Video. It’s the next big thing. Or it’s the last big thing that’s still a big thing. I’m not sure anymore, but I prefer the former because I have yet to embrace the medium. That means there is still time for me.
The problem with adopting video in our biz is that it is difficult to do it well. And unless one has a whole lot of time on their hands, a whole lot of extra cash lying around, or a really talented friend who is willing to produce and edit films for beer (all things absent from my arsenal, with the exception of the beer), the result can do more harm than good.
Like the idea of staging a home is to draw attention away from the stuff and to the thing you are selling, real estate video is supposed to showcase a property, and by “showcase,” I mean it is supposed to appear more appealing for having been digitally honored.
Pan and zoom photos set to stock audio is not video. Nor is a two-minute short of a do-it-yourself agent standing beneath an address placard reciting the vital statistics, like my own first – and last – attempt.
“Hi. I’m Kris. This stunning home has four bedrooms, a kitchen, and closets. Follow me while I back away from the tripod and into the glaring backlight of the garden windows while I awkwardly describe all of the special features you can’t see. Like linoleum.”
Oh, I tried the once popular walk-through approach. The advantage is that I can film and talk from a safe harbor behind the lens. But the result is always an epic that can only be enjoyed from the prone position with a fresh prescription of Dramamine. I eventually had to concede that my time was better spent stuffing the brochure box.
Why, oh why, can’t I do this? Beverly Hills agent Eric Lavey nailed it with this property video, a short film really. My big question is this: Can even Eric pull off twenty or thirty sequels a year? My guess is he will become a one-hit wonder, something with which I am quite familiar.
6816 Pacific View Drive, Hollywood Hills from Eric Lavey on Vimeo.