Agents often treat "virtual tour", "virtual visit", and "video walkthrough" as interchangeable. They're not. A virtual tour is path-confined. A virtual visit is a free-roam Gaussian splat — never a tour. A reel sells the feeling in 30–45 seconds.
What each one actually is
Virtual tour
Path walkthrough. You stay on the path. Click to move room to room along the captured path. Delivered as an interactive embed on the listing and often MLS-ready. Best for letting serious buyers pre-screen a property before a showing. À la carte add-on; included in Showcase and Full suite.
Virtual visit
Free-roam 3D (Gaussian splat). Not a tour. Always a paid add-on. Always a paid add-on — never included in any package. Quoted by sqft on the same bands as photo, reel, and virtual tour (Small ≤1,200 / Mid ≤2,500 / Large ≤4,000 / XL 4,000+). No published dollar table — never bundled into Premium or any other package, and not charged at checkout.
Video walkthrough / cinematic reel
A produced, set to music, paced edit — usually 30–90 seconds. It's an emotional asset: it makes the home feel desirable and is built for social, portals, and the top of a listing page. It sells the lifestyle, not the measurements.
Use a virtual tour when…
- The home is large or unusual in layout — estates, multiplexes, custom builds. Buyers want to understand the flow before driving out.
- You're pre-qualifying showings — a virtual tour filters out the merely-curious and brings serious, informed buyers to open houses.
- The buyer pool is remote or relocating — out-of-town and overseas buyers lean on a walkthrough they can run themselves.
- The listing will sit a while — a virtual tour keeps working 24/7 as a self-serve open house.
Use a cinematic reel when…
- You need attention fast — a reel is built for the scroll: social, portals, email blasts. It earns the click.
- The home photographs on feeling — light, views, design. Video shows that better than any still or scan.
- The listing is straightforward — a tidy semi or condo doesn't need a navigable model; a strong reel plus HDR does the work.
- You're on a budget — a reel is usually cheaper than a full spatial capture and punches above its weight on reach.
The honest answer: most listings want both, in order
For a typical Canadian detached, the highest-converting combo is HDR photos + a cinematic reel for reach, then a virtual tour if the home is large, high-value, or has a remote buyer pool. Add a virtual visit when free-roam matters — it is never packaged. You don't have to decide blindly — at Bricks the reel and virtual tour are separate à la carte add-ons.
"A reel gets them to the listing. A virtual tour gets them to the front door. A virtual visit lets them walk the space without a path. Most homes only need the first; the rest earn their keep on the bigger ones."
Cost reality (2026)
- Cinematic reel: $149–249 add-on, by footprint.
- Virtual tour: $149–299, path-confined, MLS-ready.
- Virtual visit: Quoted by sqft (Small ≤1,200 / Mid ≤2,500 / Large ≤4,000 / XL 4,000+). Always a paid add-on — never included in any package.
Both are modest next to the cost of a price reduction from a stale listing. The mistake isn't spending — it's spending on the wrong one for the property.
FAQ
Is a virtual tour the same as a floor plan?
No. A floor plan is a flat dimensioned drawing (included on every Bricks standard shoot). A virtual tour is path-confined and spatial but isn't a substitute for a measured plan. A virtual visit is a free-roam splat — never a tour.
Which helps SEO / portals more?
Listings with both rich media types get more saves and views on major portals; the reel drives initial engagement, the virtual tour extends time-on-listing.
Can I use the reel on social?
Yes — the cinematic reel is formatted for Instagram, TikTok, and Realtor.ca embeds. That's its main job.
Written by Raphael Merchant, founder of Bricks. Figures that cite regional market research are labelled as such; Bricks rates are starting points and tailored per booking.
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