REALTOR® Magazine, published by the National Associations of Realtors® has just published another article aimed at informing property sellers about the benefits of using video for their listings. The article, entitled "SELLING: Video" can be read in full here . Below are some highlights:

Devitre, CRS®, e-PRO®, is one of a growing number of salespeople using video to build their brand. Jim Pasala, with Coldwell Banker Previews International, and Amber Downey, with Surterre Properties, both in Newport Beach, Calif., use similar technology on their Web sites, www.PasalaGroup.com and www.amberdowney.com. The two often team up to sell luxury homes, and in addition to displaying video of themselves on their personal sites, they’ve created Web sites, such as www.lagunabeachretreat.com, to spotlight some of their listings. There they show their personal video as well as streaming video of the property’s features. Professional voice talent explains each image the viewer sees.

“The strength of video is that it has sight, sound, and motion,” says Greg Herder, CEO of Hobbs Herder Advertising in Newport Beach, Calif. “TV is such a powerful medium because it creates a much stronger emotional punch than any other form of marketing. Whether you’re talking about kids in Africa or about homes as a salesperson, you can make a much stronger case through video.”

Video helps you build your brand in several ways, the most important by showing consumers you’re ahead of the curve, a point Pasala stresses in listing presentations. Video also helps you differentiate your brand. “Nobody [else] in my market does video, and it’s something people remember you by,” says Devitre. “Word of mouth spreads like wildfire, especially when something’s different or cutting-edge. The word of mouth on my video has been through the roof.”

He says he gets at least one lead each day from serious buyers visiting his Web site. Although he can’t concretely attribute that steady source of qualified leads to the video, he says, “people tell me they love it.”

“We’re probably up 40 to 50 transactions each year since we started using video three years ago,” she says.

The article does a good job of delivering the benefits of using video for agents and sellers, and it’s one of many recent postings from the NAR® on this currently ‘buzzing’ topic. This almost makes us wonder if they may have something brewing in the ‘video’ pipeline. Either way, we love the attention they are working to generate, as awareness on this topic is something we’ve been pushing ourselves feverishly to spread these days. Thanks Realtor® Magazine!

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