How long should a listing video be?
Short answer
Portal tours: 60 to 90 seconds. Instagram Reels and TikTok: 20 to 40 seconds. Stories and ads: 6 to 15 seconds. YouTube: two to four minutes for a full tour. Every platform rewards completion rate, so the correct length is the longest one people still finish.
There is no single right length, because a listing video is not one asset. It is one shoot cut for four or five very different audiences, and posting the same file everywhere is why so many listing videos underperform on social.
By platform
| Where | Length | Format | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| MLS / portal | 60–90s | Horizontal | Show how the home connects |
| Instagram Reels | 20–40s | Vertical 9:16 | Hold attention to the end |
| TikTok | 20–40s | Vertical 9:16 | Hook in the first second |
| Stories | 6–15s | Vertical 9:16 | One idea, one room |
| Paid ads | 6–15s | Vertical or square | Stop the scroll, drive the click |
| YouTube | 2–4 min | Horizontal | Full tour with narration |
Completion rate is the real metric
Every social platform distributes based on how much of a video people watch. A 25-second Reel watched to the end will outreach a 60-second one abandoned at 20 seconds, even though the longer one delivered more total watch time. Cut to the length people finish, not the length that fits everything in.
The first three seconds do most of the work
On a feed, the opening frame decides whether the rest of the video exists. Open on the strongest thing you have — the exterior, the view, the kitchen — never on a slow push through an empty hallway. The best shot goes first, not last.
How to cut one shoot into everything
- Full tour, 60–90s, horizontal, for the portal
- Best 25 seconds, vertical, for Reels and TikTok
- Single best room, 8 seconds, vertical, for stories
- One transition or reveal, 6 seconds, looping, for ads
Longer is fine when the audience opted in
A four-minute narrated tour on YouTube is reasonable, because someone who searched for a neighbourhood and clicked a tour has already committed. Length becomes a problem only where attention was interrupted rather than volunteered.
Common questions
Is a 30 second listing video too short?
Not for social — 20 to 40 seconds is the sweet spot on Reels and TikTok. It is too short for a portal tour, where the job is showing how rooms connect rather than stopping a scroll.
Do longer videos rank better on YouTube?
Watch time matters, but so does retention percentage. A tightly cut three-minute tour usually outperforms a padded eight-minute one. Length helps only when the content genuinely fills it.
Should the same video go on the portal and Instagram?
No. A horizontal 90-second tour posted to Reels gets letterboxed and abandoned. Cut a vertical version at 20 to 40 seconds — it is ten minutes of work and it is the difference between reach and no reach.
PropWalk builds a walkthrough from your listing photos and outputs it at the length and shape you need — long for the portal, short and vertical for the feed.
Make a walkthrough free →