How to start a real estate video business: rates, shot list and the edit

What a real estate video business sells, and the data behind it

You film the property yourself, or the agent films 20 minutes on a phone from your shot list and you edit that footage with the listing photos. The second way needs no camera or travel, so start there.

• Listing video. A 60- to 90-second 16:9 tour for the listing page, YouTube and the MLS.
• Reel and feed cut. The same tour in 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, and in 4:5 for the feed.
• Status posts. Just listed, open house, price drop and sold.
• Neighbourhood guide, agent-brand video. Streets and travel times, or the agent talking to camera with captions.
• Developers and short-let hosts. Site progress updates, or a tour of a holiday flat.

NAR is the US National Association of Realtors. Its 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report rests on 5,390 responses from people who bought between July 2023 and June 2024; 43% of them began by looking online for properties¹. The next Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, for the year to June 2025, reports 52% finding their home online and 70% searching on a mobile or tablet device².

Video does not replace photos. The opening is on the supply side: few agents use video at all.

In NAR’s 2021 survey, a further 35% of Realtors did not use video but hoped to³. In the 2026 REALTORS Technology Report, 81% said they adopt new technology mainly for efficiency and productivity, and 56% use AI to create social media posts¹⁹. Your customer is short of time, not of interest.

What real estate video costs: published rates

No single survey covers this market. The table uses four public US price sources, read on 13 October 2026, in US dollars. Collect five local price lists before you set yours.

• The second shape is an add-on. An extra vertical capture is $100 and an extra cut $50 on one list⁶, so sell the three shapes as one set.
• A reel from photos is the cheapest item. One studio adds it for $35⁷. Use it to open the door.
• Small samples. PropPhoto’s video figures rest on 5 to 14 packages each⁴.

Three example packages and what one listing earns

What you need and what it costs

You need a phone that films in 4K, a computer with desktop Chrome, Edge, Brave or Firefox, and the listing sheet: address, price, beds, baths, area and the agent’s name, phone and licence line.

A tour made from photos, clips, music and text uses no AI time. Example with narration: a 900-character script for AI voiceover uses about 54 AI minutes (about 60 per 1,000 characters for English voices), captions on a one-minute piece to camera about 1, and two translated copies 2 to 4. That is about 59 AI minutes a listing: 5 such listings a month on Starter, 20 on Pro. See pricing.

The phone-footage shot list: 20 minutes on site

Send this to the agent, or use it yourself. Film horizontally in 4K and keep the main feature of each room in the middle third of the frame, because a 9:16 crop keeps only about a third of the width. Lights on, blinds open, phone in two hands, slow moves. No people, number plates or family photographs.

The listing-video edit in CutLuma: build the 16:9 master

Build the wide version first. The real estate kit is free with a free account. To start from a finished design, browse the real estate templates; the real estate video editor page has the short version.

1. Open the real estate kitOpen Real estate videos and sign in. The editor opens on Industry kits, showing the real estate kits. With no clip selected, the right-hand panel shows Format: choose 16:9.
2. Add the photos and clipsName the files in tour order (01-front, 02-hall), then drop them into the Media tab.
3. Let Auto montage make the first cutIn Media click Auto montage (the montage and slideshow maker). Set Order to By name, choose a song or a built-in beat under Music, the Smooth or Cinematic look, the 16:9 Shape and a Length (Auto shows every picture once). Type the address in Title and click Create montage. A montage runs up to 90 seconds.
4. Put the best room firstDrag clips to reorder and trim; press S to split. Select a photo and set its Motion to zoom in, zoom out or pan for a Ken Burns move.
5. Choose music you may useOpen Media → Stock library, search the music tab and click a track (stock library). Fade it out, and turn on Lower under speech if anyone talks (add music).

Listing facts, privacy and branding

1. Add the listing cardSelect the opening clip and click Listing card. Choose a Status such as JUST LISTED, OPEN HOUSE, PRICE DROP or SOLD, type Address, Beds, Baths, Area, Price and the Agent line, check the preview and click Add to video. Every line stays editable.
2. Label the roomsSelect a walkthrough clip and open Room-by-room tour. Type the rooms one per line; each tag shows for an equal part of the clip. On single photos, use the Text tab (add text).
3. Highlight the propertyOn aerial or street footage, click Highlight a building, click the corners of the building or plot, type a Label, set Dim around it and click Done. The outline follows the camera move.
4. Hide what should not be publicUnder Privacy, click Blur a plate / screen and drag the area over a number plate or a neighbour’s house number. Blur faces automatically finds every face and keeps a blur on it.
5. Add the agent and the logoOpen Agent lower third and fill in Name, Title · brokerage, Phone / handle and Licence (optional). Add the logo and a closing card from Style → Brand kit, or drop in a transparent PNG (add a logo).

Save this project and start the agent’s next listing from a copy. For a neighbourhood guide, the Minutes to… kit turns “5 min | Downtown” into pins on screen. For a developer, the construction kit adds a progress tracker.

