Real Estate Agents Gain Video Service for Showing Houses

While some real estate agents have been using online video to show houses for years, the idea hasn't caught on as strongly as some would like. To make the process easier, Seattle, Washington, technology company Imprev is launching an online service that will let agents create customized videos in minutes.

The service isn't available yet, but will launch August 15. The idea grew out of the online Marketing Center the company launched back in 2000. The goal at the time was to let real estate agents and brokers create their print and digital marketing material online, all from one location. Soon, that Marketing Center, found at www.imprev.net, will have a video area, as well.

The video service will cost $299 per year, and will let agents design videos by dragging and dropping photos, selecting music, and entering their own text. When they're done, the service will load the video to the subscriber's YouTube or Vimeo account. There's no limit, by the way, to the number of videos an agent can make each year for that $299 price.

To use the service, agents will sign into their imprev.net account and select the Design Gallery. They then choose a production style for the video, name their video, upload pictures, arrange their pictures, enter text, and select music. No video knowledge is required. Once they've got the video exactly the way they want in, they can output to a YouTube or Vimeo account. From there, the video can be embedded in any page they like.

There are still plenty of businesspeople who haven't tried using online video yet because they think it will be too difficult. With Imprev, happily, there's nothing to learn. Just upload photos, make a few choices, then the video is done. It sounds like all the benefits of online video marketing, with none of the effort.

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net