Whether you are creating your real estate videos or hiring a videographer to produce your videos, you need to know the common mistakes they encounter. It will save you a ton of time and money. If you know the good from the bad it will ensure you’re producing the best videos possible. This will likely guarantee higher click-thru rates, leads, and sales.
In this article, I’ll cover 6 common mistakes when creating real estate videos.
#1 Overcomplicating the Video
It is easy to overcomplicate your real estate videos. It’s as simple as adding clips, edits, and effects that don’t add value to the viewer’s experience.
Real estate videos can often be overthought. The creator adds too many graphics in an attempt to make the video even more interesting.
While some graphics and fancy animations are certainly important. It’s always best to keep things simple.
Focus on the most important aspect of your real estate video first. Then consider effects and animations afterward. Only add effects that add value to the viewer’s experience.
#2 Lack of a Logical Flow
The next biggest mistake is when the video does not follow a logical flow.
Videos may jump from one random area to another. For example, the video goes from an upstairs bathroom shot to a shot of a garden. The back to the bathroom. Maybe a shot of the front entrance. This is what’s considered an illogical flow.
A video with an illogical flow can confuse viewers. It can also come across as unprofessional. The viewers want to build a full image of the property you’re showing them. By not following a logical flow you’re making this incredibly difficult.
Always ensure that your video follows a logical flow from where you enter via the front entrance. You can choose to film each floor from the left to the right or vice versa. Think of how you’d show a person around the property in real life and try to replicate that in your video.
#3 Video Timing
Make it quick. Well, not too quick, but don’t bore your viewers by showing them a 10-minute promo video when you can condense the video down to 1 or 2 minutes.
Oftentimes, you’ll find property videos that aren’t just poorly produced but also incredibly long, without any basic editing.
A couple of minutes is more than enough to show off the best of most properties, so try to keep your video concise while still showing the key aspects of each property.
#4 Poor Lighting (& Filming at the Right Time of Day)
Filming in suboptimal lighting is a common mistake when shooting real estate videos.
Simply put, if the lighting isn’t good, the video isn’t going to look good.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to avoid bad lighting, as it can depend on the season and the weather — on darker, cloudier days natural light isn’t going to be as abundant as on brighter, sunnier days.
It is technically possible to film real estate videos at night, providing the indoor lighting is good, you’re able to adjust the lighting in your editing software, or your camera is designed to work well in low light.
However, it’s always best to film most of your shots when there’s plenty of natural daylight.
Mid-morning to midday is usually the best time to shoot the bulk of your footage, but sunsets and nighttime shots can be a great way to diversify your video and give your audience a full image of how the property looks.
#5 Shaky Footage
Shaky or unstable footage is another common mistake, but it can be hard to spot initially.
By shaky footage, I’m mostly referring to slightly shaky footage that can only be spotted on a bigger screen or unstable footage brought on by how you’re walking while holding the camera.
Shaky footage can sometimes be caused by the tripod or steady cam device (also known as a gimbal) you’re using, especially if it isn’t set up correctly.
But the most common cause is not walking steadily while recording. To omit any change of shaky/bumpy footage, you need to practice walking slowly and steadily while holding the camera in the same position.
Cameras with built-in stabilization can also help with shaky footage, and good video editing software should do a good job of stabilizing footage where required.
#6 Filming at Different Frame Rates
You shouldn’t record your video at different frame rates, as it can look unprofessional but it can also be a hassle when it comes to editing your video.
Frame rates essentially mean how many images are taken per second when recording. If you’re filming at 60 FPS (frames per second), this means your camera is capturing 60 images each second.
When you’re filming, it’s best to choose one frame rate and stick to it. Your camera should have a range of frame rate settings — 24, 30, and 60 FPS (Frames Per Second) should be included with most cameras.
Now, there’s not a “perfect” frame rate. However, most videographers recommend filming real estate in 60 FPS, as it gives you the option to slow down your videos during editing but still maintain smoothness.
Consider Videos for Different Platforms
When you’re creating real estate videos, you need to consider optimizing your video for different platforms — the video for your Facebook ads should look different from your content for TikTok, and the video displayed on your website should look different from the version posted on your Instagram page, etc.
It’s important to optimize your video content for each platform so you can properly connect with the users of each platform. While it may take longer and cost more, optimizing for each platform guarantees the best results if you want to get the most out of all marketing channels.
For more information on how to improve your online marketing strategy, check out the latest articles on the Intentionally Inspirational blog, and listen to the Intentionally Inspirational podcast to hear keen insights from industry experts on how to improve your overall business and marketing strategy.
Written by Lewis James