Any Real-Estate Videographers? (OT?)

[Dana Salsbury]

I wouldn't say they take away from the house. I don't know about voiceovers, but Steadicam work is what drops jaws on Extreme Home Makeover. I'm definately sold on the houses they show.

Time is money: a hard lesson I learned from my previous business as a portrait artist. The market could not support something that took me a week to do 'right'. If there is a market for the deluxe walk thru, then OO-RAH! It may also be possible to make more $ with less features/time involved by offering cheaper walk-thrus and doing more of them. It may be that Todd's market demands a cheaper walk-thru and Freds demands quality.

BTW Fred, I recently found that Windows Media Videos can now be seen on 83.7%, with Flash at 98.7% and Quicktime at 67.6%. I use WMV exclusively since I use Vegas. :o( http://www.adobe.com/products/player...s/flashplayer/

4) OK... so now you're thinking - "I'll go after those who have million dollar listings - THEY get it". Actually wrong! They get it the LEAST. Search in your area on million dollar homes and you will generally find 1) only a few photos when the MLS will allow 12 or 20 - they post 5. Virtually NONE have virtual tours of any kind. I did a survey recently in my area (New England), and literally NO HOMES over $1.5 million dollars had a virtual tour of any kind. None. Zero. Zippo.

Interesting finding. Does that mean that you target the sub-million$ sellers? Do you target Realtors directly? Brokers?

[Fred Light]

Well, I'm on a Mac. I have the latest and greatest of everything, including Flip4Mac. I can't view your videos. It's just a blank page. Additionally, I don't have Internet Explorer. It does not work using Safari, Camino, Firefox or Opera for the Mac. More and more people use Macs and basically they are unable to view anything. It's just a blank page.

(BTW, I can view most .wmv files - just watched one a second ago. Just not yours. You really should look into that as you're basically eliminating customers. And many people are using Macs these days - a realtor customer of mine just got his iMac today - switching over from Windoze. Maybe theyre not encoded properly?

[Dana Salsbury]

Yeah I know, I know. I'm going to Flash ASAP.

BTW, Your work is STUNNING. It's very cool that you found a market where you can be an artist -- and you definately are.

Do you target Realtors directly? Billion+ Club Realtors? Brokers?

[Fred Light]

Dana: I target individual agents usually, but I have never advertised. I've had a lot of local and national publicity, plus I do real estate web design and marketing, so I already have dozens and dozens of clients. Plus, many realtors know of me even if they're not a client (yet!) because I do more real estate web marketing in this area than anyone. So I have a built in clientele which I was able to easily tap into. Plus, many agents find my tours on Realtor.com and on the MLS. They are also all over the web - several hundred have been uploaded to about 8-10 video sites. And they all link back to my site. That's generally how I get new customers. But most of my business is repeat business - agents that do it KNOW it works and keep doing it. Very few customers have only done one tour. And some do tours on every listing.

[Fred Light]

Dana: I had NO problem viewing YOUR .wmv files of a wedding video! It's just the videos on WowVideoTours.com that come up blank, which is why I think they're just not encoded correctly. I have no problem with .wmv except on that particular site. (although I still love QuickTime - there's really no comparison)

[Todd Kivimaki]

Alright I looked over my code and really had some bad code so I re worked the embedded wmv code and it looks as though everything should be working. Fred if you wouldn't mind could you take a look at my site on your mac and let me know if it is playing on you now (it plays on mine but who knows) Thanks for the help!

[Fred Light]

Todd: Perfecto! Works like a charm!

[Todd Kivimaki]

Thanks Fred, I'm pumped now that it is working, thanks again for pointing it out to me.
-Todd

[Carl Downs]

This is a huge "Step" for videographers. Pros: (many besides what I think... but,) People from around the world can "walk through" a house, Music, Voice Overs, Passive "Watching" ect. ect. Cons: I find most videos to "confuse" me about the house... just that... angles of cameras are so narrow... but, I guess this can't be helped, Size, RESPECT!

Mr. Nashuavideotours... I feel your work is WAY TOO CHEAP! $120 - $300 bucks? Man... do you realize how much professionals get these days? I'm sure you do but I think you are (as a previous poster said) putting a lot of work for such a little fee. The idiot Realtor (most are) gets 20-30 THOUSAND for selling that house... There is a major unbalance of skill vrs. payment in the Videographer business and I always thought it was because Videographers never give themselves enough credit.

Why not... start, Really High! like... $1000 - $4000 for those big houses... and bring prices down? Thats what all big business does. They never start Super Low and then try... to bring them up... No Good as the "Cheap" image is already there.

I think this RE Video business could be good for all Videographers but... since it's just starting... why don't we all get together and present it as a "Classy" "Professional" "Absolutely Needed" "and (not expensive but) Professional level price" ?

Once again Mr. Nashua... your site is clean, professional and what you present and do for your customers is over the top... But sooooooo cheap for what you do.

[Fred Light]

Unfortunately, I've worked with Realtors for many, many years and I know what they are willing to pay. It's not based on their commission. Unless it was a property selling for $10M, you won't find a realtor anywhere that would pay thousands of dollars for a video. Won't happen. Guaranteed. Even at that price I don't think they'd spring for it. In fact, the more expensive the property, the less likely there is a virtual or video tour of ANY kind.

It's an interesting business....

[QUOTE=Mr. Nashuavideotours... I feel your work is WAY TOO CHEAP! $120 - $300 bucks? Man... do you realize how much professionals get these days? I'm sure you do but I think you are (as a previous poster said) putting a lot of work for such a little fee. The idiot Realtor (most are) gets 20-30 THOUSAND for selling that house... There is a major unbalance of skill vrs. payment in the Videographer business and I always thought it was because Videographers never give themselves enough credit.[/QUOTE]

[Todd Kivimaki]

I agree with you Fred, I think we both have a hard enough time selling them at the price point we are at. I wish it were possible but it isn't.

[Dana Salsbury]

Time will tell how much 'art' can go into these. I don't think this will be a market that will allow much creative expression (i.e. time). For the buyer, just seeing video is a dramatic step up. I don't think voice overs, or even music are necessary. (Yay, I don't have to worry about sound!)

I am STILL riding the fence about buying a vest to do these things! Aack!