The Multifamily Marketer's Guide to Virtual Apartment Tours and Photography

QUICK SUMMARY // Your virtual tours accomplish one of two things. They either attract and qualify prospective renters, helping them visualize what your units and amenities look like without having to drive there in-person. Or they force prospects to quickly move on because your visuals are outdated, uninformative, and misleading. Either way, the quality of your apartment's virtual tours determine the success of your marketing, leasing, and revenue. This guide shows apartment operators how to elevate their virtual tours and photos so renters can make confident leasing decisions.

Introduction: What Happens When Apartment Photos and Virtual Tours Miss the Mark?

Henry didn’t expect his promotion to start so soon. He’s got two weeks to pack up and move down to Albuquerque for a new corporate role.

He’s always loved the Uptown Area, so that’s where he begins his apartment search.

He opens Google Maps on his iPhone, zooms in on the neighborhood, and spots two apartment communities nearby. Perfect—this should be easy.

Location, price, availability, reviews—each community checks the box. The only thing left to evaluate are their virtual tours and photos. Where can he actually picture himself living? Which one feels more like home?

The difference between the two becomes immediately clear as he compares their photos and videos.

One community’s Google Business Profile shows a dark, dated mix of visuals—a balcony image here, a bedroom there, and a clubhouse sign. When Henry taps the website link hoping for more in-depth, quality visuals, all he finds is a generic gallery of random rooms and floorplan pages with 2D blueprints. No real sense of what the floorplans actually look like.

The other community? Its GBP listing features comprehensive, professional photos and videos of exteriors, floorplans, and amenities. And when he visits the website, he sees the same high-quality walkthrough video tours and photo galleries for each floorplan.

That second community wins Henry’s interest—and ultimately, his lease—because it offered virtual tour content that let him see exactly what his chosen studio looked like and start imagining life there: My desk and bookshelf will go here. My bed and TV fit there. That corner’s perfect for my Peloton.

Virtual tours aren’t just an add-on to make your marketing look better—they’re foundational in how renters make evaluations and leasing decisions. When your visuals miss the mark, it hurts both perception and performance: your leasing team wastes more time on bad tours, you lose good-fit leads, and you’re forced to spend more on marketing or lower rents just to fill the same units.

In this guide, we’ll show how apartment operators can use virtual tours to power their marketing engine, meet renters’ needs, and help them make confident leasing decisions.

Why Are Apartment Photos and Video Tours Essential for Leasing?

Henry’s story isn’t unusual—it’s exactly how most renters shop today.

According to Zillow, nearly 9 in 10 renters say digital listing features are essential when searching for an apartment. They want photos, 3D tours, and walkthrough videos—especially tied to specific floorplans—visible across your digital ads, ILS listings, social reels, and website.

Leasing has always been a visual process, but now renters are making decisions with fewer in-person tours. Zillow reports that most renters take just one tour before signing a lease, while 19% never tour at all—and that number keeps rising.

Continuing to display visuals that are outdated, inconsistent, or misleading directly impacts the performance of your community’s marketing, leasing, and revenue. That’s why ensuring your virtual apartment tours meet today’s renter standards is an essential duty for every operator.

What Types of Virtual Tours and Apartment Media Do Renters Expect?

Virtual apartment tours generally come in three formats:

1. Professional photos. Photos are your foundation and can be featured across all marketing channels, helping renters evaluate floorplans, amenities, and lifestyle.

2. 3D/360 tours. Tools like Matterport that allow renters to self-explore units and get a sense of layout, finishes, and space.

3. Walkthrough video tours. Renter point-of-view videos walking through units are proven to engage prospects longer, are easy to share, and perform well across digital platforms.

When renters are comparing options, they expect to see one or more of these virtual tour formats. Photos are the baseline requirement—but on their own, even great photos often aren’t enough to convert interest into action.

Supporting photography with a 3D tour or walkthrough video tour helps renters build a complete picture of your community and move forward with confidence. 

What Parts of an Apartment Community Need Virtual Tours and Photos?

Renters evaluate apartment photos and virtual tours to picture what life could look like inside your community—and while attractiveness matters, they need more than just pretty visuals when deciding where to live.