Narration, captions, approval and the three shapes

1. Add narration (optional)In AI tools click Read a script aloud. Paste up to 2,000 characters, pick a voice, click Listen, then Add to video. Paid plans only.
2. Caption the agent’s piece to cameraIn the Text tab open Auto captions (auto captions), choose the language and a style, and generate. Correct the street name, the price and the agent’s name.
3. Export and send for approvalClick Export, set Resolution (1080p, or 4K on Pro), and download the MP4. Then click Get share link, keep Allow comments & reactions ticked and Copy the link. The agent watches without an account and comments at a moment in the video.
4. Make the 9:16 and 4:5 copiesIn AI tools click Make copies for other sizes, tick 9:16 and 4:5 and click Create copies. Each copy is its own project. On Free, with 3 projects, change Format in the right-hand panel instead (resize video).
5. Reframe every shotIn each copy, drag each picture on the preview until the room’s feature is in frame. In 9:16, keep text and logo out of the bottom quarter and off the right edge.
6. Export an unbranded file for the MLSIn the 16:9 project, delete the agent lower third, the logo and the closing card, export, then press Ctrl+Z to bring them back.
7. Add a second languageIn AI tools click Translate the whole video (Translate video). Pick Arabic, Spanish or another of the 17 languages, choose A copy per language and click Translate. Arabic is laid out right to left.

Translation changes the text, not the voice. AI voices exist only for English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, so in an Arabic copy, delete the narration and keep the music. Have a native speaker read each copy. See how to translate a video and the multilingual video playbook.

Checks before you deliver

• Facts. Address, price, beds, baths and area match the listing sheet exactly.
• Privacy. No faces, number plates, family photographs or documents are readable.
• Text. Nothing is cut off or under app buttons; the video sizes cheat sheet has the safe zones.
• Files. Three branded shapes and one unbranded 16:9 file, named with the address.

Getting the first agents: who to ask and what to say

• Listings with photos and no video. Search the property portals for your area and note each agent.
• Small brokerages and open houses. One office manager can introduce ten agents.
• Developers and short-let hosts. Regular progress videos, or one tour per property.

Offer one free sample per agent, and deliver it by share link: the view count shows whether the agent passed it on. We found no published response rates for this outreach, so count your own. For retainers and several clients, read how to start a social media video agency or the overview of video business models.

A 30-day plan

Risks and rules: drones, fair housing, privacy, music and the MLS

• Fair housing wording. HUD’s rule makes it unlawful to publish an advertisement for a sale or rental that indicates a preference or limitation because of race, colour, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, in words, photographs or symbols¹³. Describe the property, not the buyer: “three bedrooms and a fenced garden”, not “perfect for a young family”.
• Privacy. Get the seller’s written consent to film, through the agent. Blur neighbours’ number plates and faces, and keep tenants out of frame.
• Music. Meta’s Music Guidelines prohibit use of music for commercial or non-personal purposes unless you have obtained appropriate licences¹⁴. Use the CutLuma stock library, a licence you bought, or YouTube’s Audio Library on YouTube¹⁵.
• MLS branding. MLS Now allows no agent or company name, links or branding in a listing’s virtual tour¹⁶. SmartMLS accepts only unbranded videos, and lets the agent narrate without naming themselves or the office¹⁷. Rules differ, so check your local MLS before every upload.
• Under-pricing and tax. Price the set, not the $35 reel, and keep records: this income is taxable where you live.

FAQ

Sources

1. National Association of REALTORS — 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report (survey of 5,390 buyers, July 2023 to June 2024)
2. National Association of REALTORS — 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, published highlights (November 2025)
3. National Association of REALTORS — New Survey: These Tech Tools Are a Must (2021 Technology Survey, 3 August 2021)
4. PropPhoto — Real estate photography pricing, computed from 888 packages by 428 photographers (updated 13 October 2026)
5. HomeJab — Professional real estate walkthrough videos (price page, 2026)
6. HomeJab — Pricing for model, new home community and local area packages (2026)
7. Coronado Photo & Media, Miami — Pricing (2026)
8. Tasty Edits — Real estate video editing services and prices (2026)
9. Federal Aviation Administration — Certificated Remote Pilots including Commercial Operators (Part 107; updated 25 March 2025)
10. Federal Aviation Administration — Become a Certificated Remote Pilot
11. European Union Aviation Safety Agency — Open category: low risk civil drones
12. UK Civil Aviation Authority — Drones
13. US Department of Housing and Urban Development — 24 CFR 100.75, Discriminatory advertisements, statements and notices (Code of Federal Regulations, 2025 edition)
14. Meta — Music Guidelines (effective 26 March 2024)
15. YouTube Help — Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library (2026)
16. MLS Now — Add a Virtual Tour to a Listing (help centre, updated March 2026)
17. SmartMLS — Add a virtual tour to your listing (help centre, updated July 2025)
18. Apartments.com.au (Urban) — Real estate videos secure wider buying audience: Jellis Craig (4 April 2013)
19. National Association of REALTORS — 2026 REALTORS Technology Report, published highlights

The figures on this page are published ranges and worked examples, not promises of income. What you earn depends on your niche, your skills and how consistently you work. Platform rules and rates change: check the linked sources before you rely on a number.