Even the best and most creative real estate marketing minds can be thwarted by less than impressive technology. It just takes one or two poorly done digital marketing pieces for today’s potential home buyers and renters, particularly those in the Millennial and Gen Z category, to view a brand as disconnected and out-of-touch.

As most leasing agents know, video and high-quality images are a must have for today’s multifamily housing market. While slick, highly-produced video and photography may have been a hot trend before, today’s target markets want and demand more. Millennials and Gen Z’s want real versus slick and genuine over high-production. But that can create a unique problem for leasing agents. How do you create real and genuine experiences that truly represent your team and community? By having the team at your community create them. Tasking onsite teams with creating genuine, real videos that don’t look like they were done by a complete amateur can be quite the task.

Here’s where there is good news courtesy of the development team at Apple. With each iteration of the iPhone, they have managed to increase their camera capabilities by leaps and bounds. The latest version, of course, is the iPhone X. Reports of the incredible camera capabilities are already being widely touted in a variety of tech publications.

These new features can mean leasing agents can quickly and easily produce high-quality videos and images, that are as real-life as it gets, just by pulling their phones out of their purse or pocket. 

A Quick Overview

Before going too in-depth on any one feature, let’s take a look at what Apple has done to improve the image and video quality of their newest phone. The iPhone X gives users:

  • Dual 12-megapixel cameras
  • Larger and faster sensor
  • Deeper pixels
  • New color filter
  • Quad LED True Tone flash
  • Dual optical image stabilization (on both cameras)

Just one of those features would equal better, higher quality videos at a leasing agent’s fingertips than what the prior iPhone 7’s offered. But all of them together? This allows for true, in-the-moment experiences to be captured that won’t need tons of editing, but rather allows the true beauty and quality of the property to shine through.

End to End Screen and Higher Resolution

One of the major features of the iPhone X, and a big differentiator from previous iPhone generations, is the 5.8 inch OLED end-to-end screen. The OLED screen has better contrast than the displays on even iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and it also supports HDR video. The screen extends all the way across the device, eliminating the home button entirely, and provides more “real estate” on the screen in a smaller package. According to a review from TechRadar, “It’s hard to overstate how beautiful this screen is – and that’s not hyperbole brought on by extreme fatigue. It’s deep, rich and smooth, and draws level with Samsung in the quality stakes easily.” The resolution has also been upgraded to a resolution of 2436 x 1125 on the new Super Retina HD display.

A larger screen and higher resolution allows images and video to become much more expressive when viewed on mobile. So, even if leasing agents aren’t filming on the iPhone X, they need to start considering that their prospective residents are likely searching and viewing properties on them. 

Depth-Sensing

Another upgrade for the camera on the iPhone X involves integration of the most cutting edge mobile photography available. As Verge puts it, “The front-facing camera module now contains an infrared camera, flood illuminator, proximity scanner, ambient light sensor, speaker, microphone, 7-megapixel camera, and dot projector. All of that together combines into what Apple calls its TrueDepth camera, used for Animoji, Face ID, and a number of cool camera tricks.” This upgrades mean the highest quality, live mobile video capabilities are available to any leasing agent…on their phone!

Though the iPhone X is certainly expensive, it packs features that can push your sales and leasing game to the next level. Whether using the iPhone X for creating those real marketing videos or walking prospective residents through the community via live video tour, it will produce an experience unlike anything else currently on the market.  And in the multifamily industry, any advantage in producing the type and quality of digital content that will make your community stand out in a hyper-competitive landscape, is a good one.

Want to learn more about the iPhone X or how to create / host the type of content Millennial and Gen Z renters are looking for? Reach out to us at contact@realync.com! 

Until next time…keep it real!