Nowadays, marketing your property with a video is a must because today’s real estate market is full of fast-paced buyers and ever changing tech. Photos and videos are crucial to sales because real estate is a visual medium. If you want to showcase homes for sales, hotels, etc. on your website, sure you need pictures. But in order to showcase bigger properties in bigger ways, you will need to make a video because it has seen huge growth.
Today we will talk on the topic of making a real estate video. After reading the whole article, you’ll hopefully understand what it needs to make a cinematic real estate video that will impress your potential buyers.
The Basic Rules of Real Estate Video Production
Your video length should be under three minutes. Your buyers are flying through listings until they find something that catches their attention so you should not waste their time. But if the property is a multi-million dollar facility and there is a lot to show off, then the video can be a bit longer. You should keep in mind that you’re only wasting your time and money if your video is going to have a length over 10 minutes. This is one of the strategies that Viddedit follows the most.
You have to stick to a tighter schedule and highlight only the key features and amenities. You should rather put the type of fixtures in the description that showing them in the video. You can also do a great favor to the viewers by throwing in a quick voice over about some of the tiny details like the windows and floors, etc.
Your video needs to be shot in a wide-angle ratio. Avoid close up shots of decor and furniture because they are not suitable for shooting a property. Your customers will need to see the entire room and it helps them to imagine their own belongings inside. Instead of showing material items already used inside, you have to give a feel for space.
It’s better to include some quick shots of the neighborhood and nearby restaurants or stores while the main focus is on the property. You are selling the real estate with the help of visual content, so keep your focus there.
The toughest part of making a cinematic real estate video is the lighting. When I say lighting, I mean natural lighting and lighting kits. You need to match the ambiance through lighting if you really want to WOW the buyers. It’s going to be a huge stress for you if you shoot during the middle of the day at home. The time of the day and proper color temperature are very crucial matters when it comes to lighting. You should always shoot the property at the golden hour period because it helps your viewer to see inside and outside of the windows at the same time. But if you shoot at other times, the windows either will be full of bright white light or full of dark black shadow.
You will want to use a lighting kit to fill the room if there isn’t enough light. You don’t need to purchase a big, fancy, and expensive kit. There are tons of cheap alternatives available at the market to add the right amount of time. You just have to assure that the lighting harmonizes with the room. There should be a warm inviting feel in the bedroom, not a harsh look like a hospital operating table.
Once you’re done covering the inside of the property, you have to think of the outside. Once again, the wide-screen ratio is a must. And it’s even better if you set the camera up on a tripod. Also, you can give a very impressive look to any facility by shooting wide at a low angle.
You have to edit your footage once you are done with shooting. You have to decorate your clips according to your plans to walk through the house. Your audience will understand the layout of the home if you do this. But you can’t be repetitive because you have a variety of shots of each room. You can use a mix of slides and glides and avoid over showing a room. This way you can make your work stand out.
Maybe you are a drone freak but you really should not use drones when shooting real estate videos. You need to have an FAA Section 333 exemption to use a drone. Real estate video production is commercial work. Using drone could be illegal in here, at least not till a new drone regulation passes. You could face a penalty from FAA if you use drones in any commercial work.
You should add music to your final edit but you also need to license the music. Because your real estate video could be pulled out by YouTube for a copyright violation if you don’t license your music.
Final Verdict
Quality is the king while making real estate videos. You need to entertain your audience and provide the total information through your content and it should take your brand to a higher position. You are showcasing your brand in front of your prospects taking up their time, so you have to make sure that it’s worth it for them. When you’re able to entertain your potential customers, you’ll be rewarded with brand loyalty, awareness, and more shares.
Nina Smith 
Nicola Holder