I introduced you in Part I to branding weapons we use – cutting-edge technology such as drones and 360-degree cameras – to shoot our listing promos. Let’s put those together with still photography and staging to get the most of creating real-Hollywood-world virtual reality. This is Hollywood, right? All three make a killer-combo strategy as we open, work, and close.

Let’s start with photography and cinematography, media I’ve learned more about through real estate than by being on television. You don’t need to be a complete expert in these fields, but you need to know someone who is, and you need to know what not to do. Although I don’t hold the camera, I know how my listing should be shown on film and linked online; in other words, I know how to put it in your face.

Who sells houses? Well, we sell houses. What helps us sell houses? That’s right, the top-notch photos and videos we post online. This heavily involves staging, but we’ll get there in a second. Point is, if you think great houses sell houses on their own, you can think again. Focus: lights, camera, action.

In 2015, 100% of all homebuyers accessed the internet in their search; 86% watched video of their new community; and 70% toured the insides of properties online. That data is why we invest in the highest level of interior and drone photography our market has to offer. That’s how effectively these images sell houses.

It makes me cringe, but we’ve all seen it, an agent in the middle of the street waving a smart phone, attempting to grab a few non-blurry shots of a listing. What are you kidding me? That won’t do it. Don’t even try.

With 95% of all buyers using the internet to search for homes (National Association of Realtors, 2017), you have to look sharp, a real player. Not like some high school kid in film class. You’re “Hollywood.” A baller. In your world iPhones are for ballers who communicate with sellers and buyers to make money. Real money. Altman money. Not for making videos. When it comes to a photo, “sharp” is the word, literally. Cutting-edge technology says, “I’m ahead of the game, and you want to be where I am.” Here are more stats from Redfin (2013): Professionally photographed homes in general sell for $3,400 to $11,200 more over list in the $200,000 to $1 million range. When Redfin analyzed the top 10% of its sharpest listing photos, the data showed they sold over list 44% of the time rather than the average 13% of amateur-shot, fuzzier photos. Sharp photography also affects the time a house sits on the market: In the $400,000 to $500,000 range, 64% of the professionally shot houses sold within six months, compared to 46% for homes photographed with a “point-and-shoot” smart phone. Are you with me? You’re an adult, a businessperson. Act like it. Hire a professional.

Bring your stagers and photographer together to shoot the house in its best light. If the property is rural the photography should feel rural, breadbasket rural, bed & breakfast, Norman Rockwell, I love America, babbling brook A River Runs Through It rural. Have a peaceful, natural world vibe and show how the house integrates with its surroundings, from the outside in to the inside out. Shoot the living room to capture the picture window, the open field, the rolling hill, and the stone wall leading to the giant oak tree. Don’t forget the hawk circling the sky beyond the sunflower patch. Rural.

As for suburban houses, they work best in bright daylight, accentuating blue skies and long green lawns. If the backyard is glorious, go to the highest spot in the house and have them shoot down on it or photograph at twilight. Show the scenes the potential buyer will see “forever” if they buy the house.

Part of your closing strategy is working with your “image” people to capture the house in the best way to sell it. If you’ve got a listing that is an entertainer’s dream, it’s common sense to stage a series of shots of the house at night, lit and ready to greet guests. If the house has an unreal pool and outdoor kitchen, set it up and shoot it. Take strengths and blow them up big. The things you know will sell the house should be front and center in photographs and listing language.

Take a good number of shots. I’d say get 20 to 30 crisp selling images of all areas of the house with special focus on the bathrooms, master suite, kitchen, and living area, all of which need glorious, hyper-clean, hyper-crisp shots. As you progress through the sale, you will need to rotate the photos as you get feedback and go through the price-drop phase. Think of the new content as a re-launch. Your photographer should prep and load your photos, editing out distortions and odd mirror reflections. The devil is the details here, and you the agent are God. So, if you love houses like I do, you love this part of the work.

