Rather than lowering my commission, how about we …Texas Realtor Magazine – May 2012

Are you lowing your commission, because you are trying to gain a listing and the seller is interviewing other real estate agents so you need to be competitive? Instead of lowering your commission and losing money, PROVE your commission!

In the May 2012 issue of Texas Realtor Magazine, they offer six things to do to prevent lowering your commissions when signing a listing agreement:

1. Give them something else
2. Use facts
3. Don’t speak
4. Make a list
5. Stare at them
6. Back off

It’s great to see the first option was to give them something else because that fits right in line with one of our products, video tours. When I look at listings in Southlake and Keller, whether it’s “average” or “luxury” listings, you immediately can tell who is marketing a home different from their competition. And ironically, the majority of “luxury” listings are marketed the SAME exact way!

Let’s take a look at a couple of active listings in the Southlake/Keller area. First up is 440 S White Chapel Boulevard in Southlake. It is being marketed by Roxann Taylor & Associates with professional photography, and there is a virtual tour for the listing:

440 S White Chapel Boulevard Virtual Tour

Let’s compare that listing to 512 Rancho Laredo Trail, also in Southlake. 512 Rancho Laredo Trail is listed by Team Knight of Keller Williams Realty, and it also is being marketed with a virtual tour:

512 Rancho Laredo Trail Virtual Tour

Notice anything interesting about the two listings above, that are represented by different Southlake realtors? They are using the same virtual tour provider, and the same photographer! Nothing sets them apart from each other! So what happens when both real estate agents go in for listing appointments – how do they convince the seller that THEY are the ones who should be trusted to sell these multi-million dollar homes?

If you offer the same service as your peer, you may end up having to cut your commission. Instead of lowering your commission, offer something different! Offer a full-motion, HD video tour! Make yourself stand out so the seller knows why you are being paid a commission and has no choice but to hire you because of the excellent marketing you will be bringing to the table.

I don’t know what to say about this property, other than it’s absolutely beautiful. This home will fit someone that is looking for relaxation after a day of work. Sit outside and enjoy your pool with relaxing water features, while having a view right in your back yard of the community lake. Just outstanding.

Check out the video tour of this Southlake Texas property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

Clean. VERY CLEAN. That was the first thing that I noticed about this property. And honestly, all properties that go on the market should be this way. If I have to help a realtor move furniture or rearrange a space, we need to talk because I have a rolodex (aka iPhone) of stagers that are eager to help. Buyers need to see a clean property in immaculate shape, and this house fit the bill. One of the benefits of having the homeowner there, is they can point out parts of the home that make it stand out from the rest. This homeowner showed me the pocket door that connects the laundry room to the master closet. How cool is that?! Take the clothes out of the dryer, and take two steps to hang them in your closet! We got footage of how the pocket door/laundry room relates to the master closet…fast forward to 3:55 to check it out.

Check out the video tour of this Keller Texas property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

The buyer of this property can expect to enjoy peaceful evenings in this quiet subdivision. In the Edgewater addition, it’s about living in the rolling hills and countryside, while enjoying a neighborhood of friends in unique, spectacular homes.

Check out the video tour of this Parker Texas property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

Check out the video tour of this Fort Worth Texas property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

As a Southlake or Keller realtor, you have the choice of how you are going to market your real estate properties. That choice could impact how your properties show up in search engines like Google, when buyers are looking up more information about a given property. I was looking up one of the listings I most recently did a video tour of. In the first 5 days of being posted online, the video has been viewed more than 100 times. But what I found more interesting, was what Google showed me when I searched for that property online.

(watch on YouTube)

1235 Kingston Place is in Aubrey, Texas in the Providence Village subdivision. I was surprised to see the search results when I typed in “1235 Kingston Place, Aubrey, TX” into Google. Out of the ten results Google showed me, only THREE were from outside sources, out of my control! Better yet? The YouTube video was the FIRST result in the list! Click on the image to the left to view it larger, and see the search results.

So what do I mean by outside sources out of my control, and why does it matter for you, the Southlake/Keller real estate agent? As you are probably aware, there has been a lot of discussion lately about how your MLS Listings are propagated throughout the Internet and how your contact information is (or most likely is NOT) displayed when buyers find your listing. When you search for the average property listing, you are most likely going to have search results that showcase local realtors that have their own websites, or trulia, zillow, redfin, etc. It’s great that buyers can obtain the information they are after, but they also are subjected to advertisement by other realtors. YOU are no longer in the forefront, even though it is YOUR listing!

