Videographers needed all over the U.S.

Brent Marks · July 31st, 2005, 02:30 AM

Is this a legit business or not?

What is the final word?

Has anyone gotten a pay check from this company?

Ponder. Talk. Do.

Todd Kivimaki · July 31st, 2005, 08:53 AM

If any of you want to shoot video tours, why not just go out and shoot them on your on. I have for over a year, and I'm a 21 (just turned 22) college kid. I shoot anywhere between 10-20 tours a week, I do all the taping, editing, web hosting, and design, and selling.

I'm not going to lie, it isn't the easiest to sell these tours, but if you are persistent on the realtors, they will soon see that it is 10x better then a virtual tour, and that these tours really work! I had a realtor call me the other day that said she sold a home to a couple from out of town only because they saw my tours. Wow, that's quite a compliment. This lady spent $75 on a home, and sold it and made $7500 (it was a $250,000 house @ 3%)

Now all you are griping saying I'm not shooting a tour for $75. Well my tours start at $75 for up to 2000 sq ft, and $25 per additional 1000 sq ft. The whole thing is on the pricing the realtors pick up the bill, not the broker or the real estate company. It's a hard task to convince the realtor that they need to spend the money on the tour. But once you do, they are hooked, because it works. And I am making good money. Most of my tours average around $100, but let's take the low and saw $75. So I make anywhere between $750 to $1500 a week, not bad for a college kid (and not bad for anyone) considering all my friends are making $6.50 an hour.

I think what the golookinside company is doing is fine, but I would never join, why join when you can be on you own. And I did talk to Sky a long time ago when this thread started, she seemed very nice, but she was asking me how I operated, and called me with a few questions. This just goes to show you that they don't have it all figured out quite yet, it's a business venture they are hoping works. Why not take the same venture on your own, and not be connected to anyone.

Boyd Ostroff · July 31st, 2005, 09:14 AM

While I really hate to see this old thread get resurrected, I just have to tip my hat to you Todd. Wow... it's great to see someone who is so motivated and has developed such keen business sense at the age of 22!

Congratulations on the business you've started. I suspect you're going to be very successful in whatever you do after college. Keep up the good work!

Jacob Ehrichs · April 10th, 2006, 09:11 AM

I was looking though my old posts and saw this thread. Anything ever become of this? I remember a lot of discussion, but not a lot of results.

www.golookinside is still up and running, with a pretty decent website. www.yourgoldenopportunity has been bought by squatters. A pretty cheezy name anyway.

Josh Bass · April 10th, 2006, 09:25 AM

I decided it was sketchy and left it alone. It had that feel of being one of the 10,000 other things I've applied for where you're promised plenty of work, etc., and then they never ever ever call you.

Jason Robinson · April 11th, 2006, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Yeah, well I personally wouldn't touch this. Maybe it is legit but it has all the earmarks of a "get rich quick" scheme if not an outright scam. I'd wait until December and look at a couple of the "90,000 websites" or talk to a few of the "6,000 photographers."

This is possibly a legit company. Another competitor that wasnt to have an "affiliate" network of videographers is http://www.realestatevideos.com They operate under a similar premise.

I have researched this segment of the real estate business because I am in the real estate video business. :-) How RealEstateVideos.com works is that they send you work if they get it, or you drum up your own. You get to use their name, stationary, business cards, etc. When you book a shoot, you get paid 1/2. 1/4 for the marketing effort, 1/4 for shooting the video. Then you send yoru raw DV tape back to them with a check for th remaining 1/2 of the fee. They do the edit and host the video on their servers.

Looks like this other company wants you to do more of the work, not that I would mind that. Te problem they will have it that their affiliates will not have a constant editing style. Each affiliate will cut and edit in their style so the vidoes might not look uniform.

NOTE: I don't work for either company. In fact, I hope to cut them out and get the real estate video business in my town. They both have advantages and disadvantages. One gives more control, the other allows you to have more free time.

If anyone has questions about this sort of business, send me a line.

jason

K. Forman · April 11th, 2006, 04:49 PM

Man... I thought this thread had died.

Boyd Ostroff · April 11th, 2006, 05:03 PM

I keep hoping also...

