Last time on the Real Estate Video Pros blog, we talked about preparing for a property tour. Now the Real Estate Video Pros (or whatever film crew you hired) informs you that your video tour is now edited and complete. Satisfied with the results you are now ready to show your tour to prospective clients. What are some of the best ways to do this and maximize your exposure? Here's what we recommend you do to make the most out of your property tour.

1. Upload your property tour to the Internet. The Internet is the best avenue for sharing your property tour. There are a number of different sites and networks that offer free video hosting and sharing. You are most likely familiar with Youtube and Google Video. We suggest using Dailymotion since it is not as crowed as Youtube and they offer a variety of options to the user. If you are looking for a place to host your Hi-Definition property tours, we suggest Motionbox. For a small annual fee you will get HD quality playback and unlimited uploading. Which will be great for sharing a whole gallery of property tours online. Once your videos are hosted online you will be able to embed them into your website, blog and even your MLS listings if possible.
2. Use your tour on your next TV advertisement. There are many outlets for local TV to market your Real Estate, many of them becoming more affordable thanks to the advances in technology. Make sure your video providers publish your property tour in the format that is compatible with the TV station's broadcast. Every station has different standards so ask your local station for the specifics before sending them your tour.
   
   
3. Have your tour play at your next open house. If you can have a TV with a DVD player set up in the living room of your next open house, have it continually play your property tour. Not only will this give more insight into the property, but it will also impress the people who view it. You will need your video provider to publish your tour onto a DVD in a format that is ready to play on a DVD player.
   
   
4. 
   Hand out copies of your tour in your marketing packages. Have your video provider publish your property tour onto a simple CD-R disc in a common AVI movie format. You can then make copies with a CD-RW burner drive from your computer. CD-RW burner drives and burning software like Nero are common with most computers today. CD-R writable discs are affordable and come in spools by the hundreds. If you have a high quality printer you may even want to invest in some CD labels to make your copies look more professional. Make some copies ready and place them with each of your marketing flyers and brochures.

You've ordered a full-motion video property tour either from Real Estate Video Pros or another film crew, now it's time to get the house ready for shooting. The film crew will know to take plenty of shots and utilize angles that compliment the property, but if the property is not in showcase condition when they arrive there will not be much they can do to make an impressive tour. That's why you should keep these tips in mind when preparing for a property tour shoot.

• Prepare your property for a 24/7 open house: Thanks to today's video hosting services and high speed Internet connections, property tours can be seen around the world at anytime by a multitude of potential clients. That's why it is very important to take extra care when grooming your property into showcase condition, so that you won't waste time and money on re-shoots. Standard rules for your typical open house should apply, but with even more attention to detail. Make sure to clean the house, un-clutter important rooms, manage the yard, keep family and pets clear of the film crew and anything else you need to do to make your property ready.
• Have a plan: If you were showing your property to prospective clients, how would you organize a tour? Make sure to inform your film crew so that they shoot and edit the property tour in a manner that fits best with your Real Estate intuition. Make sure to point out any special amenities that you want to be included in the tour. Go over the tour in your head the night before and write down your ideas on a list for the film crew to use.



• Communicate with your film crew: Don't be shy when giving instructions to your film crew. They are there to do one thing: shoot your property. More than anyone they want to get it done right the first time. Make sure to inform them of the property's location, any time sensitive events and certain things they should be mindful of (such as pets or expensive furniture). Don't be vague, be as specific as possible. Make sure you give them your proposed plan from the previous tip, and be able to answer any questions they may have. Ultimately the film crew will decide what shots turned out best in the final product, but a little direction on your part as the agent never hurts.
• Lighting: Double check all the lighting in the house and make sure everything works. Video is sensitive to light and your house should be lit up the best it can be when it comes time for the shoot. Replace any burnt out bulbs or broken switches so that your house does not look like a gloomy abode.
• Prepare early: Don't get stuck doing everything at the last minute. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your property so that you can address anything expected and unexpected that may come along. Check the weather too so that you schedule your shoot on a sunny day.

So with the vast array of tools available to an agent in today's Real Estate industry, which one should they choose to market their properties? To put it simply, an agent looking for maximum exposure and marketing value for their property should explore all avenues of marketing from print to digital. For most agents however utilizing every single tool available to them may be too expensive. So where should an agent put their money if they are looking for the most marketing value for their marketing buck? The answer is a video property tour.


Only a few short years ago were video property tours an expensive venture. However current breakthroughs in technology have delivered to us more powerful cameras for less money. Hi-Definition capabilities are becoming more available to everyone and the Internet has seen major advances in bandwidth and video streaming making it possible to share your video property tour to the world. All these factors make video property tours a more viable marketing option for today's Real Estate agent.

Yet what about the popular alternative? The virtual tour is a Real Estate marketing tool that was deemed as essential years back. Now the virtual tour is losing popularity as it moves aside to make way for the video property tours. Virtual tours with the spinning rooms are still touted for their ability to give the user control over what they can see in the room. The only problem with virtual tours is that they can never match the quality in picture that a full motion video property tour can bring. Even if you use a special lens to capture a virtual tour with one shot the picture will always be slightly distorted throwing off the colors, ambiance, and overall true feeling of the home. A good video property tour will capture all the necessary angles of a room while still retaining the beauty and feel of the property. In addition, virtual tours cannot be made full screen or featured on a television commercial segment. Finally there is more room for artistic and marketing freedom with a video property tour than there is with a virtual tour. Which is always a plus when marketing your property. Think when was the last time a virtual tour captured the full magnificence of a lush front yard? Or displayed the warmth from a 18th century style fireplace in the living room? Or encapsulated the true value of your Tuscan style home that is surrounded by grand Oak trees whose leaves in the autumn turn a most beautiful shade of red? Now imagine how all those images could make up scenes in your next video property tour and tell me which one will be more impressive.

Of course a video tour is only as good as the crew who shoots and edits it. So always do your research and make sure the crew you are about to hire is professional, prompt, has the latest in video multimedia tools (with HD cameras if possible), exhibits artistic talent and can meet your needs for the property. If you aren't sure about how to get the most out of your property tours come back to the Real Estate Video Pros blog for more information and tips.