How to make a real estate property video

Prepare the property

• Declutter: clear counters, remove personal items, hide bins, cables and cleaning products.
• Clean mirrors, windows and shiny surfaces — the camera shows every smudge.
• Stage key spots: fresh towels, a bowl of fruit, a made bed.
• Check reflections — make sure you and your phone don't appear in mirrors or windows.
• Mind privacy: remove or avoid filming family photos, documents and anything identifying.

Light and exposure

Bright rooms sell. Film during the day, open all curtains and blinds, and turn on every light so rooms look evenly lit. Bright windows can make the rest of the room dark — tap on the room itself to set exposure, or angle the shot so windows aren't the centre of the frame. Film exteriors when the sun is on the front of the building.

Filming smooth walkthroughs

• Landscape for the main tour — it shows rooms better. Make a separate vertical cut for social media.
• Use the wide lens (0.5× on many phones) to show whole rooms, but don't stand too close to walls or it distorts.
• Keep the phone level — tilted vertical lines look wrong in architecture. Turn on the grid.
• Move slowly: a gimbal helps, or walk with bent knees and the phone held in both hands close to your body.
• Film several short shots per room: a slow push-in from the doorway, a slow pan and a detail close-up.
• Hold each shot for a couple of seconds at the start and end to give yourself editing room.

Shot order

1. Exterior and street — the first impression.
2. Entrance and hallway.
3. Main living spaces — living room, kitchen, dining.
4. Bedrooms and bathrooms.
5. Standout features — garden, balcony, view, storage.
6. Closing shot — the best view or exterior at golden hour — with contact details.

Editing the tour

• Length: often one to three minutes for a full tour, 30–60 seconds for social.
• Label each room with a small lower-third ("Kitchen", "Bedroom 2").
• Use gentle transitions — cuts and short dissolves between rooms. See our transitions guide.
• Correct colour so walls look neutral rather than yellow or blue. See our colour guide.
• Add calm, licensed music and remove distracting background noise from clips.
• Use keyframed slow pushes on photos if you're missing footage of a room. See keyframe animation.

Step by step: edit a property tour in VDOAPP

1. Add your clips to the free online editor in the order above, with a 16:9 canvas.
2. Trim each shot to its smoothest section with Split.
3. Mute clip audio in the Clip tab to remove footsteps and room noise.
4. Add room labels in the Text tab.
5. Add dissolves between rooms in the Transition tab.
6. Balance colour in the Filter tab and apply it to all clips.
7. Add music in the Audio tab and a closing card with contact details.
8. Export, then switch to 9:16 and export a short vertical version for social.

Accuracy and permissions

Property marketing is regulated in many places. Present the home accurately — don't hide defects in a misleading way or use editing that changes what the property is like — and follow the advertising rules in your area. Get the owner's or occupant's permission before filming, and follow any rules for filming shared areas.