Be impressed.
A lot of trends start on the west coast and eventually find there way to the good Old North State, but you have to wonder about this one. Why? We’ll discuss that in a moment but first take a couple of minutes to view this video in full screen and then go to the property web site. You should be able to click through to it when a link appears at the end of the video. I think you will be impressed. I’ve never seen anything like this for a home in Durham…or anywhere in North Carolina for that matter with the possible exception of the Biltmore House, and that was to attract tourists, not buyers.
Here are a few observations from a marketer’s point of view.
The most obvious thing of course is that the production values are stunning. I came across this in a blog on real estate photography. The photographer, whose name is Scott Hargis, is quite proud of the work, as he should be. I don’t know much about serious photography but this wasn’t done with a point and shoot camera. Much of the blog I mentioned is about the use of software tools like Photoshop and not about what to shoot and how.
Did you notice that nowhere in the video or on the website is price mentioned? I don’t think this was an oversight. This reinforces the old saw that if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. I did a little additional research and found out the price on REALTOR.com. Take a guess and click through yourself. If the link doesn’t work it means the home has sold. Clue…the price is 8 figures and a nice round number. Do you think the price was set after a careful analysis of the comps? Can you imagine there would be any comps?
Another unusual feature…people.
There are rarely any people in property advertising. Have you ever wondered about that? I have. Virtually everything else uses people…cars, schools, soap, beer. Why so few people in property ads? Of course, there are plenty of people used in real estate advertising…mostly not-so-great photographs of agents. After all, the vast majority of real estate marketing focuses on promoting agents and companies, not properties.
The people used in the video and the photos for Casa Estella did not look like actors. If you read the copy on the site you may come to the conclusion that the people are the owners. In fact, the copy is much different than you usually see in property promotion. It has a blog-like conversational tone and in places conveys very subjective information from the sellers…about their favorite places in the house…which, very cleverly, it turns out, depends on the time of day.
There is no doubt that this was expensive to put together. In the realm of multi-million dollar homes big budgets may make sense but who would you guess paid for it? I don’t know. If you were the seller of a home this spectacular would you front the cost? Would you expect the agent to pay for marketing as is traditional? Would you be willing to split it? How about fund it as part of the budget for a marketing plan offset against the agent’s commission or in lieu of a more traditional commission? Would your answers be the same for a more modest house?
Overall impact
I shared the video with a California luxury agent that contributes to another blog I also occasionally contribute to. She was totally blown away. Among other equally enthusiastic things she said, “Seriously….they are taking it to a whole new level! I loved it! It totally excited me!”
I’m not quite that excited but my roots run deep in a much more conservative area of the country. Or maybe I would much prefer a city local where good restaurants and convenience stores are always just a few blocks away.
But my primary concern is that maybe it is too good. My issue is whether the material creates such high expectations that some disappointment would be inevitable if you took the trouble to go see the property. A cold overcast day might leave you totally bummed out. Sometimes you just can’t Photoshop real life.
The goal of good property marketing is to get the home shown to qualified buyers. The promotional material should tease. It doesn’t have to show everything. In fact, it should tease enough to get the showings and then let a fabulous property sell itself. The biggest “Wow!” moments should come on site…not at a website.
I’d welcome some other opinions on this. If you decide to contact the agent, go see the property, and then buy it, please tell them Jay sent you. I could use the referral fee.
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