Now that Elliman broker Michael Hoy has reached the level of Curbed folk hero (joining the ranks of Bob & Bonnie) for his charming, low-budget YouTube video walk-throughs, he's managed to scored some mainstream pub. Yesterday's Post carried a story about the rising trend of using video to market apartments, and we learned a few things about Hoy: He has a Guarini-like mane, he doesn't shoot the footage himself, and he's changing the game, baby. And since he's changing the game (baby), others are catching on. Real estate megapublicist Kelly Kreth is helping her clients produce videos, and the results have been boffo:
"You have a whole generation of buyers who've grown up online and with real-estate-oriented television shows," says Mike Simon, the president of Century 21 New York Metro and another client of Kreth's who decided to give Internet video tours a try. "This is just kind of tapping into that natural evolution."We're not sure if the above Kreth/Darren Sukenik video for a Morton Square apartment has good feng shui, but we do know that (A) it's the anti-Hoy in terms of its professionalism, and (B) it finally taught us how to correctly pronounce Costas Kondylis.Simon's first experience with the medium came when he and Kreth filmed a short piece showing off one of the firm's listings. Just a day after the video went up, the apartment had a buyer - for $1.5 million in cash. According to Kreth, the woman who purchased the property had seen the online video and liked the place's feng shui.
· Making the Video [NYP]
· Video: 1 Morton Square [YouTube]
· Williamsburg Apartment Gets Williamsburg Soundtrack [Curbed]