Pro Tips for Making Real Estate Videos

Introduction to real estate marketing

In 2022, real estate is no different from the rest of the global market: everything happens online. Real estate is one of the sectors that has benefited most from new technologies, the internet and social media platforms.

However, you’ll be surprised how many real estate businesses are still not updated and rely on old marketing techniques. If you look and surf the web, you will discover many outdated sites and social media channels without a clear strategy and plan… If you are a filmmaker, production company or advertising agency, this is an opportunity to make clients. 

Why using video in real estate marketing is a must

If you are a real estate agency, including videos in your marketing strategy will make you sell more, according to current numbers and trends. This is because it helps you keep an updated company image (if you don’t have videos, you live in the past) and make the buying experience more authentic and honest. These videos are not meant to stay only on the agency website but also on social media platforms, specialized listing portals, mailing lists, youtube, etc.

Texting clients, cold calls, mail lists, etc., are still a part of the real estate game because they work to attract the interest of potential buyers. The difference is that clients are not coming only from your area anymore; they can come from every inch of the globe. A fact seems clear: numbers show that buyers and real estate clients are more able to buy a property if they can see a video. And homebuyers prefer sites with video as an integral part of their marketing strategy.

Many agencies still rely on listings with pictures, but clients now want to see more. They want a better and more accurate experience, especially in a global world where they don’t even visit the property before buying it.

Types of real estate videos

Using videos makes a real estate company feel alive, especially if they keep them updated. We can find different types of real estate videos:

Real estate listing videos

These are maybe the most usual form. They usually present the property with a virtual tour where you can see everything inside and outside the house. Some use 360° cameras to make the experience more immersive.

Virtual tours

Some companies rely on 3D models to show the space and allow you to move freely inside the house. This kind of video is especially relevant when the property is still under construction.

Narrative videos

These videos come in the form of documentaries or commercials presenting the agency or some app about selling the experience. They often feature interviews with people from the neighborhood, real people or actors walking around to relate the human to the space, testimonials from owners talking about the house they are selling… 

Real Estate agent presentations

We are humans and connect as such. So a good presentation where the agent shows their face and personality and makes a positive first impression could make the agency more trusted.

Slides

Some short videos (included in emails, social media ads and agency presentations) can be edited with pictures from different properties. They can give a good idea of the kind of house the agency offers.

Tips for making real estate videos

Within corporate video production, real estate videography has its own rules. The following tips will help you improve your real estate videos:

Plan everything

No matter which kind of video you are doing, preparation is critical. Previous scouting can give you an idea of the best shots and areas if you are filming the neighborhood. Also, if you are filming a video or a virtual tour of the house, it’s always a good idea to think about the best options from a narrative point of view. For example, is the place suitable for a one-take video? Is it better to do it in different shots? If so, what’s the best order of shots to connect things and give the viewer an accurate idea of the space?

Lights

In real estate videography, you want to respect the mood of the property. While you will work with natural light in most cases, some villas or expensive properties will allow you to light the house. You don’t want to make it different but enhance the qualities and reduce the contrast. For example, if you’re going to show the views and interiors simultaneously. Making a plan of where you can set up the lights, open or close curtains and how much light you need could make your video shine.

Equipment

With so many options in the market, gear will depend on the kind of video you want to shoot. If you’re filming a tour, you will need a gimbal and a camera that will fit the space you will be moving around; for a more classic approach, maybe a tripod and some panning shots will do the job. Camera-wise, although you could shoot even with your phone, the more dynamic range, the better. Sometimes you cannot light the space, and some houses are dark even with the lights on. Those interiors will benefit from a camera that works well and is clean with high ISO. This is because shooting wide open is not the best idea for these videos since you want to show the spaces and not have many things out of focus. 

Lenses

This is one of the crucial choices. Real קstate videos are usually shot using wide lenses with minimal distortion. Fish-eye lenses or extreme wides may look cool, but at the same time, they can give a wrong idea about the property’s size, disappointing potential buyers when they visit or buy the house. We want to be as honest as possible while being able to show all the space. An 18mm or a 24mm lens in a full-frame camera -and their equivalents- are perfect for capturing the area without making it look fake.

Interviews

Suppose you are filming a real estate agent or an actor talking about the property or presenting the agency. In that case, they will be familiar with talking on camera, and things will be easier. But suppose you are interviewing previous owners, people from the neighborhood, etc. In that case, it’s always advisable to talk to them beforehand. It will make them feel comfortable and keep the interview like a casual conversation where they can open themselves, feel natural and talk about their experience. Couples usually work better if you know how to direct them because they typically look more relaxed, and the chemistry between them shows on camera and in your final edit.

Highlight the selling points

These could be the peaceful neighborhood, the size of the rooms, the pleasant experience from previous owners or the quality of the material. And you should make those points the central part of your video and choose one narrative form or another as the best way to sell. Maybe you agree with the agency to create a commercial with a couple experiencing the different parts of the house; perhaps an interview with neighbors from the area is a better option. Sometimes, a clean video tour will do the job. And some real estate agencies will prefer quantity over quality because they have hundreds of houses on their site. These decisions will make you use specific gear (drone shots to highlight the surroundings of a villa, for example).

Editing

When editing your video, look for the pace the property calls for. First, choose a suitable and non-distracting piece of music with the right BPM to enhance the mood of the property. And check out our curated Real Estate Music collection to save time in your music search.

Then, let your editing skills flow to make the viewing experience match the vibe and the values of the house you are trying to sell. Remember to include close-ups to highlight the quality of the materials and other features. Sometimes you can use stock footage to assemble the video, such as aerial shots of the city/area.

Wrap up

As always, videos are only a part of a marketing campaign, but in the competitive real estate market, they have become an integral part of the game. It’s because they communicate the feeling and the information that words, floor plants and pictures just can’t. According to the numbers, real estate agencies sell more when a video is part of the marketing strategy. Potential buyers prefer to watch a video or a virtual tour than scroll through pictures of the property.