The first Open House Video was created by . . .

Me, in 2003......I've had a deja vu!

I've been working on a listing on a luxury home in one of Pearland's Premier neighborhoods, Waterbury at Silverlake.  While at the final "stage and shoot" appointment, the owner reminded me that we'd met in 2002 at the house two doors down while I was holding an "open house."  He said that he and his wife were so impressed with me, that if they ever sold a home, they'd call me.

OK, they ended up buying a listing two doors from the one I'd held open, but not through me . . . so . . . I believed that to be a little typical buyer story.  But it wasn't.  They'd pre-committed to another RE/MAX agent who they bought through . . . and now, 11 years later, it's time to sell and sure enough they called me!  Great!

It made me remember the house 2 doors down, because the resales in Waterbury at that time were very difficult.  So that particular home, I leased out for the owner who'd moved to The Woodlands for a few times.  One time, we leased it to one of the local athletes (whose contract didn't get renewed and had to move).  Wow, those guys go from being super cash rich to being super cash poor, very quickly.

Nonetheless, Arthur (then my photographer) and I had gotten motivated to start videotaping open houses and putting them online so I wouldn't waste my Saturdays and Sundays sitting in vacant houses.  So we bought the first consumer-available High Definition Video Camera from Sony to the tune of about $5,000.  And we went to the house that I'd been marketing for years to shoot the first video.  It was terrible, and the sound was worse.  We made a 15-minute home tour with cars swooshing by, bought some bandwidth (about $1500 per month) -- there was no YouTube at that time -- but we had an online video!

Over time, we shortened the videos, added lavalier microphones, added lighting, refined our techniques, and now made an easier-to-develop SEO video for each listing.  So here I am going down memory lane . . . remembering that we even created a podcast show of open house homes!  Then along came YouTube and changed the game -- the game we still play.  And yes, there's vimeo too.

Anyway, want to see this gorgeous new listing at 2907 Lacewood Ct?  Terrific value at $389,900.  Click here and here's the front image:

Schedule your tour today at 832-200-5656

Have a happy and safe Memorial Weekend . . . and remember:  if buying or selling, Call The Sam Team at RE/MAX Top Realty.  Thank you for your support.  Now, how do YOU use videos?

Please comment . . . videos are the rage right now . . . what's your favorite use of them???