Selling Real Estate Home Walk throughs [Tutorial]

Heres a quick guide to making money selling real estate home walk through videos.

This is what I recommend:

- Canon EOS T2i Rebel DSLR Camera - You can get this and a kit lens for $630 off of Amazon. This camera is the best bang for your buck as far as video goes (IMO). You can get INSANE video from this camera (check YT for example videos). You will also be able to utilize this as a tool for future projects (I use it to take high quality product photos now).
- SD memory card, you can get any size, whatever your budget is
- DSLR Rig - you can search amazon for this as there are many companies that offer these. Get the one with the foam handles and pivoting arms. They're around $60 (I have no affiliation to any company selling these)
- Adobe After Effects CS5.5 (torrent, cough) $0 - This is vital as the new CS5.5 has the ability to stabilize motion. This will make your videos look VERY impressive and professional. Heres an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i1iJgesPbQ

1. Find and contact real estate agents in your area, a quick google search should suffice. Explain to the agent you offer video walk throughs for homes. Offer to create a video walk through for one of their listings for free and if they like it, they can pay for it (with the intention of getting continued business). If you're having difficulty converting agents, find a friend or family member that would be willing to allow you to do an example video of their home.
2. Do some testing with your new DSLR rig and camera. It will take a bit of practice to get good results, maybe a few hours walking around your house, etc. You will also want to brush up on tutorials on how to utilize the T2i - how to take video, understanding light, etc will all be necessary. Its actually fun learning.
3. After testing, load your rig and do a quick walkthrough of the home. I suggest taking excessive footage as you will have more to work with. Be sure to emphasize different attributes, rooms, etc. and be very thorough.
4. Add simple fade transitions between clips and you should have a high quality, professional video walk through. Be sure to add a watermark if your agent has not paid you for it.
5. Most agents will be very happy with the work. Be sure if you do convert an agent to continually call (1-2 month) and check to see if they have any more work.
6. If you get to the point where you have multiple agents and homes, you can hire some body to do the work for you. Most young kids are thrilled to do this work for $15/hour.

Where this method shines is the ability to get repeat business from the same agent. If you practice and create a product that helps agents sell, they won't hesitate to use you again. You can get continual work from the same agent as they accept new listings.

Pricing can vary in different areas. An agent selling a million dollar condo in New York will obviously be willing to pay differently than an agent selling $200k homes in Nebraska. I suggest $250-600 per video. Good luck

Good post and original idea, the real estate business is huge where I live so I will look into this one. Do your clients usually post the videos on their website, or?

Just out of interest. Did you ever tried to to this using a drone?

Wow, really interesting post. The only stumbling block would be splashing out on the camera. I would have to know that there would be clients lined-up, before spending $xxx on a camera.

Great post. This will make a nice addition to my arsenal. I actually bought a t3i about a month ago for some film stuff that I do on the side. One note to anyone who is going to buy a t2i, I would suggest the t3i because it has the swivel screen which makes filming angles much easier. It is only about $20 more for the body now that the t4i came out.

If you buy the camera body and the lense separately you can get the fixed 500mm f1.8 for about $100 and it is better performing in low light and also has a much better depth of field than the kit lense. It will not be as wide as the kit lense but you can also get the .45 wide angle adapter which is pretty good for like $15.

One more tip is to install magic lantern which is a custom firmware and it provides a ton of options/features that the stock firmware doesn't offer.

To the OP, you are definitely spot on about the quality! Hope that helps

i am intereting investing on Real Estate thatn IM. Anyway nice tip and creativity.

Nothings really stopping you from buying acquiring clients before hand. You can also purchase from insert website here on payments. If it doesn't work of your investment is safe as cameras have insurance option and high re-sell value, Thanks!

mergethegreat said:

Great post. This will make a nice addition to my arsenal. I actually bought a t3i about a month ago for some film stuff that I do on the side. One note to anyone who is going to buy a t2i, I would suggest the t3i because it has the swivel screen which makes filming angles much easier. It is only about $20 more for the body now that the t4i came out.

If you buy the camera body and the lense separately you can get the fixed 500mm f1.8 for about $100 and it is better performing in low light and also has a much better depth of field than the kit lense. It will not be as wide as the kit lense but you can also get the .45 wide angle adapter which is pretty good for like $15.

One more tip is to install magic lantern which is a custom firmware and it provides a ton of options/features that the stock firmware doesn't offer.

To the OP, you are definitely spot on about the quality! Hope that helps

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You're absolutely correct. I am only familar with T2i as that is what I have, but the t3i is definitely the better option for $20 more. I didn't know about the firmware which also appears to be incredibly useful. Im a pretty big noob when it comes to photography so I appreciate the input

Just my $0.02, but as a real estate agent I would never pay anywhere near that price. Good on ya if you're actually getting those numbers from someone though.

Seankearns said:

Just my $0.02, but as a real estate agent I would never pay anywhere near that price. Good on ya if you're actually getting those numbers from someone though.

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Why not?

I work for a Real Estate Broker, as well as sell virtual tours to other brokers in the area, the sweet spot for price here in the Pacific Northwest seems to $50-$100 per video tour. The agents don't get their commission until the house sells, and $200-$600 is usually the entire advertising budget most agents will spend on a property. Often much less.