A magical thing can happen when you start to use video to market your real estate properties. Because Google loves video and many avenues are used to publish your video, you have the ability to smother your competitor’s websites so YOUR information is displayed front and center. Of the ten results shown in the example video above, only three will potentially show your competitor’s information. AND, those three, are at the BOTTOM of the search results! All of the other search results feature YOUR video, with YOUR contaction information on it!

And of course, let’s not forget that consumers LOVE video. With the first six results being all video based, you are showing consumers what they WANT, instead of the MLS listing facts that nobody wants to read.

The next time you go to market a property, think about how you can use real estate video tours to help set yourself apart from your competition, and help guide buyers to the star of the show – you. Don’t just post photos and a description on the MLS and let your competition’s websites be the winner when buyers search for your properties online.

Southlake and Keller Sellers/Home Buyers

If you are looking for a realtor that is embracing video and technology and you want your property to be marketed with an HD Video Tour Walk-Through, contact us or view our recent HD Video Walk-Through Tours here on our website.

1808 Dublin Road, in Parker, Texas, is a property that just can’t be sold with real estate photography and a text description. You see, there are many other aspects of the home and living at the property, that the current homeowners knew they wanted to convey to buyers, but they weren’t sure how. When the realtor contacted me to produce a video tour of the home, I was told about the expansive green landscape surrounding the property; the peacefulness that surrounds the property; and most interesting to me, the Tour de Dublin!

A couple of times per week, a cycling group (from Richardson Bike Mart perhaps?) rides right in front of this property on Dublin Road in Parker. The homeowners sit on their white fenced-in porch and relax as the sound of gears from off in the distance start to fill the calm air. Moments later, the first pack of riders flies by, chasing what seems to be the elusive win. For the next ten to fifteen minutes, cyclists pass one-by-one, or in groups of two or three. They couldn’t keep up with the main pack.

But you can’t discount their efforts! Soon a pack of about thirty cyclists came roaring down Dublin Road, in an array of colors on their jerseys. It is quite a sight to see, and one that the future homeowners of this 1808 Dublin Road home will be sure to enjoy. I was told that depending on the day and weather conditions, the group has been known to reach into the two-hundreds! Sitting on the porch, looking from one end of Dublin Road to the other, all you see is a mass of cyclists.

Could we have taken a couple of photos of cyclists and posted them to the MLS for this property? Sure, but it wouldn’t make much sense. Buyers that aren’t familiar with cyclists would be wondering why there’s a photo of people on bicycles attached to the property listing! With video, we were not only able to show the surroundings with the golf course across the street and the expansive green landscape, but we were able to capture the moment when the cyclists crest the hill down past the property on Dublin Road and begin their journey past this wonderful property.

Take a minute to enjoy this video tour of 1808 Dublin Road in Parker Texas. Within the first minute you’ll see the cyclists ride by, and the end of the video features shots of the pool and patio out back, closing off with a nice glass of wine.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

A rare find in the award winning Keller ISD and Heritage area, this 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath has everything you are looking for in a home. The master bedroom is downstairs, with a study, formal dining room, and open living room to the kitchen. The upstairs features one large living space with a loft feel, two bedrooms and a media room to enjoy movies at night with the family. This home has a fresh coat of paint; the whole interior was repainted March 2012! Included in the sale of this Fort Worth home are:

• Kenmore Elite Stainless Refrigerator
• Washer and dryer
• mineral rights!

Check out the video tour of this North Fort Worth Texas property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

If you have kids, this home would be perfect. The small-knit community has a great small-town feel where your kids can enjoy bike rides on the sidewalks or play sports in the fields within the community. When summer comes around, get a break from the kids by sending them to the main community center when you enter the subdivision. It features a pool with huge slides that your kids will surely enjoy! Check out the video tour of this Providence Village property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip

The pool is absolutely gorgeous. It has a diving board which would make any kid happy, and a fire pit for the adults to enjoy the evenings. If you or your kids are into basketball, this property has a half-court basketball court in the backyard in impecable condition. Check out the video tour of this Westlake property below.

(watch on YouTube)

North Texas Real Estate Marketing Tip