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How to make an awesome video of your property and why you definitely want to

Lights, Camera, Action!

What do you do when you’ve got to miss an event you really want to attend? You watch a video, of course! Whether it’s a sports game, a concert or a good friend’s wedding, video footage is the best way to make you feel like you’re actually there.

With such a powerful tool at your disposal, it would be a shame not to utilize it to promote your listing. Photos and descriptions go a long way, but real estate video tours of your vacation rentals can take your marketing game to a new level.

Why Go With Video?

In the highly competitive short-term rental sector, anything that can draw eyes to your listing – and keep them there – is a huge plus. Well, videos have been shown to bolster viewership by as much as 200-300%! Even if you’ve never shot a video in your life, that’s a hard number to ignore.

Real Estate Video

Need more convincing? Get this: The average person spends 88% more time on a page with video, and companies have found video to almost double the likelihood that consumers will purchase their product!

Now that we’ve demonstrated just how much value it can bring to your listing page, we’re ready to walk you through the process of shooting an awesome real estate virtual tour of your rental.

8 Steps to Produce the Perfect Listing Video

Set the Scene

It goes without saying that you need to do a thorough cleaning of your property before filming it for all the world to see. Don’t turn on that camera before you’ve got gleaming countertops and glistening floors. But you don’t just want to show potential guests a rental that’s impressively tidy; you want to show them a place they can see themselves vacationing.

To do that, you’ve got to set up the property in a way that demonstrates how it can be enjoyed. Set the table, light some candles beside the bath, demonstrate the kitchen’s functionality by setting something scrumptious-looking down on the stove. Set a scene that will require viewers to use as little imagination as possible in order to picture themselves inside of it, enjoying the vacation they’ve always dreamed of.

Keep it Brief

People love a good video…for about 120 seconds. If you read our post about creating the perfect listing description, then you know that goldfish have got humans beat when it comes to attention spans, that of the latter now amounting to a measly eight seconds. You don’t have a ton of time to show off your property, but you also don’t need a ton of time. When done right, one or two angles of every room is more than enough to flaunt all your rentals assets and convince travelers that they’ve found their next getaway. So don’t stay on one shot for too long and keep the whole property video under two to three minutes.

Engage your Viewers

As fascinating as your short-term rental is – and we’re sure it’s quite fascinating – it can’t hurt to add a few toppings to what you’re serving up. Some background music will work wonders for your virtual home tour. Make sure the music is right for the footage – not too boring and repetitive, but also not so exciting that it distracts from your beautiful vacation home. Be sure to pay attention to the pace of the music as well, as it can be jarring when the audio is too fast or too slow to support the visual. You can also utilize subtle video effects like a gentle fade between shots to keep the video dynamic and interesting.

But Don’t Overwhelm Them

The goal for your real estate video should be simple and classy. With all the video editing tools out there, it can be tempting to channel your inner child and just go nuts, but there are some special effects that might be better left back in our favorite music videos of the 1990s. Try to exercise restraint and skip the tacky transitions and distracting effects. Between your property and a well-chosen background song, you’ve got more than enough to work with.

Stick With the Truth

Speaking of video editing, if you team up with the right bored high-school student, you can turn your 2-bedroom third-floor loft into a 5,000 square-foot penthouse. Our advice? Don’t. Don’t even turn your twin mattress into a queen-size bed. If this property video has its intended effect, it will convert viewers into guests, and if they see any shred of dishonesty, they will expose you in their reviews. Your rental is good enough as is. Show off its best side without bending the truth.

Get an Assistant

And the best assistant has three legs. Using a video tripod is a great way to avoid shaky video, which can be, at best, unprofessional and, at worst, extremely dizzying.

You can purchase a tripod for less than 20 dollars and can use it even if you’re capturing the footage on your iPhone.

Be Consistent

Not every real estate video has to be the same. What sets the short-term rental industry apart from other hospitality options is that each property comes with its own character and personality, so your video can follow suit. All that matters is that once you’ve chosen a vibe, whether it be romantic and classy or fun and upbeat, stay committed to it. Choose music that complements the vibe and film your rental in a way that supports it. The last thing you want is a video that’s all over the place. Capture your property’s spirit from start to finish.

Get Creative

Your probably want your listing to appeal to different types of travelers, from lone backpackers to lovestruck honeymooners to peppy families of five. So get creative and use your property video to demonstrate just how much of a chameleon your rental can be. Shoot the living room set for a romantic evening in, complete with flickering candles and a pair of champagne glasses, and then shoot it again, only this time, featuring a collection of puzzles and toys.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can even recruit a few actors to showcase the rental in use. You can also consider adding subtitles or a voiceover to your video, explaining why your rental is perfect for the viewer, whatever the purpose of their trip may be.

Here are two real virtual home tours to help you visualize what we’ve just discussed:

The first is an example of a sub par video, which the filmer herself refers to as ‘ammateur’ – it is shaky and could use a lot of editing. For instance, we don’t need to see her walking up to the house for 20 seconds. With those ever-shrinking human attention spans, every second should be entertaining and engaging.

This second video is much better. The house may not be the most modern or luxurious, but the video is professional and demonstrates to viewers exactly how the home can be enjoyed by vacationers.

Seeing is believing, so show travelers they can believe in you and your property, and can count on both to have a vacation they’ll never forget!

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