Jimmy Gilley compares it to being on “the front end of a huge, building tsunami.”
He believes Paramount Video, a new business venture that he and fellow Realtor Brian Floor began in January, is revolutionizing how Realtors market homes.
Gilley and Floor, both Realtors for Cressey & Everett Real Estate in Niles, have shot, edited and produced more than 50 videos of homes on the market since beginning the venture.
The movies, which usually are produced for higher-end properties, are placed on a real estate video website called WellcomeMat. They are also put on YouTube and the Cressey & Everett website.
Gilley said less than 5 percent of Realtors are currently using video marketing, putting Paramount video on the cutting edge of a new trend in the field.
“The National Association of Realtors actually did a report that said 90 percent of homebuyers are finding their homes online,” Gilley said. “We wanted to spruce up a home’s Web appeal.”
Floor said their video listings often get more than 100 hits on the website, while a normal listing will get between 10 and 30 views.
“People are drawn to video like never before right now,” he said.
Gilley said the service is all about saving sellers and buyers time.
“Sellers love the product, because it’s online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So anyone who wants to see the property doesn’t have to set up an appointment and kick the sellers out,” he said.
Floor and Gilley have also welcomed Randy Armstrong to the Paramount team. He brings a 30-year background in video production. Floor has experience with shooting video, while Gilley has the technology skills to edit the video and spread it via social media.
Floor said the team has invested about $10,000 in equipment to ensure high quality productions. The videos will often feature voiceovers discussing the highlights of the property, background music and even interviews with the sellers.
“We’re real estate agents first,” Gilley said. “We understand the housing market. We understand what buyers are looking for. So we have a natural eye of what’s important to show (in a video).”
Said Floor: “Every property has a story to tell. It’s our job to tell that story to a potential buyer through the video.”
Gilley and Floor try to give potential buyers a sense of what the home is like before setting foot in it.
“We’ve had people see the video and then go to the home and tell us, ‘this is the second time I’ve been here,’” Floor said.
Pricing for the video production varies depending on the home.

For more information about Paramount Video, visit its website at paramountvideo.com or www.youtube.com/paramountvideoteam.