We are all 'zooming' forwards into a more virtual world where online meetings, school classes and even pub quizzes through a screen is becoming the new normal.
Sovereign , together with our shared owners, are excited to bring a new perspective of many of our homes by the means of virtual tours.
Selling your home in the current climate doesn’t have to be too much different to normal. We are taking extra steps and precautions to ensure that all customers are safe, and only ‘validated’ buyers are filtered through to ‘physical viewings’, keeping all unnecessary interaction to a minimum. Plus, this platform gives you another opportunity to really ‘sell’ your home, a marketing tool we think we’ll definitely bring with us through and out the other side of lockdown.
Planning
Don’t rush – you may be excited to get the process started, but a well-planned and recorded video will stand out and give the best impression of your home, and in turn more appealing to those potential buyers.
Take time to tidy, moving house usually means you need to do a bit of a ‘clear out’ beforehand, so why not start here? De-cluttering your home will be visually appealing to those watching as it is easier to visualise your own furniture and belongings in somewhere that is clear and tidy. Just before the tour, a few things to remember: Clear the draining board, plump the cushions, make the beds, open the curtains, turn the TV off and turn the lights on!
Recording
If you have a camera, use it! If not, your phone in landscape position will be fine. Make sure to record in day-time as it will be brighter and will ensure better video quality.
Before you click record, plan your route around your home. If you have children and worried they will accidently appear on camera, perhaps have them walk close behind you to avoid being seen! It could almost be a game of ‘follow the leader’, and don’t worry about any accidental sounds, once recorded there is a way to remove audio. Of course we appreciate that these are difficult times, just work with what you have and the end result we be fine.
When you start, start the video from outside and walk up to your door, move slowly and gently around your home making sure the viewer has enough time to take everything in. A quick tip would be when exiting a room, pause in the corner so the camera can take the whole room in before moving on to the next room.
Sending
Before you send us your video tour, please make sure that the audio is removed from the video. If recorded by phone, you can do this by going into your video, click ‘edit’, and find the settings for audio, there should be an option to turn off sound or an option to remove background noise. Alternatively, there are many video editing apps you can download to your phone/computer which can do the same. Save this version and re-name with your address as the title and send it over to us.
Sending large files over email can prove tricky, but we have a few different ways which will make it much easier. Just go to one of the below websites, upload your file, type the destination email address and the senders email address, add a little note with your address to make sure it’s identifiable and click send! It’s that simple. You will be contacted to confirm receipt of your video.
Wetransfer.com
dropbox.com
Remember, you have taken the step to putting your house on the market, it’s up to you how far you go in showing it off. We are always here with advice with the aim to help make your home selling journey easier so if in doubt, please get in touch.
Still have questions?
You can contact the Resales team on resales@sovereign.org.uk or 0300 330 0718 with any questions you might have.