| DVD Video Tours Make Selling Easier & Can Net You MORE For Your Home!
Call me at (760) 942-4242 and I will show you how DVDs can help the selling of your home much less disruptive! |
If you or someone you know is thinking about selling their home, it is important to consider the
use of full-motion video and DVDs. Here are just a few of the reasons why having video and DVDs
is so important in selling a home today:
- Open House 24/7. The most critical factor in selling a home for top dollar is marketing exposure.
By having full-color brochures with DVDs in the flyer box at all times, buyers can take a DVD and
watch it on their TV at their convenience. A DVD makes it easy for buyers to preview your home, and, basically, means that your house is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Relieves Burden. For some people, having to make way for buyers who want to see
your home can be a significant burden. The most common examples are: 1) people who work at home; 2) people
with medical conditions; 3) parents of babies/toddlers; 4) seniors or others for whom the disruption is unsettling;
5) homes with pets that get upset by the presence of strangers; 6) people who have a lot of work stress who
try to relax during the weekend. DVDs allow every person who stops by the house to see the home in comfort on their
TV. If the buyer likes what he/she sees, then a scheduled appointment to show the home can be arranged.
- Having a DVD takes some pressure off from showing the home to every buyer/agent, regardless of
the request. When possible, you should allow people to come in and see your house as much as you can. But there are
times that it just isn't possible. Due to home office situations (e.g., conference calls), health
issues, or simply convenience, there may be times when showings would be extremely burdensome. With a
DVD, the good news is that one can kindly say to the agent or buyer, "Now is not a convenient time, but
please take a DVD home with you to watch on your TV, and if you like what you see, please call again and
I will be most happy to allow you to see it at your convenience."
- A video is a great take-away gift for the interested buyer. We can't say enough about this! Buyers who
take home a video of a home can watch it many times, show it to a spouse who wasn't able to see the home,
and share it with friends and family to get extra input. This is a REALLY important feature because your
home video will stand out among the available homes. We know -- we have even sold homes to people who
had never seen the home before placing their offer on it!
- DVD, not CDROM, technology is CRITICAL. DVDs will play right on the TV set; CDROMs require a computer.
For a DVD, you just put it in the DVD player and hit go; for CDROMs, media players, computer speed, etc. can cause compatibility issues.
In short, having the home tour on a DVD means that buyers can relax in the family room while watching the video; it makes
the home tour a pleasant experience and allows it to be seen on a big-screen TV. Finally, DVDs can hold about 7 times as much
data, which means that the video can be much longer and much higher quality.
- Richness of information. Because a DVD can store so much video, the DVD can sell the house in ways
that paper brochures and computer virtual tours cannot. Example: One one DVD, we filmed neighbors talking about
the neighborhood and community and placed this footage on the DVD. This is great because the buyers feel
really good about the home that they are buying and the community into which they are moving! Example ##2: Where
an elementary school is particularly strong, it can be great to get the Principal to say a few words about
the school and the community. This brings a depth to the marketing that homes in other areas simply do not have.
- Ease of Distribution. Because DVDs are so compact and inexpensive to make, they can be easily attached to brochures,
distributed to other agents, and distributed to nearby neighborhoods where a buyer may live. Once you have the video,
it is easy to manufacture 1,000 DVDs, which is usually the minimum number that the Hokkanen Team creates for any
listing.
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DVD/Video
Questions to ask a real estate agent and the responses that you want. |
| Will you create DVDs or CDROMs?
| Correct answer: "DVDs." As discussed above, you want DVDs because they can be played
in any TV. CDROMs will play in only a small portion of the DVD players.
Bad answer: "DVDs aren't important--I can sell your house with just my sales skills."
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| What is the minimum number of DVDs you will make for our home?
| Hokkanen Team Answer: 1,000 DVDs and 4 page color brochures.
Good Answer: At least 500. Once the DVD master is completed, there is very little cost to mass production. Your home is worth a lot; your
real estate agent should be willing to spend the money to market and sell it.
Bad Answer: 20 DVDs. If you get this answer, it means that the agent is creating the
DVDs to "appease" the home seller, not mass-distributing the DVDs in order to sell the home.
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| When will the camera crew arrive at my home and how long will it take to produce the DVD?
| Hokkanen Team Answer: The crew will be
here in the next 48 hours, and the DVD will be completed in 5 days. This is possible only because we own an excellent camera and know how
to use it, have a post-production video editing system in-house, and also own the DVD duplication system that can fabricate 500 DVDs per day.
Realistic answer for other teams: Three to four weeks: One week for the video crew,
one week for post production, and two weeks for final production; the DVD will be ready in a month.
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| Do you charge a higher commission becasue of the DVD?
| Correct Answer: No higher commission--this is just part of our high tech real estate practice
and the reason people hire us and are so satisfied. Let me give you the names of 3 or 4 references of home owners
who we have created such videos for.
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| What kind of a camera will you use?
|  Hokkanen Team Answer: We own a 3CCD, 24 frames-per-second camera; this is movie quality and professionals use it for both
movies and commercials. The images from it are dramatically superior to a personal video camera and will show your home beautifully.
Good answer: I don't have such a camera, but I know I can rent one for about $300/day, and I will be bringing it on the day of the shoot.
Not-so-good answer: I own a personal video camera and intend to use it for the shoot.
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| Who will do the post-production video editing and do they know anything about real estate?
| Hokkanen Team Answer: We do all of our post-production in-house (mainly John) in order to ensure the highest quality and quickest turn-around.
Good Answer: We use ___________ video editors, who we have used before and here is an example of their work.
Unknown Answer: Our video editors are good, but we can't show you any of their real estate projects because they haven't worked on such a
project before.
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| Do you license background music for business purposes?
| Hokkanen Team/Correct Answer: All music is properly licensed for business, not personal, use. We would not jeapordize the sale of your house
with a lawsuit from an angry artist.
Bad Answer: We don't worry about licensing because the risk is minimal. In fact, we usually just grab the music from one of the
MP3 peer-to-peer networks. (Apart from the fact that the artist is not being fairly compensated, getting
dragged into a deliberate misuse lawsuit for treble damages is just bad mojo.)
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| Can you share the video over the Internet?
| Hokkanen Team Answer: Yes, we have multiple servers that are fully video-enabled, and we can stream your video across the Internet the day that it is finalized. We
run Internet advertisements for all such homes and videos.
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Equal Housing Opportunity.