How to Film a Great Video Tour of Your Rental

Modern technology plays an important role in the real estate industry. It allows homebuyers and prospective renters to browse listings online and even tour properties — all without needing to leave the comfort of their own home. 

In the past, the process of viewing a property was time-consuming. Renters needed to visit the property if they wanted to see what it looked like and assess its condition. Now, with the availability of the internet, renters can easily shortlist listings according to their preferences before scheduling visits.

That’s why taking good photos is essential when it comes to marketing a rental property. But if you really want your listing to stand out, you’ll also want to consider providing prospective renters with a virtual tour of your rental unit.

Video tours are an important part of an effective and successful marketing strategy. And if you don’t want to spend extra to hire a professional videographer, it’s also possible to create a virtual tour yourself. We’ve put the following tips together to help you get started.

1. Create a Plan

Being prepared means you won’t have to waste your time retaking the same video. When planning, make sure to decide which rooms to include in your tour. You’ll also want to figure out the order in which you’ll show each room. This will not only help you when filming the videos, but it’ll also make the editing process a lot easier.

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2. Prepare the Property for Staging

First impressions last. You don’t want to shoot your video tour if your property isn’t properly staged. The goal of your video tour is to attract renters, so the first thing you should do is make sure your property looks great before you start filming. Remove unnecessary objects from the rooms you’re showing, and make sure that the property looks clean and appealing.

3. Make Sure the Rooms Are Well-Lit

Before you begin filming, make sure that the rooms are well-lit. It’s best to film during the day with natural light, but avoid filming directly in front of the sunlight. Strategize your video shoot to make sure there’s enough lighting to make your video look inviting.

4. Personalize the Video Tour

How would you show your rental property to prospective residents in an actual tour? This should be the basis for your virtual tour. Creating an experience as close to an in-person house showing is essential because it’ll help prospective tenants visualize the property. You want to pique their interest and let them picture themselves living in the property through your video.

5. Keep Your Hands Steady When Filming

If you’re not used to taking videos, there’s a possibility that your hands will shake while filming. Try to hold your phone or camera as steady as possible to avoid shaking. If you’re using a phone, it might be best to use a phone-holding stick while taking videos to help prevent shaking.

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6. Record in Landscape Mode

Filming in landscape orientation looks more professional. Avoid switching up from landscape to portrait mode — this will make your video tour look inconsistent to the viewers. Landscape mode also allows you to capture a wider view of the property you’re advertising. Not to mention, it’s easier to post a landscape video online, especially if you want it to play automatically while prospective tenants are browsing your listing.

7. Avoid Zooming In

When filming your video tour, make sure to frame your shots properly and avoid zooming in. In most cases, a zoomed-in video will lead to a low-quality pixelated output. If you need to film something up close, then try to take a clip of the object at close proximity without zooming in. 

8. Manage Your Audio

If you plan on talking while filming so you can narrate what you’re showing, make sure to use a microphone intended for phone cameras. Otherwise, you’ll capture background noise, which will affect the quality of your virtual tour. 

If you don’t have a phone microphone, you may opt to do a voiceover instead. You can record your voiceover after the video is done so you’ll know how to time your audio with the video. Then you can sync both together during the editing process.

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9. Choose a User-Friendly Editing Software

When making your virtual tour, you’ll have to know how to use editing software for the video. You‘ll want to edit your video to create a result that will make viewers want to click that apply button. 

There are several video-editing software and mobile applications available, and most of them are easy to use. They’re there to help you put everything together. They also allow you to remove certain parts of the clips that you might not need. And finally, this is where you’ll want to add and edit your voiceover.

Conclusion

With these tips and a good phone camera, you can film a virtual tour of your rental property yourself, without the need to hire costly professional videographers. If you’re unsure how to do this, you might also consider hiring a professional property management company to help you with all of your marketing needs. Contact TrueNest Property Management today to find out more!