I do it differently, I use the photos the agent or broker has already taken, and put them together in Proshow Producer. The twist I add is that every virtual tour I sell is narrated using voice studio pro (I think that is the software name).

I have the agent write a description for each photo, then paste that description into voice studio and use the female with a British accent voice for narrating. The final result ends up sounding like a nice BBC documentary, very professional and really stands out from the virtual tours with no voice overs. I can put together a 10 minute tour with full narration, background music, opening title clip, closing title clip, callouts and transitions in about an hour.

You just have to make sure the agent or broker already has good photos of the property, otherwise you will need to shoot them yourself. This is also an easy way to get new clients; go to a large real estate site, find a property with a lot of good photos, put together a 30 second clip using 3-5 pictures with a big ugly watermark over the video. Email the agent a link to the short narrated video and let them know your price for a full 10 minute plus virtual tour. You can put one of these short clips together in 5-10 minutes with practice, and I get a really good response from the agents.

Moneymaker13 said:

Why not?

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Why not? Because it's not worth it too me. It's not going to generate new business, it just impresses sellers. If I'm selling million dollar properties maybe, but for the vast majority of agents would pay in then $69-$129 range I'm guessing.

There are many successful agents, but many, many more that make less than $3000 a month and they're not pay $600 for something that only adds value to one listing and then is useless.

bakerious has got it right

Seankearns said:

Why not? Because it's not worth it too me. It's not going to generate new business, it just impresses sellers. If I'm selling million dollar properties maybe, but for the vast majority of agents would pay in then $69-$129 range I'm guessing.

There are many successful agents, but many, many more that make less than $3000 a month and they're not pay $600 for something that only adds value to one listing and then is useless.

bakerious has got it right

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As I said you need to get a feel for the market, if you're selling $250k houses, then yes, obviously $250 would be out of the question. But if youre into the 750k+ range there shouldn't be a problem. 3% of 750k = 22.5k.

Just because you personally wouldn't pay for this doesn't mean others won't. There are a lot of different real estate agents and they all work differently.

bakerious said:

I work for a Real Estate Broker, as well as sell virtual tours to other brokers in the area, the sweet spot for price here in the Pacific Northwest seems to $50-$100 per video tour. The agents don't get their commission until the house sells, and $200-$600 is usually the entire advertising budget most agents will spend on a property. Often much less.

I do it differently, I use the photos the agent or broker has already taken, and put them together in Proshow Producer. The twist I add is that every virtual tour I sell is narrated using voice studio pro (I think that is the software name).

I have the agent write a description for each photo, then paste that description into voice studio and use the female with a British accent voice for narrating. The final result ends up sounding like a nice BBC documentary, very professional and really stands out from the virtual tours with no voice overs. I can put together a 10 minute tour with full narration, background music, opening title clip, closing title clip, callouts and transitions in about an hour.

You just have to make sure the agent or broker already has good photos of the property, otherwise you will need to shoot them yourself. This is also an easy way to get new clients; go to a large real estate site, find a property with a lot of good photos, put together a 30 second clip using 3-5 pictures with a big ugly watermark over the video. Email the agent a link to the short narrated video and let them know your price for a full 10 minute plus virtual tour. You can put one of these short clips together in 5-10 minutes with practice, and I get a really good response from the agents.

Click to expand...

While a slideshow of photos with voice over is nice, it doesn't compare to an HD video. You have to show this service as something that stands out from the crowd -- being different in real estate has big potential. Just my .02

Are you sure Voice Studio Pro is the name of the software? I'd like to check that out but I can't find it. I use Fiverr gigs for voiceovers but turnaround times are days. I'd like a software that does text to voice really well.
Anyone else know a good text to voice software?

BTW I agree with your method and prices.

bakerious said:

I work for a Real Estate Broker, as well as sell virtual tours to other brokers in the area, the sweet spot for price here in the Pacific Northwest seems to $50-$100 per video tour. The agents don't get their commission until the house sells, and $200-$600 is usually the entire advertising budget most agents will spend on a property. Often much less.

I do it differently, I use the photos the agent or broker has already taken, and put them together in Proshow Producer. The twist I add is that every virtual tour I sell is narrated using voice studio pro (I think that is the software name).

I have the agent write a description for each photo, then paste that description into voice studio and use the female with a British accent voice for narrating. The final result ends up sounding like a nice BBC documentary, very professional and really stands out from the virtual tours with no voice overs. I can put together a 10 minute tour with full narration, background music, opening title clip, closing title clip, callouts and transitions in about an hour.

You just have to make sure the agent or broker already has good photos of the property, otherwise you will need to shoot them yourself. This is also an easy way to get new clients; go to a large real estate site, find a property with a lot of good photos, put together a 30 second clip using 3-5 pictures with a big ugly watermark over the video. Email the agent a link to the short narrated video and let them know your price for a full 10 minute plus virtual tour. You can put one of these short clips together in 5-10 minutes with practice, and I get a really good response from the agents.

Click to expand...

The awesome thing is youtube has features like image stabilization built in.

Just use the app for the Iphone called Photosynth, and Youtube has image stabilization now.

Really nice thread! Really dig the idea and will definitely add to my offline to-dos

textaloud has some good voices 'available'

That stabilization effect on adobe after effects is amazing.