Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most agents in the U.S., the simplest way to stream real estate tours is to host them in a browser-based studio like StreamYard, then go live to Facebook, YouTube, and more from your phone or laptop. If you need deep scene customization and are comfortable managing encoders yourself, you can pair tools like OBS or Streamlabs with your existing workflows.

Summary

• Use StreamYard to go live from your phone or laptop, invite buyers as on-screen guests, and add branding without installing software.
• On paid plans, multistream a single tour to a handful of major platforms at once from one upload, with our servers handling the fan-out. (StreamYard Help)
• Take advantage of portrait + landscape outputs in one session to reach both mobile-first and desktop viewers effectively. (StreamYard Help)
• Consider OBS or Streamlabs only if you truly need advanced local scene control and are willing to manage a more technical setup. (OBS Overview)

How do you plan and structure a live real estate tour?

Before you press Go Live, decide what kind of tour you’re delivering and who it’s for. A good live tour has a beginning, middle, and end.

A simple run-of-show:

• Hook (1–2 minutes): Start curbside. Tease the best features—view, kitchen, yard—while people join.
• Exterior and approach: Walk from the street or driveway, describe the neighborhood, parking, and curb appeal.
• Main living areas: Kitchen, living room, dining, outdoor space. Linger where buyers make emotional decisions.
• Beds, baths, and storage: Move quicker here but call out anything unique: ensuite layouts, walk-in closets, built-ins.
• Bonus spaces: Home office, finished basement, ADU, rooftop deck—anything that changes how the home “works.”
• Q&A and wrap: Answer live questions, recap key details, and tell viewers exactly how to book an in‑person showing.

In StreamYard, you can keep presenter notes in the studio that only you see, so your talking points and order are always in front of you while you walk the property.

What gear do you need (and what can you skip)?

You do not need a cinema rig to run effective virtual tours.

For most U.S. agents, this is enough:

• Phone with a good camera (recent iPhone or Android)
• Small handheld gimbal or grip to reduce shakiness
• Clip-on lav mic or a wired headset for clearer voice audio
• Portable battery pack for longer streams

Nice-to-have upgrades:

• Wide-angle lens attachment if rooms feel cramped on camera
• LED panel light for darker interiors

In StreamYard, you have independent control of your mic and screen audio, so you can keep your voice clean even if you’re occasionally sharing a floor plan or a quick pre-recorded clip from your laptop.

How do you actually stream a real estate tour with StreamYard?

Here’s a straightforward workflow you can repeat for every listing.

1. Create your tour “show” once
   Set up a reusable StreamYard studio with your brokerage logo, brand colors, and preferred layout. You can add branded overlays, lower thirds, and a standard intro scene, so every tour feels consistent.

2. Schedule the stream to your platforms
   Connect destinations like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or other social platforms—plus custom RTMP if you need them. Paid plans allow you to multistream from the same studio to several destinations at once, with clear caps of 3, 8, or 10 destinations depending on plan. (StreamYard Help)

3. Decide where you’ll host from

   • If you’re on site: open StreamYard in a mobile browser, start the studio, and go live while you walk the property. Hosts and guests can join from phones, which keeps the workflow flexible. (StreamYard Help)
   • If you have an assistant at a desk: they can run the studio from a laptop while you join as a guest from your phone, leaving them to handle comments, overlays, and switching views.

4. Use portrait + landscape outputs strategically
   With Multi-Aspect Ratio Streaming (MARS), one StreamYard studio can output landscape and portrait at the same time. That lets you send a horizontal feed to YouTube while pushing a vertical-optimized version to short‑form-friendly destinations in the same session. (StreamYard Help)

5. Invite remote buyers or co‑listing agents
   Share your guest link with serious buyers, a lender, or a co‑agent. They join in the browser—no downloads—so you can bring them on screen for questions or commentary. Real users often highlight how even non‑technical guests can join easily and reliably, which is critical when you’re juggling a live tour and client expectations.

6. End the stream, then repurpose
   Your recording is ready as soon as you finish. StreamYard supports local multi‑track recordings suitable for re‑editing, and you can send the replay link to buyers who couldn’t attend. Features like AI clips help turn tours into short highlight reels for social without an extra editing tool.

Can you mix prerecorded clips, drone shots, and floor plans into live tours?

