Almost every listing conversation gets to this question, usually phrased as whether the video is worth it. It depends less on the price of the house than on what the property has to show.
What stills do
Aerial photographs are the first thing a buyer sees and the reason they keep scrolling. They answer questions a ground photo physically cannot. How close the water actually is. What the roof looks like. How big the lot is next to the neighbors. Whether the view survives if something goes up on the empty parcel next door.
They are compact, they syndicate everywhere, they work as a thumbnail, and they are what people forward to each other. If a listing only gets one aerial asset, make it a set of stills.
What video does
Video does one thing stills cannot, which is show relationship. How the dock connects to the house, how the grounds run down to the water, what the approach looks like coming in off the street. A still can imply that. A slow move through it removes the guesswork.
It is also the format that holds attention on social, where a photograph gets a half-second and a good reveal gets fifteen. For a listing being pushed through an agent's own channels rather than only the portals, that gap matters.
- Waterfront property, where the move from house to dock to open water is the sale
- Acreage and estates, where the scale is the point and stills flatten it
- New construction and developments being marketed before completion
- Anything an agent will run as paid social
Where video is not worth it
A modest, conventionally laid-out home on a standard lot does not need one. There is nothing to reveal that the fourth photograph has not already shown, and the clip gets watched twice, both times by the agent. Put the money into more stills and a twilight frame instead.
What each one costs you on the day
Stills are quick. Most listing shoots are under an hour on site and the edited set comes back within 24 hours. Video roughly doubles the time on the ground, because moves get flown more than once and a second battery cycle is normal, and it adds more than that in post. That is worth knowing before you commit to a Saturday deadline.
What I would actually recommend
For most listings, stills plus one short cut for social. For waterfront and estate property, a full set and a proper film. Either way book them in the same visit, which costs less than two visits and, more usefully, guarantees the photos and the video were shot in the same light.
Common questions
How long is a listing video?
Most run between thirty and ninety seconds. Longer than that and completion rates fall off, unless the property genuinely warrants a full film.
Can you shoot photos and video in the same visit?
Yes, and it is the cheaper way to buy both. Tell us when you book so we schedule enough time on site and enough battery.
Do you deliver a vertical cut for social?
We can. Say so up front, because framing for vertical is a decision made while flying rather than a crop applied afterwards.
This piece supports two pages worth reading next:
Leyyah directs the look of Papa's Aerial deliverables - what gets shot, how it is graded, and what a client actually receives at the end of a job.
