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.
2025 Regular Legislative Session Wrap-up
The National Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors approved a 2026 budget with no dues increase and passed a Professional Standards Recommendation to clarify language in NAR Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 10-5, which prohibits harassment of any person or persons protected under Article 10 of the Code. A day earlier, the Executive Committee approved another Professional Standards change, revising language for Policy Statement 29 designed to ensure state and local associations can fairly and consistently enforce the Code of Ethics. Learn more about the changes. Read the revised Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Board members also approved a consent agenda to elect the 2026 officers and regional vice presidents . Christine Hansen of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was elected 2026 President-Elect, and Colin Mullane of Ashland, Ore. was elected 2026 First Vice President. The meeting opened with a video message from President Donald Trump, who welcomed REALTORS® to Washington and thanked them for support of the House-passed tax reform. NAR routinely invites the U.S. president to address REALTORS® at the Washington meetings. Over NAR's history, nine sitting presidents have addressed the association. Board Actions Approved a series of Finance Committee recommendations, accepting the association’s financial statement, approving the 2026 operating and advocacy budgets, and keeping dues at $156. The board actions also redirect $35 of the $45 Consumer Advertising Campaign assessment to operating funds. This change positions NAR to make its next settlement payment in February 2026 and maintain a balanced budget without raising total dues. The remaining $10 for the Consumer Advertising Campaign will fund optimized, metrics-driven activities that reach and engage consumers in critical markets. NAR CEO Nykia Wright and President Kevin Sears explained the shift at the opening session of the conference . Amended Standard of Practice 10-5 to give state and local associations greater clarity in how to fairly and consistently enforce Article 10 of the Code of Ethics. The amended Standard of Practice says that REALTORS®, in their capacity as real estate professionals, in association with their real estate businesses, or in their real estate-related activities, shall not harass any person or persons based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Made a series of recommendations to the Standards of Practice to bring the language in line with the terms of NAR’s 2024 settlement. Approved a motion to make one member of the Executive Committee a commercial practitioner who has served as chair, vice chair or liaison of an NAR commercial-related committee or forum to serve a two-year term and be independent of the 10% commercial representation requirement outlined in the NAR Constitution. Approved a recommendation from the Credentials and Campaign Rules Committee to amend qualifications for president-elect, first vice president and treasurer effective Jan. 1, 2026. Qualifications for top-line officers are now aligned with those already in place for regional vice presidents. Approved recommendations from the Member Accountability Committee related to applications for volunteer leadership and the Statement of Appropriate Event Conduct. The goal of the recommendations is to ensure members found in violation of the NAR Member Code of Conduct are properly disclosed. Award Winners NAR President Kevin Sears announced the 2025 Distinguished Service Award winners James P. Cormier , AHWD, C2EX, of Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Brooke S. Hunt , AHWD, E-PRO, SFR, SRS, C2EX , of Flower Mound, Texas. In addition, the group recognized the winner of the 2024 William R. Magel Award, Anne Marie DeCatsye , CEO of the Canopy REALTOR® Association and Canopy MLS in the Charlotte, N.C., metro area. REALTORS® Relief Foundation During the meeting, REALTORS® Relief Foundation President Greg Hrabcak appealed to board members to make a tax-deductible donation. The fund provides housing assistance to victims in the immediate aftermath of a disaster; 100% of funds donated go to disaster relief. “We’ve had devastating wildfires in California, tornadoes in Missouri and Kentucky and flooding in West Virginia, and we’re still in the first half of this year,” Hrabcak said. Before the meeting ended, directors had donated more than $41,000.
Whether you’re working in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, or anywhere in between, here’s how you can use Homeownership Month to elevate your real estate marketing and better serve your community.
