Resident Intelligence is the practice of connecting reputation, marketing, and leasing signals to explain why apartment communities win or lose leases. HeyNeighborly delivers it, powered by its Resident OS platform.
Video that shows the real place and the real people in it. The evidence for that is stronger than the evidence for any particular format, length or platform, and this post marks where it runs out. What renters say they want is easier to document than what converts.
HeyNeighborly's Community Ambassadors film on site, so this question comes up often in our work. This post covers what renters report about video, what operators who use it say, and one way to choose what to film.
Do renters want video?
Some do, and more of them in larger apartment buildings. In Zillow's 2025 renter research, 22% of all renters and 25% of recent renters said watching a recorded video tour of the home is essential when deciding which home to rent. Among recent renters in buildings with 50 or more units, 31% said a recorded video tour is essential and 38% said the same of a 3D or virtual tour.
RMR's 2026 survey of Sun Belt renters found that 71% rated virtual tours as extremely helpful during their search, and 59% said resident testimonials are among the most helpful forms of content.
Apartments.com's 2026 survey adds a reason it matters: 43% of renters say they are likely to rent unseen. In Apartments.com's late-2025 survey, a 21-year-old renter put it this way: "As long as there is a video, or pictures, I know what I'm getting into."
Is short-form video worth the effort?
The platform data points one way. CNBC reported, using Sensor Tower data, that Reels accounted for 46% of time spent on the Instagram app in the U.S. in 2025, up from 37% in 2024, and that more than half of all Instagram ads ran in Reels, up from 35%. That says where attention is on one platform. It does not say that apartment video leases units.
For apartments specifically, the best available evidence is practitioner testimony. At the National Apartment Association's Apartmentalize conference in June 2026, Jessica Gooden of Hillpointe Residential said short-form video can feel more realistic than photos and that "it actually humanizes the community, having your people in the videos". She named student housing, lease-ups, lifestyle-focused communities and resident storytelling as the best use cases, and resident spotlights, move-in days and "what I wish I knew before moving in" as popular ideas. Her test: "When content feels real, authentic, intentional, frequent and audience-first, it's a trend. When every video feels like a commercial ... then it feels like a trap."
One paid-media result is relevant. RealPage's six-month Performance Max study found that community-focused creative produced 29% to 34% lower cost per conversion than in-home imagery. RealPage notes that results vary by property, market, budget and other factors, and the study covers paid campaigns, not organic video.
What is not yet known?
The sources checked for this post do not cover the best video length, whether vertical video beats horizontal for apartments, or how video affects tour rates. Treat any specific number you are given for these as unverified.
What should an operator film first?
Our view: choose subjects from what residents are already saying, not from the amenity list. If reviews keep mentioning the maintenance team, the quiet courtyard or the dog park, film those. A video that answers a question prospects are already asking does more than another pool walk-through.
HeyNeighborly's team reads what residents say in a community's reviews and builds the shot list from it. Ambassadors do the filming and HeyNeighborly handles the content. For more on this approach, see Turning Reviews Into Reels.
Frequently asked questions
Do apartment communities need TikTok?
The sources here do not settle it. At the Apartmentalize session, Hillpointe's Jessica Gooden called short-form video a strong fit for student housing, lease-ups, lifestyle communities and resident storytelling, and her co-presenter Kara Rafferty of Apartment Geofencing said, "A trend can be a win in one asset class and a trap in another."
Should video show the exact unit?
Renters say they want unit-specific information. In Apartments.com's 2026 survey, 99% said unit-specific detail is important, and 74% want to see online photos of the exact unit they are considering. Whether video of the exact unit beats photos is not in these sources.
Who films the video at HeyNeighborly?
Community Ambassadors film on site as part of HeyNeighborly's content service.
If you manage apartment communities and want to talk through what video you have and what residents say that you could film next, book a call with HeyNeighborly.
Sources
- Zillow Research, Renters: Results from the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2025 (Oct 27, 2025): 22%, 25%, 31%, 38%.
- RMR Group, 2026 Renter Insights Survey (Oct 6, 2026): 71% and 59%.
- Apartments.com, How Renters Decide: Top Considerations in 2026: 43%, 99%, 74%.
- Apartments.com, Survey: How Today's Renters Choose a Place: the 21-year-old renter's quote.
- CNBC, Most of Instagram's ads ran on Reels in 2025, data shows (Jan 20, 2026; Sensor Tower data): 46%, 37%, more than half, 35%.
- Multifamily Dive, How apartment operators can drive leasing through social media and streaming TV (Jun 25, 2026): Hillpointe and Apartment Geofencing speaker quotes.
- RealPage, The Ultimate Multifamily Marketing Guide for 2026: 29% to 34%.