Yes, and doing so makes your tour feel more like a polished TV segment than a shaky phone video.

In StreamYard, a common pattern is:

• Start live at the curb.
• Drop in a short prerecorded drone clip of the neighborhood or exterior as you talk.
• Show a floor plan or site map via screen share while you explain the layout.
• Return to the live camera and continue walking.

Because the studio supports multi-participant screen sharing, a team member at a computer can share high‑resolution floor plans while you stay focused on walking the property and speaking to camera.

If you prefer a more technical pipeline, OBS can also mix multiple video sources—live camera, drone clips, and overlays—before sending a single RTMP stream to your platform of choice. (OBS Overview) That flexibility comes with more setup time and assumes your computer has enough CPU/GPU headroom to handle the encoding.

How do you optimize quality: bitrate, lighting, and stabilization for tours?

Good quality comes from a few small habits, not just gear.

• Network: Whenever possible, connect to a solid Wi‑Fi network. If you must use cellular, test your upload speed in the driveway before starting and avoid known dead zones inside the property.
• Bitrate and resolution: With browser-based tools like StreamYard, we handle encoding in the cloud, which reduces the strain on your device compared with running a full desktop encoder. Many agents find this more stable than pushing high bitrates directly from a laptop with OBS or Streamlabs, especially on older hardware. (Streamlabs Requirements)
• Lighting: Turn on all available lights, open blinds, and avoid strong backlight from windows. If a room is still dark, bring in a small LED and bounce it off a wall rather than aiming it straight at your face.
• Stabilization: Use a gimbal when walking; when static, brace your elbows against your body or a doorframe.
• Framing and movement: Walk slowly, pause in doorways to let compression catch up, and avoid rapid pans—they’re hard on viewers and on the encoder.

A quick test recording in StreamYard before you go live lets you review sound and exposure and make small adjustments in minutes.

Can you multistream real estate tours from mobile?

If your goal is to reach more potential buyers with the same effort, multistreaming is one of the easiest levers.

With StreamYard on paid plans, you can:

• Go live from a phone browser and send one stream to several destinations—for example, your Facebook Page, YouTube channel, and LinkedIn at once—while our servers fan that single upload out to multiple platforms. (StreamYard Help)
• Run everything from one studio, so comments from different platforms show up for your producer in the same place.

Alternatives like Streamlabs also offer cloud multistreaming; full multistream there generally depends on a paid Ultra subscription, though they provide a limited free Dual Output mode for one horizontal and one vertical output. (Streamlabs Multistream) For many agents, the time saved with a simpler browser-based studio outweighs the incremental plan differences between tools.

How do you choose between StreamYard, OBS, and Streamlabs for virtual open houses?

Here’s a practical way to think about it:

• Choose StreamYard if…
  You want to get tours running quickly, bring in remote guests without downloads, and multistream to a handful of mainstream platforms from one browser tab. Multistreaming is available only on paid plans, but you get clear destination caps and don’t have to manage encoders or plugins yourself. (StreamYard Help)

• Choose OBS if…
  You’re comfortable configuring bitrates, scenes, and encoders; you have a capable streaming PC; and you want maximum control over layouts, filters, and integrations. OBS can send to integrated services or a custom RTMP server, which is powerful but more hands‑on than a browser studio. (OBS Overview)

• Choose Streamlabs if…
  You prefer a desktop app based on OBS with built‑in overlays and monetization tools, and you’re okay meeting the hardware recommendations for their Desktop software. Some of their multistream capabilities and extras are tied to the Ultra subscription. (Streamlabs FAQ)

Most U.S. agents care more about reliability, ease of use, and getting tours live this weekend than about deep technical control. That’s why many people default to a browser-based setup like StreamYard and only layer in OBS or Streamlabs later, if they discover a very specific need.

What we recommend

• Start with StreamYard as your primary studio for live tours and virtual open houses; focus on repeatable checklists and a single branded layout.
• Use multistreaming on paid plans to cover two or three key platforms per listing instead of creating separate events.
• Add prerecorded clips, floor plans, and drone footage to make tours feel richer without overwhelming yourself with editing.
• Consider OBS or Streamlabs only if you hit clear limits in your current workflow and are ready to invest time in a more technical setup.