Funny, I'm getting ready to sell my house right now. I have a great agent who did really well selling my last home, and they use still panoramic (QuickTime VR type) shots for web marketing. I asked her if she might ever have an interest in video tours and she said that it's possible, although her company (one of the largest agencies in this part of the US) hasn't used them before.

Then she suggested that I might want to make a video to help her sell my own place, and I laughed when I realized that this obvious thought had never even crossed my mind! So I'm gonna get started on it in the next few days, will probably draft my daughter and her boyfriend for roles as the romantic young couple in love with the place ;-) So this video might have the potential to make a lot of money for me if it can attract the right kind of buyer :-)

But seriously, I'm thinking that real estate is really a localized business and you might want to find out who some of the better agents are in your own area, then make personal contact with them instead of involving various middle-men.

Jacob Ehrichs · April 11th, 2006, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

Man... I thought this thread had died.

That's why I revived it. :) Actually I was looking through my old posts, and since I have so few it didn't take long to hit this thread. I was just somewhat curious what the test of time had done to this project and if anyone here was involved.

K. Forman · April 11th, 2006, 05:40 PM

Let it go man... Dying is natures way of thinning the threads ;)

Bruce S. Yarock · April 11th, 2006, 05:50 PM

I contacted these people a long time ago, and spoke to someone who promised to get back to me and never did. My feeling was that they are all smoke and mirrors, and don't actually have any paying business.
On another note, we did some videos for land investments that I have with a few other people (www.floridalandllc.com). After finishing these, I spoke to several realtors in those areas (a couple of whom we had bought property from), trying to interest them in this service. For the most part, these realtors are cheap, and lazy. They are terrified of spending anything more than $75 on surround photos. They're like flies on shite in a strong market,calling you constantly, but when times are tougher, and they actually have to WORK....well that's a different story.
Anyways, I gave up on real estate video (unless,like Boyd, it's to sell my own property).
Bruce Yarock

Jason Robinson · April 11th, 2006, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Kivimaki

Have you guys seen the samples they put on their site, they are just horrible, you think they would be able to produce something bettter then that.

I've been doing tours for a while now, if you guys would take a couple of minutes to check it out and comment on the videos I would appreciate. The site is new I just wrote it a couple of days ago, so it's not 100 percent complete yet.

www.wowvideotours.com

Thanks,
Todd

Todd,

Nice job on those tours. I like the angles. Are you using a .5 wide angle for your interior shots? I have shot mine with out any wide angle lenses. To compensate, I provide more angles for each room so the clients see the room from both ends. What camera are you using? I have been shooting using a Sony HDFX1 (borrowed from my associate). I am considering a purchase of the GL2 (with an adaptor like .8 or something) for real estate and wedding videos.

Did you write the flash on your site your self? Any how, your site looks very smooth and the videos are well done.

jason

Bert Herring · April 11th, 2006, 08:10 PM

As a Realtor and part-time videographer, I gave interior/exterior videos on high-dollar properties a try. The time cost was high, the yield low. The standard and panoramic stills give the customer what they want to see -- enough of the inside to get a feel for the style and interior appearance. IMHO, video has too much overhead and too little (if any) advantage over the 360-degree panoramas to be worth the time or the bandwidth required for delivery. Since houses are still subjects, they are well displayed by still photography. Video is just the wrong tool for inanimate subjects as houses tend to be. When they do move, it's newsworthy.

James Emory · April 11th, 2006, 08:33 PM

Todd, I think you need to stick with cuts and dissolves. Those peels are not professional looking at all. Your presentation looks just fine but it also looks like every other home tour that I have seen and so did mine. I agree that IPix or any other 360 viewing tool is cool but I think it's better to move through spaces like video can instead of actually moving a space with a mouse. This would be best done with a stabilizer which means more money and that's not going to happen. $75 per project may seem like alot right now because you are so young. But just 5+ years from now when you have more bills and more responsibilities you will look back and consider that to be pocket change and NOT well worth your time. This may happen sooner when you get a big enough dose of the cheap asses out there. One more thing to remember is that if you are using copyrighted music without paying for the rights, you could get slammed not only for using it but distributing it on the internet. It's unlikely but possible.

