Recently, I began to notice the trend of user produced video was moving beyond You-Tube and Myspace and into main stream Real Estate. There's several companies that are starting to provide a video service, similar to what many of us have used for 360 virtual tours. I've dabbled a little myself, but I don't have a production quality video camera (although that will soon change.)

Fast forward to this week. I have some clients looking to relocate to the Astoria area from the Rockies, and they have a few specific requirements. I've emailed every property that fits their base criteria as they come on the market, and even thought we'd found the right one. After a quick plane ride to the Oregon Coast, my client quickly learned the difference between a few quality photos and reality when it comes to Astoria homes for sale. Recently I emailed a new listing, and it sparked some interest with my clients, but only as much as a handful of photos could. I offered to shoot a little video, and was upfront about the fact I'm not Steven Spielberg but would do my best.

I went to both preview the property as I had not showed it, and shoot some video footage as well as take additional pictures. I put the short video clips together and uploaded the movie to Google Video. This allowed my clients who were a thousand miles away to get a first hand perspective of the property, both inside and out. Needless to say, a plane ticket was immediately purchased and travel plans were made to see this particular home.