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Online videos have now become the hottest tool for marketing properties.

"Video has been the most powerful marketing tool. It's honest, it shows the place for what it really is," says Douglas Heddings of the Heddings Property Group.

Heddings was one of the first in the city to use video as a marketing tool. He says it offers buyers the chance to see a realistic view of the home, without doctored pictures or wide-angle lenses to make it appear larger. What buyers see is what they get.

Max Dobens of Prudential Douglas Elliman agrees. He relies on uncut, one-take walk through videos to give buyers a tour of his properties. He says he shows them the good, the bad and the ugly, so there are no surprises.

He says these videos are a way to streamline the process, save time for everyone and draw a more serious buyer to the property.

"It does increases the amount of traffic, and at the same time it increases the amount of qualified people who are seriously interested in the apartment, because if they see something they don’t like, they are not going to show up," says Dobens.

His client, Joshua Allen, hired Dobens after seeing one of his videos. He feels with thousands of listings on the market, this would set his home apart from the rest.

"People are used to pictures and people want to see more than that these days. So as a seller, I want someone to be drawn to something that’s different," says Allen.

Now, aside from selling a home, these videos are also a chance for brokers to sell themselves. Brokers can show off their personalities and give potential clients a sense of who they are.

"It gives you an opportunity to connect with the buying public," says Heddings. "I’ve gotten listings because people have seen my videos and said, 'Oh, we want this guy to do a video and show our property.' So it’s very powerful that way."

The videos do not cost that much to produce, and in some cases they cost nothing.

Both brokers say the positive feedback from the videos is overwhelming. Heddings actually sold a home to a buyer in Italy who never ever set foot in the apartment. The video had her sold.

The method also seems to have plenty of other buyers and sellers sold as well.