Video Tips and Virtual Tour Best Practices for REALTORS®
Louisiana REALTORS • May 7, 2020
Video is playing a larger role in our daily lives than ever before. We are also finding ourselves behind the camera more often thanks to technologies like Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook Live, and more. Gone are the days of out of focus home movies shot on a camcorder. Today we have the tools to make shooting in HD an effortless task. While participating in video conferences and seeing friends and family from all over the world is a fun, and convenient experience, the power of video can also be applied to your business.
Video and virtual tours have never been a more popular tool for REALTORS®. They can be accessed from anywhere at any time, meaning that you can always be showing. While there’s no substitute for the real thing, a properly done virtual tour combined with adept camera skills can come pretty close. Here are a few tips and best practices for video and live-streamed home tours.
Ensure the Home is Clean & Uncluttered
This may sound obvious, but having a clean, clear home to show is crucial. Staging is another option, but at the very least, you want the house free from any clutter. Cleaning mirrors, windows, floors, as well as made beds and clear countertops are also very important.
Plan Your Route First
Zigging and zagging won’t work for a smooth, efficient, effective home tour. Without your camera, begin by naturally walking through the home as you would if you had a client with you. Being familiar with where you are going and why you are going there will make you more comfortable when the lights are on. Another option is shooting each area of the home in stages; downstairs, upstairs, outside, etc. and logically putting them together with editing software.
Prepare Answers to Questions
Virtual tours are going to provide the same types of questions as an in-person showing. Whether these questions come via social media, e-mail, or phone call, consider what may be asked and attempt to provide the answer during your video tour. Provide as much information about each space as possible, and as you’re walking, put yourself in a prospective buyers shoes and address what they may be thinking.
Make Sure the Home is Properly Lit
Lighting is the key ingredient for a good video. Too much and everything is blinding. Too little, and everything is hidden. From ambient lighting to supplemental lights that follow the path of your tour, proper illumination is essential. Keeping room lights on and opening windows can also help to eliminate unwanted shadows. Performing a practice recording can reveal problems areas that you can address before the big show.
Select Viewpoints that Reflect a Natural Perspective
When you’re by yourself, behind the lens, it can be easy to forget what the experience on the other side will be. The camera needs to show what your prospective buyer wants to see. From natural stopping points to the way that visitors interact with a space need to be considered. Your video tour should mimic an in-person showing as closely as possible.
Focus on Unique Features
A virtual tour is the perfect time to highlight any unique designs and special features within a home. From built-in shelving to an outdoor kitchen and everything in between, this is the time present every detail and benefit of these elements.
Emphasize Curb Appeal
It’s easy to focus on the interior of the home. Demonstrating the floorplan and flow of the home is essential, but so are the adjacent elements of the home. Offering a street view, highlighting landscaping, and presenting the exterior features should not be overshadowed. The driveway, front porch, back patio, and both yards should be featured, commented upon, and detailed.
Telling the difference between an excellent virtual tour and a poor one is simple. As a knowledgeable, professional REALTOR®
use these tips for each of your clients and provide them with the tour and service they deserve.
