After producing 10,000+ walkthrough video tours and photos for apartment communities nationwide, our in-house media team has learned one truth:
Preparation makes or breaks media day.
Hiring a professional media specialist is a big investment with high stakes. You usually get one day to capture every floorplan, amenity, and exterior.
If units aren’t ready or the property isn’t clean, the best camera gear or editing can't save the results—and instead of helping leasing, your visuals will hold you back.
That’s why we created the definitive pre-shoot checklist. Built from 40+ combined years of multifamily media experience, it gives your on-site team everything they need to prepare the property, maximize media day, and walk away with photos and videos that attract renters and fill units faster.
Getting Started
Once you've determined that it's time to upgrade your apartment's virtual tours, the preparation for shoot day begins. Here's the first things you need to do:
✅ Hire a professional who knows apartments.
Not every photographer or videographer is equipped to capture apartments. You will quickly learn that there are plenty of talented generalists out there, but apartment media requires a specialized eye.
The angles, lighting, and sequencing that appeal to renters are different from what works in weddings, portraits, or commercial shoots.
We strongly recommend hiring a media specialist who understands how renters shop and will know exactly how to showcase floorplans, amenities, and lifestyle. That expertise doesn’t just lead to better content—it also makes shoot day itself run smoother.
✅ Set an optimal date for media day.
We know it can be tempting to upgrade your virtual tours right away—especially when you’re in a vacancy crunch. But to get the results you want, it’s best not to rush to get media day on the schedule without first thinking through your goals for the day.
In an ideal world, you’d wait until you have availability in most (if not all) of your floorplans—which simply isn’t realistic. But scheduling only because one floorplan is struggling makes the time and investment less worth it, too, since that often forces you into scheduling multiple future shoots.
Before setting the date, ask yourself, “How can we make this photo shoot deliver the most complete, lasting media coverage of our community?”
Know in advance exactly which floorplans, amenities, and features you need photos and videos for, and make a plan for them to be ready—and don’t stop until every part of your community gets consistent coverage.
Scheduling a media shoot isn’t about solving today’s vacancy—it’s about strengthening your marketing presence for the long run. The visuals you capture now will define how renters see your community for the next couple of leasing cycles.
You’ll also want to be mindful of the seasons when you schedule your shoot. While a professional media specialist can help counteract un-controllables like cloudy skies, the best bet is selecting a date during the time of year when weather in your region is most favorable so your photos and videos showcase your apartment community on a great day.
One more tip? Consider avoiding holidays, if possible. Holiday decor—whether you’re using it when staging units or it’s visible on residents’ doors and windows—dates your media quickly and can be difficult or impossible to remove in editing. Either preemptively take down or move holiday decor before a shoot if it’s occurring around a holiday.
✅ Align vendor schedules to line-up with schedule date.
The other reason why it's important to set an optimal date is that you'll need to coordinate all of your vendor schedules well in advance so that the property looks its best on media day—and the final results accurately represent what renters would see in-person today.
Any visible maintenance tasks—painting, concrete, groundskeeping, lingering unit and amenity upgrades—should be completed in advance.
Even smaller details matter: schedule shoots after routine mowing, trimming, and trash pickup so your photos and videos capture the best version of your community.
✅ Detail exactly what needs video and photo coverage.
It's important to determine in advance everything in your apartment community you want the photographer to cover. Have a detailed plan for which unit numbers, amenities, clubhouse, branding, signage and more that you will feature in your marketing.
Then, make sure that everyone is on the same page about what will get captured on media day. Share with the photographer and your teams that list in advance so they're ready.
This way, on-site staff can help coordinate and assist the photographer when they come to the property if necessary. You don't want the day to begin with confusion or delays due to a lack of preparation.
Unit Preparation Checklist
✅ Tidy the units thoroughly.
Deep cleaning each unit is the baseline. It's also just as important to remove anything that doesn't belong in a photo or video.
You'll also need to make a decision about staging now to avoid chaos or delays on the day of the shoot.
Staging or no staging?