I also agree with Bert in that there is not enough return on the investment of gear and most importantly, time. I also think real estate video is boring. I tried to get into this market 6 years ago by producing a demo with a full sized jib along with an interior pan and scan sequence complete with music and narration. Every realtor thought it was great but NOBODY would pay for it. I never did another one again. As far as working for companies that want to hire you to shoot. There's not enough room in the cost for them and you so you are better off doing it for yourself.

Todd Kivimaki · April 11th, 2006, 10:57 PM

I think you guys are putting too much time into the video tours. When shooting I’m in the house 20 minutes top, and editing about 15 minutes. I use a GL2, wide angle lens, and a good tripod. This is not someone's wedding video it doesn't have to be perfect. Plus most people won't notice the little things that a videographer would.

Our tours are the same price as virtual tours with I think are horrible, and I would say every seller who sees my tours would agree that the virtual and panoramic tours are bad. When you look at a house in person you don't stand in the middle of the room and spin in a circle.

I have many testimonials from people saying they chose one company over the other based on whether or not the company used a video tour.

The main thing about video tours is they differentiate the realtor from the competition. Most of our realtors are getting more and more listings because they are going above and beyond by doing the tours.

If you are going to do video tours you need to be a business man first and a videographer second.

April 10th, 2006, 09:25 AM	#110
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	I decided it was sketchy and left it alone. It had that feel of being one of the 10,000 other things I've applied for where you're promised plenty of work, etc., and then they never ever ever call you. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

April 11th, 2006, 04:49 PM	#112
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Man... I thought this thread had died. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

April 11th, 2006, 05:40 PM	#115
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Let it go man... Dying is natures way of thinning the threads ;) __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

April 11th, 2006, 08:10 PM	#118
Bert Herring Tourist Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 2	Square Pegs, Round Holes As a Realtor and part-time videographer, I gave interior/exterior videos on high-dollar properties a try. The time cost was high, the yield low. The standard and panoramic stills give the customer what they want to see -- enough of the inside to get a feel for the style and interior appearance. IMHO, video has too much overhead and too little (if any) advantage over the 360-degree panoramas to be worth the time or the bandwidth required for delivery. Since houses are still subjects, they are well displayed by still photography. Video is just the wrong tool for inanimate subjects as houses tend to be. When they do move, it's newsworthy.

April 11th, 2006, 08:33 PM	#119
James Emory Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 1,892	Todd, I think you need to stick with cuts and dissolves. Those peels are not professional looking at all. Your presentation looks just fine but it also looks like every other home tour that I have seen and so did mine. I agree that IPix or any other 360 viewing tool is cool but I think it's better to move through spaces like video can instead of actually moving a space with a mouse. This would be best done with a stabilizer which means more money and that's not going to happen. $75 per project may seem like alot right now because you are so young. But just 5+ years from now when you have more bills and more responsibilities you will look back and consider that to be pocket change and NOT well worth your time. This may happen sooner when you get a big enough dose of the cheap asses out there. One more thing to remember is that if you are using copyrighted music without paying for the rights, you could get slammed not only for using it but distributing it on the internet. It's unlikely but possible. I also agree with Bert in that there is not enough return on the investment of gear and most importantly, time. I also think real estate video is boring. I tried to get into this market 6 years ago by producing a demo with a full sized jib along with an interior pan and scan sequence complete with music and narration. Every realtor thought it was great but NOBODY would pay for it. I never did another one again. As far as working for companies that want to hire you to shoot. There's not enough room in the cost for them and you so you are better off doing it for yourself. Last edited by James Emory; April 11th, 2006 at 11:11 PM.

July 31st, 2005, 02:30 AM	#106
Brent Marks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Houston TX and New Orleans LA Posts: 300	Is this a legit business or not? What is the final word? Has anyone gotten a pay check from this company? Ponder. Talk. Do.

