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Home Marketing: Use DVDs!

By
Real Estate Agent with SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.
If you or someone you know is thinking about selling their home, it is important to consider the use of full-motion video and DVDs. We have been doing this for years, and have gotten to the point where we own cameras, remote microphones, lights, Avid post-production systems and more.  Here are a few of the reasons we have found that having video and DVDs is so important in selling a home today.
     
  • Open House 24/7. The most critical factor in selling a home for top dollar is marketing exposure. By having full-color brochures with DVDs in the flyer box at all times, buyers can take a DVD and watch it on their TV at their convenience. A DVD makes it easy for buyers to preview your home, and, basically, means that your house is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Relieves Burden. For some people, having to make way for buyers who want to see your home can be a significant burden. The most common examples are: 1) people who work at home; 2) people with medical conditions; 3) parents of babies/toddlers; 4) seniors or others for whom the disruption is unsettling; 5) homes with pets that get upset by the presence of strangers; 6) people who have a lot of work stress who try to relax during the weekend. DVDs allow every person who stops by the house to see the home in comfort on their TV. If the buyer likes what he/she sees, then a scheduled appointment to show the home can be arranged.
  • Having a DVD takes some pressure off from showing the home to every buyer/agent, regardless of the request. When possible, you should allow people to come in and see your house as much as you can. But there are times that it just isn't possible. Due to home office situations (e.g., conference calls), health issues, or simply convenience, there may be times when showings would be extremely burdensome. With a DVD, the good news is that one can kindly say to the agent or buyer, "Now is not a convenient time, but please take a DVD home with you to watch on your TV, and if you like what you see, please call again and I will be most happy to allow you to see it at your convenience."
  • A video is a great take-away gift for the interested buyer. We can't say enough about this! Buyers who take home a video of a home can watch it many times, show it to a spouse who wasn't able to see the home, and share it with friends and family to get extra input. This is a REALLY important feature because your home video will stand out among the available homes. We know -- we have even sold homes to people who had never seen the home before placing their offer on it!
  • DVD, not CDROM, technology is CRITICAL. DVDs will play right on the TV set; CDROMs require a computer. For a DVD, you just put it in the DVD player and hit go; for CDROMs, media players, computer speed, etc. can cause compatibility issues. In short, having the home tour on a DVD means that buyers can relax in the family room while watching the video; it makes the home tour a pleasant experience and allows it to be seen on a big-screen TV. Finally, DVDs can hold about 7 times as much data, which means that the video can be much longer and much higher quality.
  • Richness of information. Because a DVD can store so much video, the DVD can sell the house in ways that paper brochures and computer virtual tours cannot. Example: One one DVD, we filmed neighbors talking about the neighborhood and community and placed this footage on the DVD. This is great because the buyers feel really good about the home that they are buying and the community into which they are moving! Example #2: Where an elementary school is particularly strong, it can be great to get the Principal to say a few words about the school and the community. This brings a depth to the marketing that homes in other areas simply do not have.
  • Ease of Distribution. Because DVDs are so compact and inexpensive to make, they can be easily attached to brochures, distributed to other agents, and distributed to nearby neighborhoods where a buyer may live. Once you have the video, it is easy to manufacture 1,000 DVDs, which is usually the minimum number that the Hokkanen Team creates for any listing.

Of course, once you have the cinematic grade of video, it is very easy to spin out the video file into a format that can be uploaded into YouTube or streamed from your own web site.  If you want to see some examples, click here to see Carlsbad and Encinitas homes on video.

If this post was interesting to you, feel free to comment.  If we get a few responses showing interest in videos, I will consider putting my top 10 hints to being effective in front of the camera while giving a home tour. 

Margaret Hokkanen (760) 942-4242

Encinitas and Carlsbad Homes 

Comments (4)

Steve Saunders
e2 Property - Houston, TX
I like the idea and  I enjoyed your website.  Selling pictures is always a good idea.  Do you have in-house staff or are you outsourcing filiming, burning and labling DVD's?
Nov 28, 2007 02:22 AM
Herb Hamilton
RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR
Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Margaret,

Fascinating post. I bought an Epson printer over the weekend that might tie in with what you are doing. The Epson is designed to print on the Disc ( lable Face ). My intention was to reccord the home buying expierence of my buyers and Print a photo of them in front of the house they bought and to print it directly on the disc for a gift.

I would be very much interested in learning more of the techniques that you employ.

Nov 28, 2007 02:29 AM
Margaret Hokkanen
SurfTheTurf.com, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
→ Carlsbad Real Estate

Steve: Yes, we bought a DVD duplicator from Octave Systems which allows us to crank out as many as 500 DVDs per day.  I usually buy the Taiyo Yuden media as I have found it to result in fewer errors (cheap media results in errors which results in tossed media).  We do all filming, post-production (i.e., video editing), and manufacturing internally; it's the only way to control costs.  This allows us to offer DVDs for every listing, regardless of price.  We may not produce quite as many for a less expensive condo.

Herb: I've always wondered about how fast those machines were when printing.  I usually print paper labels on high-speed color lasers, but I'm printing 500 labels.  For what you are doing, it sounds like printing right on the disc would be ideal.

 

Nov 28, 2007 02:41 AM
Lane Bailey
Century 21 Results Realty - Suwanee, GA
Realtor & Car Guy
I got to see you (on screen) and your husband (off screen) at the blogger's lounge at the NAR Convention.  The videos look pretty good.  
Nov 28, 2007 02:44 AM