Now, in major markets, professional still photography is the norm, but video interior tours and aerial drone footage is taking over, as you’ve seen on the Altman Brothers site (thealtmanbrothers.com). Video is on the rise. You get more clicks and views online with video, and there’s a lot of technology available to track views and provide you with leads. Research it. Use it. You can follow up with additional house details using automated emails, and even reach out directly if a particular lead catches your eye. Get with it.

We’ve been using aerial drone video to sell our listings for a long time now and all the Altman houses get this treatment. Don’t forget, video pulls up your Google rankings. Make sure your listing videos are attached to your website. We post ours on Vimeo and attach it to the Altman Brothers site. Bar code technologies allow potential clients to access the exact house video and details of a particular house on smartphone with no scrolling.

Now, my clients stage because the property values are so high, and our marketing budget mirrors that. But we all know that’s relative. A $150,000 home can be just as essential to the wealth of another client, yet that client can’t justify covering the staging cost. If that’s the case, you need to convince them to up their game to help move the house in that critical first 30 days. Negotiate staging, even offer to split it with the owner from your commission.

In many markets, staging doesn’t require mad cash like LA or New York. Push it as far as you can, negotiating all angles. Does the client have an interior designer friend? If you hired someone to offer advice, would they update? If the answer is still no, you need to decide if it makes sense financially for you to stage. Most likely, it does. Give to get. Be a shark. Matt would say, “think bigger” and I agree with him. You’re building a business here.

Walk the owners through their own house. Point out all the personal photos and objects that need to be put away. Help them roll up carpets and expose wood. Open the drapes or remove them completely and let natural light flood in through clean windows. Any kind of darkness inside the house is a no-go. What are they hiding? Get it lit. Mirrors add brightness and pillows and fabrics add color, both a small investment. Don’t be cheap. Again, this is your business, your life. Make money and enjoy it.

Now, a good rule for bedrooms and bathrooms is to go for the “luxury hotel” look. Use white fluffy towels in the bathroom; stash personal objects out of sight. A beautifully made bed with a textured throw spread across it completes the luxury look you want in the most intimate spaces. Any one of the discount home stores (brick-and-mortar and online) or big box retailers will have a wide variety of decorative pillows, towels, and bed linens. Mirrors make a room appear larger and are right on trend; replace any less-than-compelling art with mirrors and bring even more light in.

If rooms are cluttered, move larger pieces out to make it feel larger. Ask the seller to group furniture into smaller conversational units known as “vignettes” in interior design; create a sense of life. Set the table and freshen up place. Make it smell good. Spritz scented spray into the air, or use reed diffusers with essential oils – citrus, lavender, sandalwood, floral. A deep clean by professionals is certainly not going to break the bank, nor is a can of paint to fix up an interior wall.

Don’t forget curb appeal. Even in the most expensive cities in America, a flat of flowers is still under $25 and the homeowner should plant and put out the welcome mat.

Think you’re done? Nope. The cameras are gone, but the staging stays. Invite the buyers. You already prettied it up. Now show it. You made the listing gold for the cameras, now show it off in the flesh. Have an open house the way you shot it. It’s a party – food, drinks, music, furniture, and a new home. I’ll meet you there.

But wait. The store wants their furniture back before open house day? Negotiate, which you should have already done. Make a deal. Extend it. Give to get. Approach a furniture store about providing some show-stopping pieces for you to hang on to throughout the selling process. Why doesn’t the store start a home-staging business as a part of its marketing efforts?

Have signage to give credit to the store lending the furniture. Or have one of their representatives – most have an in-store interior designer – work the open house, handing out information to all. Hell, let them sell the pieces right off the floor of the open house if you want. It works and the furniture sale advertising will bring in even more potential clients for you to open. Negotiate. Make a deal.

Remember, there is nothing in real estate that cannot be negotiated. There are no rules, just the limitations of your own time and energy as you open, work and close. And if you think open houses don’t matter anymore just because you shot a high-tech video, you don’t know much about selling real estate. Are you “Hollywood” or not? Let’s keep working.