This leads to one of the biggest gaps between apartment operators and renters. Many communities stop at showcasing a model unit, a few amenity photos, and an exterior shot on a sunny day—thinking that’s good enough. 

But that approach usually leaves renters with more questions than answers because they're not getting a complete enough view of your apartments.

Renters shouldn’t have to schedule an in-person tour just to make a confident decision. Before reaching out or applying, they want to see online visuals of:

• Every floorplan. Renters want a clear look at the inside of the floorplan they're interested in. That means specific walkthrough video tours, 3D tours, and photos for every floorplan must be available.
• Amenities: Photos and highlight videos reinforce and provide more context to amenities offered. Don't just list them; show them.
• Exteriors and shared spaces: The one photo of your leasing office and sign won't pass. Renters want to imagine their daily life beyond the front door, so content of your parking area, hallways, and outdoor spaces should be featured visuals in your marketing, too.

The more comprehensive your apartment media coverage, the better you’ll meet renters’ expectations for transparency and research. When you make it easy for them to visualize what living in your community looks like, you’ve already won half the leasing battle—and you’ll see the results in stronger, more qualified leads.

Where Should Your Apartment’s Virtual Tours Live Online for the Biggest Leasing Impact?

Renters research a variety of different marketing channels to discover your apartments. Wherever they're looking, your virtual tours and photos should be present, helping them visualize living in your apartments without having to drive there. 

If coverage isn't consistent across your marketing channels, your virtual tours aren't creating the impact they could be.

For example, you could have great virtual tours featured on your community website—but most of your prospects don't begin their evaluation process there. They're seeing your Google Business Profile, which only shows a grainy parking lot photo and a map pinning your location. Or they briefly scan your ILS listing with generic photos blending into the sea of sameness.

And even if they get to your website, renters notice that some floorplans have virtual tours while others are buried behind 2D diagrams or outdated photos.

When your virtual tours aren’t distributed effectively, it undercuts your efforts to make the right impression at key points in the renter’s search.

That's why virtual tours shouldn't be thought of as a one-off production expense, but as an asset library that powers your entire marketing suite:

• The same visuals are discoverable across key channels like your website, ILSs, Google Business Profile, social media, and digital ads.
• Every floorplan stands out with its own walkthrough video and curated photo set.
• Content that's easily repurposable for ads, reels, and other social media highlights.

When renters see photos and videos of your apartments that are appealing, informative, and consistent across every touchpoint, they gain confidence and eliminate guesswork—leading to more qualified leads and faster leases.

How Can Apartment Media Build Renter Trust Instead of Breaking It?

Apartment operators sometimes feel self-conscious about their virtual tours, knowing renters will scrutinize every photo and video—and compare them directly with nearby communities.

It’s natural to stress over how your apartments look online and worry they’re not good enough. But fearing that renters will pick apart every flaw, some operators go too far, pushing edits that make units and amenities appear perfect.

Remember, the goal of virtual tours is to showcase the reality of your apartments on their best day, exactly as renters would experience them in person. There are ethical ways to edit or enhance your photos and videos to achieve that goal—and unethical ones that distort reality.

What’s unethical? Any edit that creates a false or misleading representation, like removing permanent fixtures that don't look "aesthetic" enough or adding elements that don't exist. Deceptive edits alter expectations and break renters’ trust the moment they visit in person.

Use virtual tours as a way to help renters get the most accurate depiction of what their living experience would be like. Renters deserve authenticity and transparency—and the funny thing is, that will resonate more than overpromising false visuals because it shows you care about meeting their needs.

High-quality, real photos and videos—captured by multifamily specialists using professional equipment—elevate the perception of your community, floorplans, and amenities, no matter the tiny imperfections stressing you. The degree to which you edit that content is where ethical boundaries can be crossed.

Is It Okay to Use AI to Create Virtual Tours or Stage Apartment Photos?

Just like over-editing real photos, there's a real fine line of authenticity that you must maintain with AI in order to avoid misleading renters.

The hype in multifamily marketing circles about how AI impacts virtual tours is real. And for time-strapped marketers with limited budgets, it's easy to see the appeal of using AI to virtually stage units or edit photos faster and cheaper.

