Real estate buyers want narrated videos for the home, land, farm, waterfront and even small business properties they are considering buying in your area.

But there's a problem..the buyer has very little time and is not in your state. He is starved for property information and knows zero about your area except he likes the low low prices. In my case, he has heard good things about Maine but he wants to see Maine . He needs you to create something he can look at, experience with all five of his senses. Not just images and some clever skimpy copy.  He wants to see the area first, buy something depending on how well the local presentation job hits him. Bring him up to speed with local community ME video that shows the inside/outside and showcases the area with additional local community mini-movies to help him do his "homework" like a correspondence course.

Think of video as two thousand sets of eyeballs wandering thru and around the property and no one's tracking in dirt, or has to take off their shoes. No one left lights on, forgot to lock the door. Virtual open houses on the buyer's time. Think of him looking at ten of your properties, two of your local video events while killing time at an airport waiting for a connecting flight two hours away from boarding. You create the local real estate buffet...lots of information and all he has to do is sit there slumped in the chair, plugged in and being transported to your local real estate market. You are the first person in your area he meets, hears, sees and starts to trust as you provide him lots of information, details, video peeks of this and that. And you are the only one doing it so who is he going to call when he is in town? You. The video count/click numbers impress your sellers too. And you place them all over the internet...not just at youtube.

    

So you are ready to take the leap for real this time into video but stay in the shallow end of the learning pool before heading out to sea for shark and big tuna.

Before you head to the mall to bring home $4000 cameras, $1000 worth of lights, $600 of video editing software, $500 worth of extra external mics, the cables, the tripods..listen to this easy approach. Small means you buy an entry level video camera with hard drive, and you have a computer dedicated to the software/storage of the clips/images you regularly salt and pepper your creations with. It has a big hard drive. Your early videos will look Dick and Jane. Everyone's do but thinking back on your early blogs here on Active Rain...okay, changing subject back to video production. Do you need lights, special audio compression / processing and editing software...and grips to pull the dollies for those productions? Not unless it's a million dollar property and you only have six listings to promote and sell each year.

     You don't need to build a media room, with a video/audio switcher and special accoustics these days. Desk top publishing...move over and make room for your first cousin video desk top publishing. The best way to learn anything new is to watch what others have done, add your own style and pick/choose from a little of this and that from the many many examples on the internet.

     Make your productions have a loose template so they are somewhat predictable but unique to each offering.

Shoot them with an idea of how you are going to piece them together, with the less edits the better because you have more to do in your real estate day than make videos. Same font, same edits, straight forward approach format.

Start with videos of your kid's events...like this rivalry between two ME high school hockey teams video that was fun to shoot, capture, edit.

     Remember, you are not making just one and getting back on that video fence, thinking that'll do it. You need to get into the habit with every listing just like you blog on a regular basis...or should. Make it a video habit and each "show" will get quicker to produce, fun to make, and highly effective when you see the phone, emails and sales volume increase.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Ready For Maine, Lower Cost Property, High Quality Recreation?