Short answer: no study gives one reliable figure for how much faster a property sells with video, and the numbers often quoted online rarely link to a source you can check. What video does reliably is show what photos cannot: the layout, the light, the street and the land around a property, so the buyers who call already know what they are looking at. Use video to bring serious enquiries, and photos for the details buyers come back to.
This guide is for owners, agents and agencies deciding how to present a property. It is written by the Gmore team, a video-first property app, and it also covers where photos work better.
What video shows that photos cannot
- How the rooms connect. A walkthrough shows the route from the door to the kitchen and the bedrooms. Photos show rooms one at a time.
- Real size and light. A wide-angle photo can make a small room look large. A video that moves through it at walking pace shows its real size and how the light falls.
- The surroundings. The street, the neighbouring buildings and the noise are hard to show in a few photos and easy to show in a minute of video.
- Land. For a plot or farm land, the boundary, the road to it, the water source and the slope matter more than any single picture. A walk along the boundary, or a drone shot, shows them.
A buyer who has watched the whole property and still calls is more likely to be a serious buyer, so fewer visits are wasted on both sides.
When photos still matter
- Close detail: kitchen fittings, flooring, a crack in a wall.
- The first impression in a list of results, where one clear photo makes a buyer stop.
- Print, WhatsApp forwards and websites that do not play video.
- Comparing two places: buyers go back to photos when they are deciding.
The best listings use both: a video for the whole property and a set of clear photos for the details.
Three kinds of property video
Short walkthrough (about one minute)
Vertical video made for phones. It shows the best of the property and makes a buyer want to see more. On Gmore, buyers watch listings as full-screen videos and can message, ask for a visit or make an offer from the video.
Full walkthrough (three to five minutes)
Every room, the building and the street, for buyers who are close to deciding or who live far away.
Drone and aerial footage
For land, large houses and places where the surroundings matter. Check the drone rules where you film before you fly: in India, the Drone Rules, 2021 and the Digital Sky airspace map say where you can fly and when you need permission.
How to film a property walkthrough
- Start outside for a few seconds: the street, the gate or the road to the land, so the buyer knows where they are.
- Go to the best feature early: the view, the main room, or the borewell and the crop on farm land.
- Move slowly and steadily, at walking pace, and pause on what matters.
- Say what the camera cannot show: the size, which way it faces, the water source, the distance to the main road or the school.
- Film in daylight with the lights on and the curtains open, after clearing and cleaning the rooms.
- Film vertically for phones, and keep a horizontal version if you also list on websites that prefer it.
- End with what to do next: call, message or ask for a visit.
When to pay for a professional video
A walkthrough on a good phone costs nothing but time. A professional videographer brings steadier footage, better light and drone shots, and prices vary widely by city and package, so ask two or three for a quote. Paying for professional filming makes most sense for land, for higher-value property and for buyers who will decide from the video before they travel, such as buyers in other cities or abroad.
Owners who list with Gmore get a filming visit from our videographer as part of their monthly plan: see selling your property with Gmore. Agents can book listing videographers through the app's creator marketplace, or film themselves and let the app draft the description from the video.
Does video help with rentals?
Yes, for the same reason: tenants can see whether a home suits them before they visit, so fewer visits are wasted. A one-minute walkthrough of each room, the bathroom, the kitchen and the parking is usually enough.
Your plan for this week
- Pick your two best listings that have no video, and film a one-minute walkthrough of each.
- Keep 15 to 20 clear photos for the details.
- For the next two weeks, count the enquiries and visit requests for those listings and compare them with your photo-only listings. Your own numbers are worth more than any figure quoted online.
