November 21, 2023
Last Updated
Why would anyone want to go through the hassle of creating a 360 video tour for their rentals?
Well… once upon a time your marketing consisted of posting tear-off flyers around town, which were eventually replaced by sites like craigslist and zillow.
After awhile simple text only listings became obsolete and you needed to add good photos.
Now we’re starting to see videos in more rental and real estate listings.
Some simple videos are scrolling photos combined with a voiceover. You can have these done for as little as $5 on a site such as fiverr.com.
360 video is starting to trickle in as a new option for landlords who are ahead of the curve.
Showing how a 360 video tour works
We decided to try out a 360 video in our office. It’s a new trend for real estate listings and even rental listings.
In the video below we discuss the advantages of 360 video and you can watch as Steve (CEO of RentPrep) watches his first 360 video (just pan to the right to see it!).
A few things to highlight in the video above:
- 0:48 Adding graphics to video
- 2:43 Regal Patrick Swayze
- 3:00 Watch Steve watch a 360 video
You can see Steve looking over every inch of the listing and truly engaging with the video as he moves the phone around to see new vantage points.
In the video we mention how the 360 tour is a lot like a car salesmen getting you to test drive the vehicle. The person watching the video gets a much better idea of what the rental will be like.
Check out some of these virtual tours in action produced by Neil Carroll of Nickel City Graphics.
360 Video Tour of Property for Sale
What’s the purpose of your marketing?
The purpose should be to attract quality applicants to your listing and to discourage bad applicants at the same time.
A bad applicant many times is called a “tire kicker”. Someone who isn’t too serious about your rental but wants to check it out anyways.
A well done 360 video will attract someone who is truly interested in what your rental has to offer and will also help repel (some) tire kickers.
I think back to last year when I was in the home buying process. There were walkthroughs we did that I was 90% sure it wasn’t the right place based on the listing on zillow, but we wanted to see for ourselves.
If my wife and I had a 360 video to watch, we may have realized that property wasn’t the right fit and not wasted a realtors time scheduling a showing.
Any experienced landlord has dealt with no-shows and tire kickers at some point. Perhaps a well done video would convince these people they’re not in the right place.
A 360 video can also help to attract more people to your listing.
If you were scrolling through rental listings, which title would you click on?
3 Bedroom with 2.5 Bath
[360 Video Tour] 3 Bedroom with 2.5 Bath
Add a mention of a 360 video tour in your listing titles (on platforms such as Craigslist) and I’ll bet you get way more eyes on your listing.
Video Equipment:
The KeyMission 360 camera uses two Nikkor lenses and two image sensors to capture 360 views around you as you record. It is essentially two fish eye lenses pointed in opposite directions and those two video files get stitched together.
Nikon KeyMission 360 4K > https://amzn.to/2onWsgc
List of other 360 video cameras > https://amzn.to/2pWLw6a
(the above links are affiliate links)
Closing Thoughts:
It’s hard to predict, with certainty, if a technology will become widely adapted or a passing fad.
A couple years back, hover boards had a moment in the sun including a hilarious Mike Tyson spill. The technology was more of a gimmick than a useful means of transportation.
Uber and Lift, on the other hand, are widely adopted transportation technologies that upgrade the user experience compared to hailing a cab.
I believe that 360 video tours will become widely adopted down the line because of the experience it provides the end user.
New technologies that create an improved experience will gather traction where gimmicks will fade.
The technology and ease of production will continue to become cheaper and more accessible too.
Once upon a time photos were optional on a listing. I believe a few years down the line that video tours will become common place in rental listings.
What do you think? Comment below to weigh in with your thoughts.