8 Mil). Out of those ten homes, none were video tours. Some were HQ slide shows, one narrated slide show and others had a 'postlet' style flyer. I rarely see a video tour among our MLS listings. Just FYI from the East Bay!

Terri: What many people don't understand about video is that a video tour is the LAST thing a buyer looks at. They FIRST search on basic criteria (bedrooms, baths, location, price, etc.). THEN, they read the description and quickly look through the photos. THEN... if they're still interested, they watch a video.

At that point, they're SERIOUS. They're INTERESTED. They're not browsing casually any more - this is a property that they really like. We find that by the time a buyer gets to the point of watching the video, they watch it. All the way through. It's not uncommon that they watch it several times. (One realtor said their buyer watched it at least 100 times! They talked themselves into buying it!) This is where they are making a final decision as to whether to put this home on a short list and visit in person - or not. They scrutiinize the video, looking at every corner and trying to extract as much information as they can before they take the time to visit the home in person.

The difference between YOU looking at a video (just for curiosity purposes) and a serious buyer (actually seeking a property exactly like this for a real world purchase) is very different.

It's like a wedding video. If you're the bride or the groom... or maybe the parents, you LOVE watching that wedding video. Over and over again. If you're just browsing around the web and you stumble on a wedding video... you're probably going to be bored within 5 minutes! You know no one.. and weddings aren't particularly interesting to casual strangers. They're only interested in watching if you're vested in THAT particular wedding and the people involved. Same is true with real estate video. Unless you're vested in a particular property for a potential purchase, real estate video is hardly entertaining or interesting to anyone else (except maybe the seller!)

For some reason, the more expensive the home, the fewer photos and the complete lack of virtual or video tours. I don't get it at all. Zappos.com is an online shoe store. EVERY shoe has at least 6 photos. That's more than Realtors put online for a million dollar home. It's just amazing to me the logic behind their thinking!

FEB

Great point Fred in regards to viewing a video! I'll have to keep that perspective in mind!

FEB

Fred,

Your blog post goes back to the email I sent you a couple months ago. The problem with Realtors is that they really don't understand the purpose of listing a property online. Like you, I look at many property listings, and it appears that they do it, just because everyone else does. They don't realize that the Internet is the most powerful selling tool available to them. They don't know how to use the Internet, and let the listing do some of the work for them.

The point you made about the way a Realtor views a property, and a potential buyer is absolutely correct. When I am explaining the difference to Realtors. I ask them to think back to the last time they made a major purchase, i.e. car, house, boat, RV. If it was a car, think about how you looked at cars online, or at a dealership. Right now, you see a car, and it's a car. As a buyer when you were looking for a car, it wasn't just a car. You were looking to see if it could be your car.

I know in your email you mentioned that you have all the business you can handle. In your blog, what you're talking about is the problem. "Why aren't more agents doing video or a real virtual tour?" It's the lack of knowledge of how to use the Internet as a sales tool. That is what the problem is, and until they are taught, nothing will change. I do virtual tours for Realtors, and don't do video. The only reason is the average price of a home in this market is $87K, and to do video would be cost prohibited. What I've been trying to do, is educate agents on the problem. Once they understand the system of using the Internet as a sales tool. They then can make a educated decision on what "enhanced listing service" would work for them. In order for a property to be listed effectively online, they have to use an "enhanced listing service". Just doing photos is not going to work with real estate.

I've done the same exact same thing that Realtors are trying to do with the Internet, and have had great success with it. I've personally listed and sold multimillions in big ticket items using only the Internet. I know the elements that go into an effective listing, and there are critical sales/buyer elements that have to be there. You think that you have enough business now. Once the Realtors get educated, your business will explode.

MAR

Pictures...what a difference!

APR

I am proud to be the only realtor in my market that provides full professional photography and HD videos tours on all my listings, from 300k to 3 million plus. I'm also glad to say I am #2 in sales in a market of over 1500 realtors. THey see what I am doing, but do not join in. I was the first on the South Shore of Boston to do these, but if I wasn't the first I most definitely would havea been the 2nd.

Web appeal is the new curb appeal. How do you stand out?

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