1. Separate captions, on-screen text, and post copy
A request to “add captions” is not a complete production instruction. Ask which text layer is missing. Synchronized captions represent the audio. On-screen titles help a viewer understand the visible property or campaign moment. Post copy surrounds the upload with current context, disclosure, and a destination. A useful delivery may need all three.
| Layer | Primary job | Typical content | Main failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synchronized captions | Represent speech and meaningful audio over time | Dialogue, speaker changes, relevant sound | Publishing an unreviewed automatic transcript |
| On-screen property text | Identify and clarify the current visual | Location, short fact, room label, action | Covering the property with dense listing copy |
| Post caption or description | Carry timely context outside the video | Status, event details, expanded facts, link, notices | Leaving stale price, date, or availability live |
Captions and subtitles are also not exact synonyms in accessibility guidance. The W3C explains that captions include speech plus non-speech audio needed to understand the media, while subtitles commonly refer to dialogue or translation. Review the current W3C caption guidance when defining the deliverable.
2. Create one approved text source before editing
Build every layer from the current listing record and approved campaign brief. Do not let the social caption, narration, text cards, and property page become four independent versions of the facts. Record the source and approval date so the reviewer can resolve a mismatch.
Caption source sheet
Property identity: [approved address or approved location label]
Status and as-of date: [current listing status / verified date]
Numbers approved for use: [price / beds / baths / area / fees / event time]
Feature wording: [verified language tied to visible source media]
Campaign job: [property overview / just listed / open house / update]
One current action: [view details / request showing / confirm event]
Destination: [approved property page or contact route]
Required identity and notices: [brokerage / media / platform / local review]
Owner and review date: [person / date / change trigger]
Write the narration against the final visual sequence before using it as a transcript. The real estate video script template helps match spoken claims to the property evidence on screen.
3. Choose closed captions, open captions, or both
Closed captions live as a separate track that a viewer or player can control. Open captions are rendered into the picture and cannot be turned off. The correct package depends on what the destination accepts, whether the video will be cropped again, and how much control the viewer needs.
| Option | Useful when | Tradeoff | Keep with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed-caption file | The player supports a selectable synchronized track | Support and display behavior vary by destination | Corrected SRT or accepted format, language, version ID |
| Open-caption export | Text needs to travel inside a social video file | Viewer cannot hide it; later crops can obscure it | Clean master and caption-safe project |
| Both | The campaign needs social cutdowns and a controlled player | Two deliverables must stay synchronized after revisions | Shared transcript, approval record, file names |
Keep a clean master even when the first placement needs open captions. A future horizontal crop, property-page player, language track, corrected name, or status update should not require rebuilding the video from a compressed social download.
4. Correct the synchronized caption track
Automatic speech recognition can accelerate transcription, but it does not know which property number, street spelling, feature term, or agent name is correct. Compare every line with the final audio and approved source sheet. A late narration revision invalidates the earlier caption timing and text.
- Transcribe the final audio. Do not caption a draft voiceover.
- Correct proper nouns. Check agent, street, building, subdivision, and brokerage names.
- Verify every number. Check price, area, dates, times, room counts, and contact details.
- Add useful speaker or sound context. Include non-speech audio only when it affects understanding.
- Break lines by meaning. Avoid separating a property number from its unit or a feature from its qualifier.
- Synchronize the reading window. Text should appear with the audio it represents and remain long enough to read.
- Watch the captions in place. Confirm that they do not cover the feature, disclosure, or action.
YouTube supports uploaded caption files, auto-sync, and manual entry, and its own automatic- caption guidance tells creators to review machine output because it can misrepresent speech. Check the current YouTube caption workflow and automatic-caption guidance before a critical upload.
5. Write on-screen text for the property frame
On-screen text is editorial, not a second transcript. Use it to identify the listing, label a feature the viewer can see, mark an event or status, and present one action. Let narration explain relationships and let the post copy hold detail that would clutter the frame.
Opening: [current campaign moment] · [approved location]
Core identity: [property type or concise verified summary]
Scene label: [visible room, material, view, or relationship]
Event card: [day] · [full date] · [time and time zone when useful]
Close: [one action] · [approved identity or destination cue]
- Use enough contrast against every changing frame, not only the first preview image.
- Keep essential text away from likely interface controls and alternate crop edges.
- Do not shrink text to preserve a long sentence; rewrite the sentence.
- Give addresses, prices, dates, disclosures, and actions sufficient reading time.
- Do not label generated motion as a continuous walkthrough when the source is still photography.
Use the social media safe-zone checker as a conservative composition aid, then inspect the processed upload because platform interfaces and crops can change.
6. Fill in the real estate video post-caption template
Post copy should help someone understand why the video is current and what to do next. It does not need to repeat the narration or list every amenity. Keep the property destination authoritative for details that may change.