July 31st, 2005, 08:53 AM	#107
Todd Kivimaki Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Elida Ohio Posts: 217	If any of you want to shoot video tours, why not just go out and shoot them on your on. I have for over a year, and I'm a 21 (just turned 22) college kid. I shoot anywhere between 10-20 tours a week, I do all the taping, editing, web hosting, and design, and selling. I'm not going to lie, it isn't the easiest to sell these tours, but if you are persistent on the realtors, they will soon see that it is 10x better then a virtual tour, and that these tours really work! I had a realtor call me the other day that said she sold a home to a couple from out of town only because they saw my tours. Wow, that's quite a compliment. This lady spent $75 on a home, and sold it and made $7500 (it was a $250,000 house @ 3%) Now all you are griping saying I'm not shooting a tour for $75. Well my tours start at $75 for up to 2000 sq ft, and $25 per additional 1000 sq ft. The whole thing is on the pricing the realtors pick up the bill, not the broker or the real estate company. It's a hard task to convince the realtor that they need to spend the money on the tour. But once you do, they are hooked, because it works. And I am making good money. Most of my tours average around $100, but let's take the low and saw $75. So I make anywhere between $750 to $1500 a week, not bad for a college kid (and not bad for anyone) considering all my friends are making $6.50 an hour. I think what the golookinside company is doing is fine, but I would never join, why join when you can be on you own. And I did talk to Sky a long time ago when this thread started, she seemed very nice, but she was asking me how I operated, and called me with a few questions. This just goes to show you that they don't have it all figured out quite yet, it's a business venture they are hoping works. Why not take the same venture on your own, and not be connected to anyone.

July 31st, 2005, 09:14 AM	#108
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	While I really hate to see this old thread get resurrected, I just have to tip my hat to you Todd. Wow... it's great to see someone who is so motivated and has developed such keen business sense at the age of 22! Congratulations on the business you've started. I suspect you're going to be very successful in whatever you do after college. Keep up the good work!

April 10th, 2006, 09:11 AM	#109
Jacob Ehrichs Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 169	I was looking though my old posts and saw this thread. Anything ever become of this? I remember a lot of discussion, but not a lot of results. www.golookinside is still up and running, with a pretty decent website. www.yourgoldenopportunity has been bought by squatters. A pretty cheezy name anyway.

April 11th, 2006, 05:03 PM	#113
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I keep hoping also... Funny, I'm getting ready to sell my house right now. I have a great agent who did really well selling my last home, and they use still panoramic (QuickTime VR type) shots for web marketing. I asked her if she might ever have an interest in video tours and she said that it's possible, although her company (one of the largest agencies in this part of the US) hasn't used them before. Then she suggested that I might want to make a video to help her sell my own place, and I laughed when I realized that this obvious thought had never even crossed my mind! So I'm gonna get started on it in the next few days, will probably draft my daughter and her boyfriend for roles as the romantic young couple in love with the place ;-) So this video might have the potential to make a lot of money for me if it can attract the right kind of buyer :-) But seriously, I'm thinking that real estate is really a localized business and you might want to find out who some of the better agents are in your own area, then make personal contact with them instead of involving various middle-men.

April 11th, 2006, 05:50 PM	#116
Bruce S. Yarock Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pembroke Pines, Fl. Posts: 1,842	I contacted these people a long time ago, and spoke to someone who promised to get back to me and never did. My feeling was that they are all smoke and mirrors, and don't actually have any paying business. On another note, we did some videos for land investments that I have with a few other people (www.floridalandllc.com). After finishing these, I spoke to several realtors in those areas (a couple of whom we had bought property from), trying to interest them in this service. For the most part, these realtors are cheap, and lazy. They are terrified of spending anything more than $75 on surround photos. They're like flies on shite in a strong market,calling you constantly, but when times are tougher, and they actually have to WORK....well that's a different story. Anyways, I gave up on real estate video (unless,like Boyd, it's to sell my own property). Bruce Yarock

April 11th, 2006, 10:57 PM	#120
Todd Kivimaki Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Elida Ohio Posts: 217	I think you guys are putting too much time into the video tours. When shooting I’m in the house 20 minutes top, and editing about 15 minutes. I use a GL2, wide angle lens, and a good tripod. This is not someone's wedding video it doesn't have to be perfect. Plus most people won't notice the little things that a videographer would. Our tours are the same price as virtual tours with I think are horrible, and I would say every seller who sees my tours would agree that the virtual and panoramic tours are bad. When you look at a house in person you don't stand in the middle of the room and spin in a circle. I have many testimonials from people saying they chose one company over the other based on whether or not the company used a video tour. The main thing about video tours is they differentiate the realtor from the competition. Most of our realtors are getting more and more listings because they are going above and beyond by doing the tours. If you are going to do video tours you need to be a business man first and a videographer second.