Using Video To Market High End Properties

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Although I largely work with investor clients, I recently accepted the opportunity to list a sublime contemporary home in Bel Air with amazing ocean, mountain and Getty Center views. The property is highly detailed, and built like a high end German sports car – all the way down to an imported Bulthaulp kitchen and aluminum baseboards, if you can believe it! Seriously, this place makes virtually every other house on the market look shoddy by comparison.

It is a photogenic place and the photographs we obtained (from a fantastic professional photographer) show it in the best light. We have a great website. The property is priced for the current market. Yet, marketing the property still posed a bit of a dilemma. The trouble is that there are a million features and design details that most buyers would be likely to overlook by just looking at the pictures on the MLS, or on our website.

So, what’s the best way to get the unique detailing and design features of this property known to potential buyers?

The answer quickly presented itself. Through the owners, I made contact with the property’s architect, Patrick Killen, AIA. I came up with a list of questions, and he kindly made himself available to be interviewed on videotape. Mr. Killen was able to describe the property through the eyes of its architect – he spoke not only to the fine detailing, but also to how the place fulfilled the architect’s original design vision. It was quite an education. I have to admit, I got lucky: Mr. Killen was not only highly articulate, but he has frequently lectured before university audiences, so I got an interview that was ready for prime time.

In the interview, Mr. Killen passionately described the design and many of the property’s unique details, from the eco-conscious passive solar heating and cooling elements, to the avant-garde mix of rough and smooth materials which join to create an incredible synergy. We edited the interview to include still shots of the property, using cutaways to the photographs to punctuate Mr. Killen’s discussion of specific details.

I think the final result was well worth the effort. I was able to play the DVD of the interview on the property’s large plasma TV during the well-attended brokers’ open house, and I’ve also posted it to Youtube.  Already, I’ve had several international buyers tour the property – it is clear that the video will help reach out to the world of potential buyers and make them understand how special the property really is.

Having gone through the process, I have a hard time understanding why more high-end agents can’t be bothered to go the extra mile to market a property. All too frequently, agents just dump the property on the MLS, toss up a half-hearted website, and sit back and pray it will sell. Today’s sophisticated buyers want and deserve more information than they can get from the MLS. You have the power to give to them using the power of the moving image.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.