MECHANIC FALLS — The arrival of digital technology revolutionized the printing industry, making it faster and easier to print anywhere and more accessible to the average consumer. It also meant that banks, schools and governments that used to print brochures, deposit slips, water bills and the like moved online.

For David Foster, the move to digital meant that after 22 years in sales in the printing industry he would have to find a new career at age 57. While he knew it was coming, word of his separation came in an email followed by a phone call. Ironically, he chose to embrace digital technology and use it to his advantage as he launched his new career path as a digital real estate agent.

“I started looking for a corporate job and for a couple of months, three months, it wasn’t working,” Foster said. Nobody, he said, wanted to hire a 57-year-old. “So, a buddy of mine who works at Keller Williams said, ‘why don’t you think about real estate?'”

WHY GO DIGITAL?

It’s not as far-fetched as you might think. The National Association of Realtors says 97% of home buyers use the internet to search for homes, many of them before they even speak with a realtor.

“I started doing the online course with the intention that if I started to like it, I would keep going. And within a week I was hooked, totally hooked,” Foster recounted. He started watching podcasts and YouTube, where a real estate coach said to get recognition, you need to do videos.

“My first video was holding up my phone on a selfie stick with a 3-by-5 white card,” Foster remembered. On it, he wrote down five Maine real estate facts, which he repeated into the camera. “I didn’t know what to do. It was terrible, but I did it and then I did it again (the) next week and I made a commitment to do it once a week, no matter what it was.”

Being tech-savvy and having experience with a band and acting on a stage certainly helped. Foster learned how to do Zoom meetings and had a client recovering from chemotherapy who couldn’t have groups of people tromping through his house. So, he set up a Zoom meeting for the buyers and did a virtual walk-through with his phone, which allowed them to ask questions.

Instead of an in-person showing, Foster set up a virtual showing and sent the seller a Zoom link to share with anyone he wanted. “I have my laptop in the kitchen and my phone,” Foster remembered, “and I had to figure it all out. Like how do I do this? But it worked and we got eight offers. We let four of the best offers in within the next couple of days to see the home, and then they chose one of the offers and went under contract. They were thrilled.”

Many agents today use virtual tours and three-dimensional photos, but neither are truly interactive, whereas what Foster is doing is. Data from the National Association of Realtors, PhotoUp — an online real estate marketing and photo editing company — reports 73% of homeowners say they are more likely to list with a real estate agent who uses video, yet only 9% of realtors create listing videos.

Furthermore, more than half of homebuyers report using YouTube as their top destination for a home search, and search engine optimization data show real estate videos drive 157% more traffic to a realtor’s website.

High resolution photos and drone shots have become almost mandatory for sellers in today’s highly competitive real estate market. Creating interactive videos is rapidly becoming a tool of choice for realtors who want to stand out from the crowd, and more importantly make their clients’ homes stand out.

Foster is firm in his belief that his videos help him stand out and translate into higher sales. “Yes, absolutely, 100%,” he stated, and the numbers seem to back him up.

VIDEO IS NOT FOR EVERYONE

Taking or shooting video is one thing. Editing is a different beast. It’s time consuming, requires an investment in equipment and software, and there’s a steep learning curve with effects, adding music and other refinements. To create a three- to five-minute video, Foster will spend about five hours editing.

To have someone shoot and edit for can cost $60 an hour or more for a good editor with motion graphics skills.

Foster has a YouTube channel and markets himself on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. He said he posts to social media about five times a week and the content varies from his podcast to business interviews, real estate listings, food reviews and more.

“I find that people are looking for entertaining content, not necessarily dry real estate content all the time,” he added.

Nearly four years in the industry now, Foster said his business is growing exponentially. “I hold an associate broker license and have been with the Fontaine Team the whole time and they’ve been incredibly supportive as I’ve grown my career.”

It’s no surprise Fontaine has asked him to share his skills with the other agents. He produces about one video a week for other agents, but that eats into his sales time, so he doesn’t want to expand that aspect of what he’s doing.

Foster said he is self-taught and spent countless hours in the early days watching videos on how to edit, shoot and perform on camera. It doesn’t have to be sophisticated, just professional, he said.

Integrating video, social media and photography into a real estate career is not very widespread in Maine, Foster said. His research shows that less than 10% of $500,000-plus listings have a custom walk-through tour. More agents are starting to adopt video, he said, but at an extremely slow rate.

“Oh, I’m so much happier doing this,” Foster said. And he’s making more money. “But this is awesome. I’m just totally loving it.”

To check David Foster’s digital activity, go to https://linktr.ee/davydogmaine.

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