Creative real estate video ideas can be a great way to increase engagement. For both prospective and current residents, video is the best way to draw them in and keep them interested and engaged. Twitter research shows that people retain 90% of a message when they view it in video versus just 10% when reading it via text. Video works!

Luckily, to make real estate video work for you and your multifamily community, you don’t need a degree in videography. Check out these creative video ideas that will increase engagement across your prospects and community, as well as some tips and tricks to make these new videos of yours great. 

1. Community Overview 

Among the most important and multi-faceted real estate video idea is the community overview video. It’s the video you make for your homepage, link to in your email signature, and post everywhere on social media. It’s an absolute must in terms of real estate videos for your Facebook page header background and is the best way to communicate overall what it would be like to live at your community. 

What it takes: Since this video will likely be the centerpiece of your real estate promo videos, it’s important to use proper video techniques and make this a quality video. There are plenty of great real estate videography courses and tutorials – many online and many are free! Some of the tips you’ll likely learn are to keep the camera still by standing and panning versus walking while shooting, practicing your shots beforehand, taking multiple clips, and introducing the person speaking (if someone is speaking) in order to put a face to a voice. Also, include video scripts for real estate agents speaking to make sure the audio is clear and concise. Sometimes people freeze or get nervous. A script helps them stay on topic and succinct. There is also plenty of affordable DIY video equipment to add on to your mobile device to enhance the video.

2. Neighborhood Tour

Another great real estate video idea is showing off the neighborhood surrounding your multifamily community. For many prospective residents, the location of the property is critical. Showcase the highlights of the surrounding area. From parks and schools to local businesses and restaurants – show what makes the neighborhood unique.  

What it takes: Here’s where you can have some fun with your real estate video ideas. Let the neighborhood speak for itself! Interview local business owners about what they love about the neighborhood. With the right real estate video software, you can stitch these various shots together seamlessly to make a powerful finalized video. Or record a series of videos focusing on one business a month or new additions to the neighborhood. These types of touches will make a truly engaging real estate lifestyle video. To get really creative, don’t be afraid to throw a timelapse video in the mix of you walking around the neighborhood or from one place to the next.

3. Floor plan Walk-through

This video may not seem the most creative when it comes to real estate video ideas but a real estate video tour of every single floor plan is critical. Luckily, there are ways to make it both fun and informative! Why every floor plan? According to the latest Kingsley report from NMHC, 16% of prospective residents no longer want to visit a property in person. Having videos of every single floor plan (if not every unit) that you can still show to a prospect will become increasingly more important in closing those prospects. 

What it takes:  While some real estate video editing services will mean tons of photoshop, perfect lighting, and a crazy high production value, our main tip is to SKIP IT! Today’s prospects want to see the real deal – especially when it comes to their actual unit or floor plan. So, make sure you’re recording units and floor plans with transparency and authenticity. That goes for all of the videos mentioned in this article, but is double important here. When it comes to real estate video tips for recording a multifamily unit, make sure you start from the entryway. That’s often skipped over, but is an important factor to show what it’s like to walk into their unit. Turn all of the lights on, the ceiling fans on low, close toilet seats, and start by panning slowly across the rooms. Pick your pan point and stand and pan. Here are some additional tips to help your shots look like a million bucks. These floor plan videos can convey nuances between layouts, portray flow, showcase views and finishes, and more. These are literally where the money is made. 

4. Welcome Resident Video 

Retention starts from the very first interaction with a prospective resident. Once that lease is signed, your work to keep them is just beginning. So, in terms of a real estate video idea that can help that along, consider a welcome video. Personalize this video and call your new resident out by name. Walk through their unit introducing the smart home tech and call out why you know they’ll love the space. Moving day is always a stressful one, so call out the move-in procedures and expectations as well. 

What it takes: These ideas can, and should, be customized for the new resident. After all, you or someone on your team has likely worked with them throughout the leasing process. You can have a solid script already built out that you can edit for each individual. Then, email or text the video to them. Here’s where a video platform that allows for the quick shooting, sound adjustments, and one touch sharing can make all of the difference. These videos don’t have to be fancy or take a long time to produce. A few foundational shots and you can bust these videos out super quickly. 

5. Team Introduction and Property Procedures

Another real estate video idea that has proven very valuable early in the leasing process is a short, informative video or series of videos that help a prospective or new resident feel comfortable at the community. These videos can range from introducing the management team and maintenance team members so that they know who they’ll be seeing and interacting with around the community to videos communicating procedures for specific amenities. 

What it takes: These videos introducing team members and putting faces with names breaks down barriers and can be the first step in fostering great relationships throughout the leasing process and for residents. When it comes to communicating information for things such as applying for a lease, move-in day, booking an amenity for an event, etc. it’s easy to take the stress out of that situation and communicate everything succinctly via video. For example, a move-in video should talk through any and all procedures, show how to get to the loading dock, how to operate the freight elevator, where they can find help on moving day, and any other necessary details. It’s helpful to have everything documented in a video that a new, or existing, resident can go back to and reference whenever they have questions.

6. Testimonial videos 

Our final creative real estate video idea is capturing client testimonial videos. What better way to build interest in your community than by using the people who already live there to communicate how great it is! Video testimonials use your greatest marketing asset – existing residents – plus it engages them in the process by making them feel like a face of the community and valued resident.  

What it takes:  Real estate video testimonials can be done quickly and easily with a mobile device and on the resident’s time table. Residents are often busy people, so it’s important to be able to record these videos quickly and easily. And, luckily, the best real estate testimonials aren’t overly produced or edited. They’re transparent and DIY. Bring your mobile device to your next community gathering and, with permission of course, start asking why your residents love living there. You’re sure to get some great, honest answers. 

Learn more about real estate video ideas that will increase engagement 


This may seem overwhelming, but video is proven time and time again to be one of the best marketing tools, leasing tools, and ways of communicating with people. Realync has all of the components mentioned above that will help you create great videos without being an expert videographer. For example, automated stitching and sound adjustments, plus the ability to edit and catalog videos for easy access and sharing can make it all very doable. And all of that is possible within the Realync video leasing solution. With the right real estate video platform, all your creative real estate video ideas can come to life.

If you have questions or want help getting started, we’re here to help! Message us today at sales@realync.com. 

Until next time…keep it real!