Light, weather and when to shoot
Humid summer haze from late morning; spring and fall are the clean exterior seasons. Shore exteriors want the morning before the beach fills. Winter is grey; interiors with lamps on carry a January listing, and the exterior gets re-shot in May.
What sells here, and what buyers want to see
Montclair, Westfield, Summit, Ridgewood and the rest sell on the town and the schools; buyers want the station and the main street. The Shore from Long Branch to Cape May sells the beach block, the elevation and the outdoor shower; buyers ask about flood insurance early. Dense suburbs sell on the finished basement and the parking.
The clips to make
- A ten-second town clip — station, main street — before the house.
- Cape Cods and split-levels: interior reveal from the entry to show the flow; slide down into the basement.
- Shore: front-door approach up the stairs of a raised home; balcony pull-back from the ocean; aerial pass along the beach block.
Rules worth checking
New Jersey has no single statutory seller disclosure form, but sellers must disclose known material defects and the standard Realtor disclosure form is used by practice; the video should never be where a defect hides. Shore properties carry flood-zone and elevation questions — the flood-zone guide covers keeping the video honest.
Disclosure, drone and privacy rules change and differ by MLS and municipality; confirm the current version with your broker before you rely on anything here.
Questions
Do commuter buyers really want a town clip?
Yes. The house is one of several they will see in the same town; the town is what they are choosing. Ten seconds of the station and the main street is enough.
How do I show a small North Jersey lot without making it look smaller?
Move through the rooms rather than panning across them, and shoot the yard from the back door outward. The condo guide rules for small spaces apply to small houses too.
Read next
- Real Estate Video in New York City: Small Spaces, Big BuildingsListing video for NYC agents: apartments where every square foot counts, building amenities, light and exposure, co-op and condo rules on filming, and the vertical reel that suits the market.
- Listing Video for a Home in a Flood Zone: Honest Without AlarmingHow to make a listing video for a property in a flood zone: what the video should and should not show, where flood facts belong, and how to present elevation and mitigation as the features they are.
- Real Estate Video in Connecticut: Colonials, Commuter Towns and the SoundListing video for Connecticut agents: colonial and cape housing stock, Fairfield County commuter buyers, shoreline homes on Long Island Sound, four-season exteriors and the state's property condition report.