App Of The Week: Video FSBO
GRAND RAPIDS -- It's still in its infancy, but real estate veteran, videographer and app developer Brian Silvernail and two partners are developing Video FSBO, an online assist for those trying to sell property.
There's also a version of the product for real estate professionals.
The app works now on the Web, with a smartphone app coming soon, Silvernail said.
The video on the Process page of www.videoicast.com (for real estate professionals) or www.videofsbo.com (for do-it-yourselfers) illustrates how the product works.
Basically the product allows sellers to give a narrated video tour of their property, allowing buyers to skip many visits to properties and concentrate on the ones that are closest to what they're looking for.
"The FSBO app can be used now," Silvernail said. "It works with smart devices right now, you just have to go through the browser. You take the shots, copy and paste them to a PC, and you upload from the PC to the Web site. The only thing that's different between what the system does right now and what the smartphone app will do is that it will automatically upload the video."
Realtors pay $19.95 a month to set up their listings on the site. They can also opt to have Silvernail produce a video for them, for $250 a property. But Silvernail said Realtors can avoid that cost by shooting and uploading their own videos.
Silvernail said he's also interested in adapting the app to the used car market, which would allow car sellers to offer video tours of their cars for sale. Eliminating trips to properties or used cars that turn out to be unsuitable could save billions in energy costs, Silvernail noted.
Silvernail is a veteran commercial real estate agent who sold more than $100 million of vacant land up and down the US-131 corridor in Grand Rapids that turned into half a billion dollars of development. Indeed, the Grand Rapids Business Journal once crowned him "king of the corridor." However, his real estate career ended with the 2000s real estate crash, and he turned to his second love, video production. (He once won on the 1980s lip-syncing TV show "Puttin' On The Hits," noting, "I was Rick Springfield back when I had hair.")
"I'm not Steven Spielberg but when it comes to marketing properties you don't need to be," Silvernail said. "You just need to be steady and professional."
One Realtor's early attempt at using the app to list a property can be seen at this link. Another, more lavishly produced one for a higher-value property is here. And a commercial listing can be viewed here.
One of Silvernail's partners in the video venture is Ralph Lister, a nationally recognized voice talent and actor.
Remember, the WWJ Technology Report will showcase a different Michigan-designed app every Monday in its App of the Week feature. Submit your apps to Technology Report editor Matt Roush by emailing him at mnroush@cbs.com.
