Most realtors understand the benefits that come with embedding video productions of their listings on their websites. In an atmosphere of tight marketing budgets, however, the luxury of hiring a professional to do the task of creating high quality videos has been set aside in favor of more do-it-yourself options.

We’ve all seen the results, however, of a non-professional effort at video creation – poor lighting, bad audio…and of course the subsequent lack of conversions as a result. In a tight market, it can be even harder for a realtor (and his listings) to stand out above the crowd.

Animoto, an exceptional video creation platform, now provides realtors with a do-it-yourself video creation option that will speak volumes to their prospects.

Take a look at what you can do as a realtor with just some great pictures, music and a bit of text.

Brad Jefferson, CEO & Co-founder of Animoto shared his thoughts on this service. “In today’s competitive real estate market, a good first impression is the key to securing a listing, generating buzz for a listing, and selling a home. Animoto for Real Estate helps guarantee a good first impression of a home or agent so the agent can focus on closing.”

As of the time of this writing, Animoto is an affordable service – $249 per year or $39.00 per month, and comes with some amazing features, including:

 One line video embedding on websites and/or blogs – no experience necessary

• Ability to post to YouTube and other video and social networking sites
• Ability to create an unlimited number of high (DVD) quality video downloads which you can burn onto a DVD to give to a client or provide at open house (or similar) events
• Ability to add text to show website, phone number and other listing information such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, location of the property and more
• Use Animoto’s commercial music library or upload your own
• Optional Call-to-Action button leading viewers to your website
• Videos are unbranded – your business is in the spotlight, not the video creation service
• iPhone application allows users to view your listings on the go

For more information about this video creation service geared towards real estate professionals, check out their website at Animoto.com.

Image courtesy Freedigitalphotos.net

Tim Binning

Tim Binning, broker and owner of Re/Max All Pro in Bloomingdale and Sugar Grove, Illinois, and Re/Max Great American North in St Charles, Illinois, has just been awarded one of the top honors presented by the Re/Max Northern Illinois real estate network. He was named Broker/Owner of the Year, Multi-Office at the networks annual awards event last April.

Binning received this award due to his successful efforts to keep three offices thriving in spite of tough market conditions faced by real estate professionals today. As a result of his efforts, Re/Max ranks as the market-share leader in all the local markets in which his offices are located, holding more than a 30% share in each.

Binning strongly believes in giving back to the community, as he and his agents support the Children’s Memorial Hospital (the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago), and they were amongst the Re/Max networks leaders in raising funds for the hospital last year.

Every year Re/Max Northern Illinois awards ceremony honours affiliates who have achieved outstanding results in areas of service and sales, as well as in technology and philanthropy. Re/Max has been the leader in the Northern Illinois real estate market since 1989, and has headquarters in Elgin, Illinois. The network consists of 2,100 sales associates, and 110 individually owned and operated Re/Max offices providing a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services.

The Illinois property.com and Re/Max.com websites are leaders in consumer visits among real estate franchise brands. The Northern Illinois network is part of Re/Max LLC, a global real estate organization with 88,000 sales associates in 89 countries.

Drones to the rescue for realtors, but how about our privacy? © Steve Young - Fotolia.com

No longer does a remote real estate investor have to rely upon his property manager’s word and/or photographs; if he has concerns that his property is being trashed he can launch his drone and check things out remotely. Ah… the convenience!

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, range in size from a commercial plane to a hummingbird. These aircraft can certainly serve a good purpose such as allowing a remote landlord to get a birds’ eye view of his properties – just to make sure the tenants aren’t trashing the place, or even to make sure they still live there.

Other uses for the real estate industry include activities such as recording an aerial view of properties which can then be uploaded to a real estate broker’s website, giving his or her clients a view of both the property and the neighborhood before visiting the location in person.

Surveyors can get a glimpse of large tracts of land to get a better idea of the property’s boundaries, land planners can determine the best uses of raw land, etc – you name it, there’s probably a very good way and/or reason to use a drone.

The question, however, is how will privacy rights stand a chance to be protected in a country with as many as 30,000 drones in the air?