Despite all of the buzz—especially LinkedIn posts promoting AI prompts for unit staging—be wary of the pitfalls.

AI is not a replacement for photographers or videographers. And the truth is, any AI-enhanced or AI-generated media of your apartments introduces a level of falseness, even if it looks appealing.

That doesn’t mean it’s never acceptable. AI staging or enhancements can be “acceptable” when you’re early in a lease-up or major renovation and need temporary visuals to help renters preview what’s coming.

In scenarios like those, it’s essential that you disclose AI use clearly—adding a watermark or even displaying the AI-enhanced image next to the real one. Renters appreciate that transparency and understand the “why” behind your choice. 

Still, be careful with AI—it’s prone to small but serious errors. If you're not vigilant, your real pool photo that's been AI-enhanced to be at sunset instead of the daytime could have palm trees added or balconies missing. Those little inconsistencies can damage credibility fast.

AI use isn't wrong, but it's risky and imperfect. The best practice is leaning towards transparency and truth—and that means focusing on real photos and videos of your apartments.

When Is It Time to Update Apartment Photos and Virtual Tours?

As renters evaluate your apartment photos and virtual tours, they assume what they’re seeing matches exactly what your floorplans, amenities, and features look like today.

That makes it easy for operators to tell when it’s time for an update. Simply ask: “Does what we’re showing online still reflect our property today?”

After major renovations, rebrands, or ownership transitions, the answer is likely no—and that’s a clear indicator to refresh your virtual tours.

Then, look at your performance data and gather renter feedback. If there’s a disconnect between the expectations your visuals set and the experience prospects have when they tour in person, it’s already impacting leasing.

Next, pay attention to your competitors. Are they using updated, comprehensive media that empowers renters to make decisions faster—pulling attention away from your apartments—or is there a gap you can fill that makes your community stand out?

For many reasons, apartment visuals can age fast. Sitting on outdated photos or videos only increases the chances renters notice the difference. Refreshing content at the right time keeps your community’s perception strong and your marketing and leasing results consistent.

What Should Apartment Teams Do to Prepare for a Media Shoot?

Once you decide it’s time to update your apartment photos and videos, preparation becomes everything. This is a high-stakes decision—your marketing, leasing, and community perception all depend on getting it right.

Start by hiring the right media professional. You’ll find plenty of generalists out there, but multifamily expertise should be non-negotiable if you want the best results. Specialists know how renters view apartments online and how to capture the right visuals to influence leasing.

Next, be strategic about when you schedule. It’s tempting to rush and get your new photos and videos done fast—but that can backfire if the weather turns, maintenance projects aren’t finished, or you don’t have vacant units for every floorplan.

Choose a time when all floorplans are available and the property can be shown in its best light. This gives you plenty of time to line up vendors, notify residents, and prepare your staff.

Get those three steps right, and you’re setting your shoot up for success—both for the day of and for the impact of your visuals.

All that’s left is making sure your property is ready to shine when the cameras roll.

Conclusion: What Apartment Media Strategy Actually Converts Renters?

Right now, a prospective resident is watching your virtual tours and scrolling through photo galleries. Is what they’re seeing helping them choose your apartments? Or—like Henry—are they leaving because your media feels outdated, misleading, or missing floorplan-level content?

Renters have always relied on visuals to make leasing decisions. Today, they expect consistent, attractive, and informative photos and videos across every marketing channel—not just your website. More renters are also leasing sight unseen, which only happens when a community’s virtual tours fully address their needs.

That outcome is far less likely if you’re still relying on a few generic photos of unidentifiable rooms and one sunny exterior shot. The virtual tour content that converts most consistently are walkthrough video tours and curated photo galleries for each floorplan—because they show exactly what renters will experience.

If it’s time to upgrade your apartment’s photos and videos to meet renter expectations, improve your online presence, and generate more qualified leads and leases, RentVision can help. Our in-house team of multifamily media specialists produces floorplan-specific virtual tours and photos that elevate your community’s website, digital ads, and reputation.

Schedule a demo to see how RentVision’s Virtual Tours can transform your community’s online presence and help renters confidently choose your apartments.