• Wired's Underwire, Thursday, August 23, 2007 11 AM

Could YouTube overtake Craigslist as the undisputed classifieds king? After all, video is a far more helpful resource for a prospective buyer than a photo--especially when it comes to apartment hunting. Brokers and landlords are using the video-sharing site as an opportunity to give walking tours of their properties.

After a few clumsy first attempts with his MiniDV player, broker Andre Kendall bought a Treo and started making movies with his mobile phone. "I got so many comments from people saying they hadn't seen anyone use YouTube for an apartment," he says, and it was a definite success.

Another broker turned video walk-throughs into a business. Called reelProperties, his company now produces walk-throughs for Prudential Douglas Elliman at $150 a pop. His walk-throughs include trappings provided by programs like Final Cut and Avid, which allow his employees to input music and captions about the apartment into the videos. It's a new way to make money on YouTube.

Read the whole story at Wired's Underwire »