This week, the Legislature remained in high gear, and several items relevant to Louisiana’s real estate market moved into focus. The biggest headline for our industry this week was HB 468 by Rep. Troy Hebert , our wholesaling/consumer-protection bill, was slated to be heard on the House floor, however was bumped due to floor congestion and out-of-order bills. It is now expected to be reset for next Tuesday. This bill remains one of the clearest “market integrity” efforts on the board with clearer rules for non-traditional transactions, stronger transparency and better consumer protections. We also continued substantive policy work behind the scenes. We are actively engaging with Rep. Carver on a vacant land disclosure bill he has authored, and we appreciate that he is welcoming our input and guidance as the language is refined. Our goal is straightforward: ensure any vacant land disclosure framework is practical, reduces confusion and avoids unintentionally shifting liability or enforcement burdens onto real estate professionals. In addition, we were pleased to deepen our relationships at the Capitol this week. We had the privilege of hosting a lunch for the Governor’s Office, enjoyed meeting Governor Landry’s team, and look forward to working with them in a constructive, solutions-oriented manner as the session continues. Finally, Rep. Hebert also filed an additional measure that aligns with our legislative agenda and speaks directly to transaction risk management: HB 1027 , which would limit liability for licensed real estate appraisers in situations involving smoke and carbon monoxide detector compliance. The current law already provides that real estate agents are not liable for a seller’s failure to comply with Louisiana’s detector requirements in one- or two-family dwellings. HB 1027 would extend that same liability protection to licensed appraisers by amending R.S. 40:1581(F). This is a clean, common-sense clarification that helps prevent appraisers from being pulled into compliance disputes that properly belong with the seller’s statutory obligations. Next week, committees are scheduled to hear multiple bills relevant to real estate, including measures involving construction and roofing standards (often tied to insurance and mitigation), property rights/expropriation, and property tax and adjudicated property issues that can influence housing supply and neighborhood reinvestment. We will stay closely engaged and will flag any bills or amendments that materially affect transactions, homeownership costs or private property rights. Please view the weekly bill tracking report provided by our lobbying team over at Harris, DeVille and Associates.
Louisiana REALTORS® is compiling a cookbook of Louisiana flavor with a REALTOR® heart in support of the REALTORS® Relief Foundation . And we have two ways for you to get involved: Join us in contributing your favorite recipe using this online form. If you want to include a picture with your recipe, send to info@larealtors.org and reference recipe title in email subject. Or share your creativity by designing the cover artwork for the cookbook. A small committee will review all entries and choose one to print on the cover. Stay tuned for more details on when you can grab your own copy of the cookbook! Cover artwork and recipes are due by April 17th.
Week three of the Regular Session kept real estate issues in the conversation, even as lawmakers continued to focus heavily on workforce, tax and insurance policy. On the property tax front, measures to reshape assessments and exemptions, including proposals for a new blight rehabilitation exemption and additional relief for seniors, remain parked in the House Ways and Means Committee as stakeholders work through fiscal and local government concerns. These bills matter because they will influence long-term carrying costs, redevelopment incentives and how tax burdens are shared across residential and commercial property. Homestead related legislation, including parish level authority to increase the exemption amount, is also in the queue, signaling that the broader structure of Louisiana’s homestead system is officially on the table, not just the dollar figure. For homeowners and buyers, this debate goes directly to affordability. For local governments, it raises revenue stability and service delivery questions. There also has been movement on several identical pieces of legislation that would instruct parish assessors to develop a process for homeowners to permanently register for the homestead exemption for the duration that they own and live on the property. We are actively tracking legislation that will directly shape how investor activity and non-traditional transactions are recognized and regulated in Louisiana’s real estate market. This includes HB 468 by Troy Hebert , a key component of the Louisiana REALTORS® legislative package that targets the wholesale of residential real estate, which was heard in the House Commerce Committee on Monday. The bill is currently positioned for a floor vote early next week. As drafted, HB 468 represents a major step in the right direction for consumer protection in Louisiana, advancing needed guardrails through potential disclosure, registration, and practice standards that could redefine how assignment contracts and “off-market” transactions intersect with licensed brokerage activity. In parallel, HB 292 by Delisha Boyd passed the House on final reading, 86-3, and is on its way to the Senate. Together, these measures represent a coordinated policy effort to bring greater structure and transparency to emerging transaction models, while preserving the integrity of the traditional brokerage framework. Finally, the broader policy backdrop remains important: the Governor continues to push income tax changes and cost of living relief, while business and industry groups are prioritizing insurance, workforce and energy — each a key driver of long run housing demand and investment. As these debates evolve, we’ll keep you updated on what moves, what stalls and what it all means for your clients, your pipeline and private property rights across Louisiana. Please view the weekly bill tracking report provided by our lobbying team over at Harris, DeVille and Associates.