First line: [specific current property or campaign update]
Property context: [two or three verified facts supported by the video]
Why this cut exists: [overview / feature / event / status change]
Current action: [view details / request a showing / confirm the open house]
Destination: [approved current page or contact path]
Attribution and notices: [brokerage / listing / media / AI / platform language when required]
Maintenance note: [owner / event date / status trigger]
Adapt the first line to the listing moment
- Just listed: “Now available: [approved property identity].”
- Open house: “Open [full date and time]: preview [approved property identity].”
- Price or terms update: state the exact approved change and its as-of date.
- Under contract or pending: use the status language your responsible listing workflow approves.
- Sold: remove buyer, seller, price, timing, or performance implications that are not approved for publication.
The property caption generator creates three editable directions from an active listing. Treat each as a draft and confirm the facts, tone, fair- housing language, identity, and current status before posting.
7. Package each destination deliberately
Start with a shared approved transcript and fact sheet, then create the deliverables the actual destinations accept. Avoid claiming that one burned-in vertical file is a universal master.
| Destination | Working package | Final check |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical social video | Clean vertical master, reviewed open-caption version, cover, post copy | Processed crop, interface overlap, link route, current status |
| YouTube | Horizontal or deliberate vertical file, corrected caption track, title, description | Published caption track, language, property link, thumbnail |
| Property page | Clean master, supported caption track, poster image, nearby property facts | Player controls, mobile reading, page accuracy, inquiry path |
| Email or message | Poster or short preview, plain-language context, linked destination | Fallback text, tracking route, current event or status |
| Archive and handoff | Clean masters, SRT, approved copy, source sheet, version record | File names, rights, approver, update owner |
Facebook currently documents SRT upload for supported video-caption workflows, while Instagram maintains separate controls for Reels and video captions. Verify the live Facebook caption instructions and Instagram caption controls rather than relying on an old publishing checklist.
8. Review the exact video, text, and upload together
A transcript can be correct while the finished package is not. Watch every delivered file with sound, without sound, and with the available caption controls. Review the social post or page around the video because a correct file can still sit beside an old price or broken link.
- Spoken words and meaningful audio are represented accurately and synchronized.
- Names, address, price, measurements, dates, times, status, and contact details match the approved record.
- Caption and title cards do not obscure the property evidence or required notices.
- Text remains readable in every delivered crop and after the platform processes the upload.
- Post copy and narration avoid unsupported claims and steering language about protected classes.
- The current CTA opens the intended mobile destination and someone owns its response path.
- Caption files, open-caption exports, clean masters, and post copy carry clear version names.
- The responsible reviewer approved the exact files and copy being published.
WCAG 2.2 includes captions for prerecorded synchronized media at Level A and explains that captions should convey necessary speech and non-dialogue audio. Whether a particular legal standard applies depends on the organization and context; use the current WCAG criterion as an accessibility reference, not as a substitute for legal advice.
9. Maintain the caption package as the listing changes
Captions are listing assets, not permanent facts. An open-house date expires. A price may change. A property can move from active to another status. Assign a trigger and owner when the video is published, then correct the surrounding copy, destination, and any editable files when the approved record changes.
Published asset: [URL / platform / version ID]
Time-sensitive text: [status / price / event / CTA]
Source as of: [date and approved record]
Next review trigger: [event passes / price changes / status changes]
Update action: [edit copy / replace file / redirect / archive]
Owner: [responsible person and contact path]
The real estate video marketing checklist carries the approved video, copy, links, measurement, and lifecycle controls through the broader campaign.
Turn the approved property story into a video preview
Westby turns an active listing's photos into a cinematic, narrated video preview. Enter the property address or listing link, review the visual direction and copy, and decide whether it fits the approved campaign before purchasing.
Create a free listing-video preview.
Frequently asked questions
What is a real estate video caption?
The phrase can mean three different things: synchronized captions that represent speech and meaningful audio, short text placed inside the video, or the written description attached to a social post. Treat them as separate deliverables because each has a different job and update cycle.
Should captions be burned into a listing video?
Open captions are useful when the destination cannot reliably carry a selectable caption track, but they cannot be turned off and can collide with crops or interface elements. Keep a clean master and, where supported, provide a corrected closed-caption file as well as any open-caption social export.
What should an agent put in a listing-video post caption?
Lead with the current property or campaign update, add a few verified facts that help someone interpret the video, state the current action, and point to an approved destination. Add required brokerage, media, or advertising language, then update or retire time-sensitive copy when the listing changes.
Can agents rely on automatic video captions?
Use automatic transcription as a draft, not the approval step. Compare it with the final audio and listing record, then correct names, addresses, prices, measurements, dates, real-estate terms, speaker changes, punctuation, timing, and meaningful non-speech audio before publishing.