Key Takeaways
- Preparation and Presentation Are Key - Before filming, ensure the property is clean, decluttered, and well-lit. Proper staging and natural lighting help highlight the home’s best features and make it easier for potential tenants to visualize living there.
- Plan and Execute with Intention - Decide whether to film in one take or multiple clips, plan your route through the property, and emphasize standout features early in the video. A well-organized shot list and test run can prevent common filming errors and ensure a smooth final product.
- Enhance Engagement Through Editing and Storytelling - Add a clear, well-timed voice over and light background music to make the video informative and engaging. Keep the video concise to hold viewers’ attention and maximize marketing impact.
Effective marketing must make a positive first impression on your audience and provide useful information. Furthermore, it must be captivating enough to grab their attention amidst a number of other competitors listing.
To capture attention, your message must connect with your audience on an emotional level. So how do you create this kind of effect when marketing a rental property? Video tours allow you to capture prospective tenants attention in a way standard listing can’t. To help you effectively create engaging video tours, we at RGroup Realty have put together this guide!
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How to Shoot an Engaging Video of Your Rental Property
A great video of your rental can help potential renters picture themselves living in the property. These tours are especially helpful for tenants that can’t view the property in-person before signing a lease agreement .
Here are the steps to creating an engaging and detailed video tour:
Clean and Declutter
Deep clean the entire rental unit and keep everything tidy. Ensure that no personal items are captured in the shot. If the home is furnished, keep its contents minimal to maximize the space and also give your audience the chance to visualize their own furniture inside the rooms. When arranging the furniture and other items in the home, think of flow and ease of movement.
What You Will Need
Any smartphone with a good camera will do. If you don’t like your phone’s camera you can invest in a simple digital one or hire a professional. If you are going to film the tour yourself, you need a stabilizing gimbal to ensure your video is not shaky.
You may shoot the video in vertical or horizontal format, but with the horizontal format, you can show the full width of rooms. Landscape also lets you avoid black bars at the edges of videos.
Think of Lighting
Natural lighting is best, but to avoid overexposure as this can wash out visual making it harder for viewers to see the space clearly. You get better results when you shoot during golden hour which occurs twice a day as the sun rises and sets.
Even with natural lighting, all the lights in the rental should be on. When moving between rooms with different levels of lighting, your video may acquire a strange hue as the camera tries to adjust. Doing a preliminary run-through will let you see these problems early and adjust the lighting accordingly.
One Take Versus Multiple Shots
Is your video going to be shot in one take, or will it be done clip by clip? Shooting your video in one take takes less time to edit, but it demands more planning because the room for error is very narrow.
If you plan to do multiple takes, you can edit out the errors later, but your video will take more time in post production. Whichever strategy you choose, you need a shot list and a list of the key features of the property that you want to highlight.
To determine which method works best for you, consider your editing and filming skills. You should also look how you shot list to determine how complex the shoot might be.
Highlight Key Features First
You want to point out the outstanding features of the property, modern finishes, spacious layouts, or new appliances early in the video. Do not try to save the best for last, as you don’t want to risk your audience clicking away from your video.
If there are certain amenities that can’t easily be filmed like private parking spaces, make sure to mention them either in a voice over or in a little infographic on the screen.
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Plan Your Route
Before actually shooting the video, walk through the rental unit with your camera and do a test shoot. This will identify potential obstacles and lighting problems. When doing this, look out for your reflection in mirrors and glass surfaces. A tip is to leave all doors open to make moving from one room to another more seamless.
Voice Over and Narration
Adding a voice over and background music to your video will make it more engaging and allow you to share more information about the rental and lease terms. But should you narrate while shooting the video or add a voice over during editing?
You will get a more polished output if you add the voice over in during editing. Once you have the video edited, you can write script and record it. This allows you to get the timing of the voice over to line up with the video.
When adding background music, be aware of the copyright policies of the platform where you will upload the video. It’s best to go with soft, simple music and lower the volume so it doesn’t overwhelm the viewer, especially if paired with a voice over.
Length of the Video
You want to consider the platforms you’ll be posting it to and what kind of content is general viewed. Social media, for instance, is geared towards shorter-form content. An actual listing on the other hand could have a slightly longer video.
Regardless of the platform you should keep your video short, ideally under three minutes. Anything longer than three minutes and you may lose your audience.
Bottom Line
Video tours allow you to showcase your property to a wider audience. It can also separate you from your competitors. With the right planning, these videos can enhance your marketing strategies.
If you need help managing your rentals, consider hiring a property management company like RGroup Realty. We can help with everything from marketing and rent collection to tenant screening and maintenance. Reach out today to learn about our services!
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Steve Rice
Steven R. Rice is the Founder and Designated Broker of RGroup Realty and Property Management and the driving force behind affiliated companies, including Elements By Design and Sizzle Marketing. With more than 24 years of real estate experience and over 17 years in property management, he specializes in residential real estate brokerage, property management, investor relations, property performance strategy, BINSR and repair coordination, agent development, and building integrated service models that connect brokerage, maintenance, and marketing. Steven holds the CRS, ALHS, CLHMS, CRPM, SRES, GRI, SFR, and e-PRO designations, and has served in leadership roles with Long Realty, Realty Executives, and Keller Williams before founding RGroup Realty and Property Management in 2024.