Now certainly they won’t all be flying at the same time, and they will surely be subjected to certain laws, however the possibility for abuse is very high.  Each technological advance does more than just bring a new “toy” into the world, it also brings with it something unseen – moral justification for the use of that “toy”. Just because we have the technology does that mean we should use it?

Lawsuits about invasion of privacy are pretty much de facto with the use of this technology, but the opportunity for profit, whether it’s the manufacturers of these drones or the individuals using the technology, will contribute, I believe, to the death of privacy in this country as we now experience it.

What do you think? Do you agree that the potential for abuse is too great to warrant the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in America’s airspace?

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Anita Cooper has been writing about real-estate topics since 2010. Her articles have appeared in the trade magazine “Real Estate Wealth,” as well as on various websites. Cooper owns and operates a small writing business providing website and copy-writing material to real-estate professionals.

CEO:  MobileRealtyApps

Website: MobileRealtyApps.com

Interview by Demi Ward

While there’s no shortage of mobile home search applications on the marketplace today, the HomeSpotter mobile home finding app for the iPhone and iPad simply leaves other mobile home search tools in the proverbial dust. HomeSpotter is an augmented reality application that provides a sophisticated tool for locating recently sold and currently for sale homes within range of your mobile phone. The HomeSpotter app is just one of many mobile home search tools available from MobileRealtyApps.com.

Realty Biz News recently spoke with Aaron Kardell, the founder and CEO of MobileRealtyApps.com, to learn more about how HomeSpotter is assisting real estate brokers in the delivery of cutting edge home finding services to their clients in the home buying marketplace.

RealtyBizNews.com: Can you explain how the HomeSpotter mobile application works?

Aaron Kardell: HomeSpotter is actually not a separate mobile application, but a specific feature that is available in the suite of mobile applications that our company offers. How it works is really simple. Let’s say that you are out with a client showing properties. All you would need to do is hold up your mobile phone in front of a dwelling, and a panoramic view of homes for sale in range of your mobile device would pop up on your screen. There’s a great video on our company website at: http://www.HomeSpotter.com that provides a clear visualization of how the technology works.

RealtyBizNews.com: What are some of the bells and whistles that real estate professionals can look forward to experiencing when using the HomeSpotter feature?

Aaron Kardell: HomeSpotter is an advanced mobile home finding tool that delivers more than a bird’s eye view of MLS listings for sale by zip code. As an example, the information on the properties in the range of a realtor’s mobile device comes from a live camera feed, so as they move, the distance, direction and other information about the properties in their immediate area is instantly updated on the screen of their mobile device. This technology saves time and energy for Realtors, since there is no need to constantly enter new search criteria to find properties to show. HomeSpotter provides Realtors and home shoppers with a radically new way to search for properties – by curb appeal.

HomeSpotter's Augmented Reality technology makes home shopping fun and interactive

RealtyBizNews.com: What benefits can real estate professionals expect from the mobile marketing suite offered by your company?

Aaron Kardell: Our mobile apps, including the HomeSpotter feature, collectively function as a best-in-class lead generation tool that can be used “out-of-the-box”. The apps in our suite are white labeled, meaning they can be branded for any real estate broker or MLS. Once the apps are branded for a broker, their customers and agents can easily download their app at any time from the Apple App Store, Android Market, or BlackBerry App World. The HomeSpotter feature specifically, is currently available on iPhone and iPad, and that feature will be added to our Android apps in January 2012. The apps my company provides are a good investment for many real estate brokers, as it eliminates the time and expense of in-house development of custom mobile applications for multiple platforms. In addition, the HomeSpotter feature along with our complete mobile marketing suite provides real estate brokers with the best technology in the marketplace today, which also assists in attracting and retaining the best real estate agents in their local markets.

RealtyBizNews.com: Is the HomeSpotter feature currently available in all U.S. Markets?

Aaron Kardell: Not yet. Our goal is to first equip a select few brokers or MLS’s in each market with the technology and then gradually expand this offering to a wider market in the future. ***

If you would like to learn more about the HomeSpotter feature and its related mobile marketing suite, please visit www.MobileRealtyApps.com or www.HomeSpotter.com for further details. You may also contact Aaron Kardell by phone at: 612-284-2828 x212 or by email at:  aaron@mobilerealtyapps.com