Real Estate Video Mistakes To Avoid

Are you a real estate agent that has tried creating your own video content, but aren’t happy with the results you are getting?

Perhaps you see the value in using video but don’t want to misrepresent your brand, or your company, when behind the camera (or phone). These are both very valid challenges.

As a real estate video production specialist, we see the same mistakes come up often when agents are creating their own video content.

That’s why we have created a guide for real estate agents who want to avoid making these mistakes and represent their brand in the best possible light (pun intended!).

Read on for the 9 real estate video marketing mistakes you need to avoid and what to do instead.

P.S. if you decide you need it all sounds too tough and would prefer some professional video production assistance, send us a message here.

What is involved with real estate video production?

There are two sides to real estate video production.

Listings videos are becoming increasingly popular and are almost par for the course in high-end real estate these days. These kinds of videos showcase the outside of the property and the surrounding area, and take viewers on a virtual tour of the house itself.

For much of 2020, open for inspections were restricted, and virtual tours were the only way prospective buyers could view a property.

Even now as opens are happening once more, real estate agents have seen the value of video tours, and we predict they are here to stay.

Another aspect of real estate videos .

Does video help sell real estate?

More than 90% of buyers use the internet to search for a property.

While we know photography is an essential part of real estate listings, utilising video adds depth to a listing by offering valuable insight to prospective buyers, potentially making all the difference when deciding which houses to view in person.

Real estate video that showcases a real estate agent’s personal brand is also invaluable. Sellers and buyers alike want to work with real estate agents they can trust, so real estate videos that help build this trust save agents time when speaking to prospective clients because they have already established trust through video.

Real estate video marketing mistakes to avoid

Using real estate jargon

When you live and breathe real estate, it can be easy to forget your clients don’t.

And, it is natural to default to real estate jargon when talking to clients, whether in person or on video.

But when you are talking to your clients via video, they can’t ask you in real time what you meant by terms such as “amenities” or “comparative market analysis”.

So, unless you are only trying to sell to other real estate agents, avoid jargon.

Not showing personality

Don’t be a robot reading from a script!

Prospects want to connect with you, human to human. So when filming, speak naturally as you would when speaking face-to-face with a client.

Starting with a long, brand-heavy intro

When was the last time you didn’t press the skip button on a YouTube ad as soon as you could?

This is because human beings have an attention span of about eight seconds, which means that if your real estate video has a long intro, while it may look cool, the longer it is the more likely your viewers will tune out.

With a real estate video, the primary goal needs to be to hook people in within the first few seconds, offering a compelling reason to watch the whole thing.

This doesn’t mean canning your awesome brand intro! Branding remains essential for the success of your business, so why not turn that intro into a stunning outro instead?

Creating real estate video from photos

Using a collection of images is the standard ’creating a video for the sake of it’ real estate video.

But you don’t want standard, you want outstanding!

There is no point in creating this kind of montage video: The photos are already going to be in the listing, so why waste your time and effort creating a real estate video that doesn’t give prospects any new information?

If you do want to showcase multiple photos at once, do it via a slideshow or Instagram carousel for best effect.

Poor audio quality

We have all been here: Watching a video online with poor audio quality and having to turn your speakers up to full volume just to hear it.

And then there is all that annoying background noise.

Not only is poor audio quality unprofessional – it will also lose your viewers.

To ensure your video has great quality audio, use a separate microphone when you record it. And, don’t worry, there are plenty of inexpensive microphones that will get the job done!

For a professional quality microphone that plugs straight into your smartphone, try this one.

Bad lighting

Like any professional photographer, a professional real estate video will always get your good side!

Great lighting goes a long way to achieving this, so how can you ensure your video lighting is on-point every time?

Click here for a free guide to shooting great, professional videos on your smartphone. 

A shaking camera

Unless you’re using a GoPro to film your outdoor adventures, there is no excuse for a shaking camera.

And if you have someone holding the phone or camera to film, there will inevitably be at least the tiniest of shakes.

For still, professional-quality videos every time, invest in a tripod or gimbal. There are plenty of options to suit any style and budget.

No (or auto-generated) subtitles 

A Verizon survey found that 92% of online video is viewed with the sound off.

It also revealed that videos with captions or subtitles are 80% more likely to be watched to the end.

Facebook and Instagram videos autoplay with the sound off, which is both the cause and effect of these staggering statistics.

If you want people tuning in to your videos, captions are essential.

But don’t get lazy and settle for auto-generated captions. Auto subtitle generators are far from perfect, and, more often than not, will return inaccurate captions.

Like these: When YouTube Automatic Closed Captioning Goes Wrong

Creating and editing subtitles might take more time and effort, but it is worth it.

If you don’t have the time to fix the subtitles, I recommend trying , a low-cost service where real people create subtitles for your videos. 

Not posting natively

Studies have shown that videos uploaded to Facebook directly (natively posted videos) get 477% more shares, 530% more comments and 168% higher engagement than YouTube links posted to Facebook.

Facebook and other social media platforms reward native content, so while it might be quick and easy to slap a YouTube link onto a post, this will mean lower engagement.

We can help!

We hope our guide to creating real estate videos helps you understand what not to do!.

If you have any more questions about real estate videos or want to find out more about real estate video marketing, contact us.

And, if you’d like some actionable real estate marketing strategies tailored to your brand, fill out our discovery form here.