In our multifamily media team’s years of experience, they’ve seen minimal difference in engagement or leasing decisions between staged and empty units—the choice ultimately comes down to preference.
Do you want to give future residents a portrayal of what the unit looks like furnished, or let them imagine it themselves? There’s no wrong answer.
If staging units is your preference, do it comprehensively. Don’t just sprinkle in random furniture or seasonal decor and call it good—give each room a realistic, liveable look. Also, don’t wait until the day of the shoot to stage your units; that only creates delays and stress for your staff, photographer, and residents.
If you plan to keep units empty and use AI for virtual staging afterward, understand the risks and always disclose AI use clearly with watermarks or side-by-side comparisons.
Whatever route you choose, aim for uniformity and quality across all your floorplan visuals.
✅ Check and replace burnt lightbulbs.
Lighting makes or breaks apartment visuals. One burnt-out bulb can create dark corners or uneven light that distracts prospects.
As part of your prep, walk through each unit to test every fixture and replace bulbs in advance so rooms appear bright and welcoming on camera.
And make sure that all replaced lighting fixtures have the same bulb type. Slight color differences between warm and cold lighting appear much more extreme in photos and videos.
✅ Do a morning walk-through before the shoot.
On the day of, give each unit a final pass before the media specialist arrives. Open all closet doors, turn on every light, and pull back blinds or curtains to let in natural light.
A quick wipe-down or last-minute tidy can prevent small distractions from showing up in the final product.
Exterior & Amenities Preparation Checklist
✅ Complete general community cleaning and maintenance.
As was detailed earlier, you'll need to give yourself plenty of time in advance to make your property photo-ready. Make sure every major maintenance project is finished and routine landscaping and cleaning are complete.
Don’t overlook the details: streaked windows, dirty siding, or overgrown shrubs all show up on camera. A simple power wash, window cleaning, or fresh mulch can dramatically elevate the final visuals.
✅ Vacate public amenities.
Give residents plenty of notice about when the media day will occur, and close down access to your gym, pool, or other amenities for certain periods. Also, remain on standby if the photographer needs your help with requesting residents to step out temporarily for certain amenity shots.
✅ Stage your showcase areas.
Amenities, like your pool or clubhouse, are showcase features. Make sure those areas are clean and staged so they shine on media day.
Arrange all tables and chairs around the pool, and open up umbrellas. Wipe down your gym and put all weights back where they belong. Sweep the pickleball courts. Give the dog park a once over so there's no "surprises" in the photo. These finishing touches will make a big difference.
✅ Walk the property the morning of the shoot.
Do one final walk of the property before the photographer arrives. Pick up litter, check that the trash area isn't a disaster, and touch up anything that can be quickly fixed.
If there's anything noteworthy that cannot be changed, inform your specialist and they can adjust accordingly.
For example, say there's a cemented area with multiple cracks that you had on the schedule to repair, but the laborer rescheduled.
Try not to panic over every little detail—not every property is going to be absolutely perfect.
Conclusion: Preparation is Key for Better Apartment Media
Updating your virtual tour content is one of the most important investments you can make in your community’s marketing, leasing, and overall reputation.
The difference between great results and disappointing ones often comes down to preparation. Communities that prepare in advance ensure:
- Media day runs smoothly, without wasted time or missed opportunities.
- Every floorplan has a clean, ready unit to showcase.
- Amenities are staged and presented as the highlights they truly are.
- The property as a whole shines in its best light.
This checklist was built by multifamily media specialists with decades of experience capturing walkthrough video tours and photos. We’ve seen firsthand how thoughtful preparation dramatically improves how communities appear online—and how much faster renters move from browsing to leasing.
If you’re ready to upgrade your community’s media, our team is here to help. We’ll travel directly to your property and capture high-quality photos and video tours for every floorplan, amenity, and exterior.
Pair RentVision's Virtual Tours with our Community Websites and Predictive Advertising, and your visuals power a marketing engine that allows prospects to confidently tour, self-qualify, and lease without ever needing to drive to your property in person.
