Recent survey results by Mashable show that approximately 75% of homeowners would rather work with real estate companies that use video production for selling homes and properties. That’s because real estate videos produce an immediate impact, thereby causing listings to sell much more quickly. In addition, video production allows potential buyers to review several properties at once and narrow down their selections – saving time for both the real estate agent and the client. In fact, research shows that buyers who look at videos take three times less time to make a buying decision.

What’s more, almost eighty percent of online searches are directed toward video today. Plus, almost the same percentage of home buyers begin their searches online. Therefore, video plays a major role in fueling the real estate market and making sales. Real estate agents can distinguish themselves from the competition when they make full use of videos in marketing properties. In addition, the use of videos enables them to add to their listings – definitely a decided advantage. Producing a video is also good for purposes of SEO as videos make it far easier to rise in the search engine rankings. Real estate videos then are not merely online presentations but also ways to effectively market properties via the web.

Therefore, you can efficiently broadcast your listings, formatting them for the web or for RSS syndication through podcasts. Podcasts usually comprise video coverage that is consistently updated, such as new property listings, while videos produced for the web focus on tours made to quickly capture the viewer’s attention. Research by ComScore showed that Americans, in one month, watched almost 10 billion videos on the Internet. Not only that, one Association of Realtors® survey revealed that most buyers find their agents online or at the agent’s website. No one (not a single person) in the survey contacted an agent who sent them brochures or mailers.

Therefore, real estate agents, who want to increase their online visibility, can greatly enhance their presence by using video productions for their real estate listings and property tours. However, it’s still important to make the distinction between a video production and a virtual tour – they are not the same. A video production is typically a hosted tour of a property and provides an extra dimension that virtual tours or images do not employ. For example, a hosted video will include a narrator who guides the viewer through a home or property, showcasing or pointing out its features. Either the host can be the agent or someone hired for the role.

There’s no doubt about it – agents today can benefit greatly from the services offered by a video production company. With the explosive growth of videos online, it simply doesn’t make sense to use another format.