How to Film a Video – House tour

We get it, you have tried it all on social media and nothing seems to be working. Well, let us help you spice up your social media platforms with a video house tour. The key is to film the highlights of the home, have good lighting, add a little bit of your personal touch, and a great editing app

Highlights

Let’s start with the first step of the process which is choosing the highlights of the home that you want to feature. We recommend starting with the most inviting area to showcase first. Imagine if you pull up to a new house what are you expecting to see? Hopefully your ideal home with a beautiful yard and entry. In your video, start with just that, the front door and make your way up to the entrance. People usually form an opinion of what is shown to them within the first 2-3 seconds of seeing whatever it is that is shown to them. You need to make a statement within the first shot, so make it memorable. Maybe that statement is with an interesting plant, or gorgeous lighting, whatever it is, help the home feel welcoming.

After creating the set up for your video with a stunning opening shot, now it’s time to showcase the living space. Find what makes the living space interesting and unique to other homes in the area. Does the home have vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, or beautiful woodworking? These are characteristics of a home to show off. Take videos starting at the bottom of a fireplace working up to the ceiling or demonstrate the height of the ceilings by showing off a beautiful chandelier. These are all a great place to start once you walk un the door.

After the special characteristics are shown off, wander on over to the master bedroom. Show off the natural lighting from the windows, demonstrate the flow from the bedroom to the closet to the bathroom. People like to see the assets of the master suite and enjoy seeing all the features that it includes. Show them storage options in the closet, help them feel that  Make it feel as if it is connected and will be a comfortable place to spend their time.

Good Lighting

Lighting is everything. Let me repeat that, LIGHTING IS EVERYTHING. When filming the house tour, we suggest trying to have consistent lighting throughout the video. It can be distracting to the viewer if the lighting is going from dark to light in each room of the house. In order to do this, we recommend filming your video during sunrise or during golden hour. It is the same as photography, you have to plan. A backup plan would be to have a light brought with you, this will guarantee solid lighting and consistency.

Personal Touch

This personal touch doesn’t have to be huge or dramatic, it can be as simple as a touch of your real estate colors. For us here at Gateway Real Estate, we could add a splash of green in the décor to create a familiar and personal touch to our video. This is an easy addition to your videos that can make it personal and feel like you are sharing a part of something that is important to you. Other options for personal touch could be including a family to be a part of the video, this can show that the home is livable and it is great for families. Another option would go along with staging, make sure that when the house is staged that it meets the criteria of the buyers you are wanting to attract. These personal touches can really bring in appeal to the home and to the video.

Editing

Editing won’t have to be a long process if you have consistent lighting like previously mentioned. Editing can be done with apps from either your phone or your computer and you can use them for free. One of my favorite editing apps is called VSCO. This app is free, but can be upgraded to a premium account for only a few dollars each month and you are able to enhance your videos with a filter that can be added to each part of the video making the video look unified in color. This app is also great if you are just shooting photos of the home and the editing for photos is free.

Give it a Shot

Give these tips and tricks a shot and let us know what you think! These tricks are meant for anyone and everyone and can make anyone look like a professional real estate videographer.