Great Video! I agree on the pricing structure by square footage and that is what I use. I used to price by photo but had a realtor question why he was getting charged the same for a condo that he was for a house - so I changed up my structure. As far as portfolio photos for a new photographer - what I did and what I suggest is gong to model homes. I went to 3 different companies models, told them I was in a photography course and a project was for us to photograph homes and asked to take photos of the models. None of them batted an eye - said sure and I was able to photograph like 6 or 8 staged furnished homes for my portfolio. Even if they were to say no, thank them and go to the next company. They typically aren't busy at all and you are able to take your photos without being in anyone's way.
I have been doing sq ft pricing over a year now and it relieved the stress of figuring out what to price. "How big is the house? price starts at this." Thank you for saying that majority of your clients request the base price you offer. I know talking about luxury homes is sexier, but I shoot so many 1500-2000 sp ft homes I thought I'm doing something wrong. It's what's been requested in my area, but seeing yt videos only discuss luxury million dollar homes was discouraging me. I appreciate the honesty and realism about what your business actually works on. Keeps me confident that I'm in the right direction and to be patient with the process.
Last week I started "launching" into the real estate photography space. I have been seeing a real need in my area. I only see ONE other real competition out here (and he IS good). I live in a very small town but with many nice homes within the lake communities. It seems like the hardest part may actually be convincing realtors WHY they actually NEED good photos. Before finding your video I'd decided to go with a square foot approach. But what I learned from you is to have tiers. Thank you. I look forward to kicking ass in "my" market.
That's awesome! Glad it was helpful. Where are you based? Do other homes that go up for sale in your area have professional photos or realtor phone photos? Thanks for watching!
This is confirmation for me wanting to get into this industry. I am searching about price bc I can't believe how much realtors make compared to how much good photography is for the listing. Anyways, I am already structuring my tiers based on Sq ft. !
Hey! Yeah for real. That's why branching out into their other marketing needs like lifestyle photos and video work can help your business out too. And great move, sq ft tiers have been the best route so far! Thanks for watching
Super helpful video Andrei. Currently launching my business as I recently obtained my 107 certificate and this was a great watch. Keep up the good work!
Sure, but most people getting into RE might be starting out, or good photographers in other niches, and not RE. Even if you attract the wrong clients in the beginning, gotta start somewhere! Once you get your foot in the door, you can climb up and do the type of work you want to do. Thanks for watching!
When you're *just* starting out in photography, it's really challenging these days to get your foot in the door. Offering free shoots can be one of the only 6 to get experience. In addition, it wouldn't be fair to charge a client for learning on the job if you've never shot anything in this industry before.
I did the same thing for wedding photography. How it all started for me was I sold a camera to a wedding studio owner and he let me on board and taught me everything about the craft. I shot 1 month of weddings and edited in the studio for him just to get my foot in the door. It actually sucked cuz wedding shoots and editing them are super long work days without pay… I got free meals though out of it 😂 but in the end it was all worth it cause I been shooting weddings for the past 6 yrs. Sometimes u have to just give and give to get anything in return. For realestate I’ve only done 2 paid photo gigs and 1 video gig for friends who are realtors.
Nice, I started in the wedding space too, just wasn’t for me. But yeah, sometimes it’s best to do whatever to get your foot in the door! Are you adding RE photo/video to your work? Transitioning?
@@AndreiRestrepono I just do photo for weddings. Not transitioning to video work. I don’t do it full time as I have a day job. I shoot weddings as a contract shooter for a wedding studio and I get own gigs by word of mouth mostly. I tried shooting weddings full time for 3 years but it’s not for me either. It ages you quick. I’m happy just shooting as a side hustle. Works better with my schedule. I wouldn’t mind getting more into realestate work though. It’s way shorter than shooting weddings 😂
24-36 photos made sense 20+ years ago when I shot film. You bought film in 24 or 36 frame rolls. I went by ft2 when I started my RE business, it makes more sense. You have to leave out something if you’re shooting 24 photos with drone, especially in my area where a lot of houses have pools, outdoor kitchens,etc. I typically deliver about 40-50 photos.
I have a base fee of $200 and charge $5 for each photos, doesn't matter the size of the property, any orders with 20 photos or more get drone photos included
Nice! Interesting model. What kind of homes do you typically do? How do they pick the photos, do you send them previews for them to select and then you fully edit those?
@@AndreiRestrepo wow a celebrity responded lmao, anyways I've just changed to this model but had a client go with it, in my shopping cart they select the amount of photos that they want and I'll shoot that, I use HDphotohub for deliveries and right now I'm focused on using flambient. Also I'm in southern cali
I am in no way a celebrity. Haha. I’ used to use HD, but it felt a bit of outdated to me, and some of the customization was a little weird so now I use Aryeo. Same thing though. Thanks for sharing!
Great stuff. Would definitely like to see how you handle deliverables. It’s really getting me to look at my plans (packages of photo quantities). I am wondering how a sq footage model would work for large ranch properties. The place could have a 1600 sq ft home but sits on 30 acres, has an area, stables, etc.
Thanks so much! Good point, I've only ran into that like once where it was a huge acreage property with a small sqft home. Could easily just a have a disclaimer like ranch properties exceeding x acres are subject to custom pricing or something. I should do that too haha thanks for watching!
As a 19 year old heading into the business, I was wondering how would you suggest starting up? What would be the best ways to promote myself, expand my contacts, and start with literally nothing? I've been studying a film course and I have intermediate levels of knowledge with Cameras, Lighting, Sound, Editing, Directing and Producing. I have a very basic idea on what I want to do with my life and I'd love to start off in Real Estate only because it's (In my opinion) one of the easiest veins of film to start off in.
Hey! That’s awesome you’re getting started young, I didn’t get into doing this till I was in my mid twenties. I’d start looking in my inner circle and see if I know any realtors, or any connections to one through family/friends! Guarantee once you start promoting you do that someone will give you a chance. If you’re pursing video primarily and in different fields, weddings is another good one too! As I was transitioning into RE, I was doing wedding work at the same time. Also check out this video where I dive more into that question about getting clients, thanks for watching! ruclips.net/video/4aWDlwQca7Y/видео.htmlsi=0Pn43b0xG8pugvXb
Hmm, interesting! Maybe. Or if it was a lot of units, I would just quote it with a custom price. Just depending on their needs and what all they are wanting. For a one off apartment order here and there that just need the same as a regular listing, sure I would because it would be a quick an easy job. Thanks for watching!
Ok real talk. I live in western north carolina. Each house I photograph is easily $1million on average, these agents are making money! I've shot houses up to $18m around here! My base price is $275 for 35 interior including covered porches with $6-$8 after that. Well most of these houses are a min 3500sqft, some up to 8,000sqft! I'm trying to figure out a pricing tier that makes sense. I charge $150 for Drone and Matterport is $.10c per sqft. Should I follow the Matterport pricing? I easily give agents over 60 photos for a 4000sqft house, 10 Drone photos. I definitely feel like I'm being taken advantage of but that's kind of my own fault! My work is spectacular but I am going to raise my prices next year and want to do a tier system. I just need some help on well everything lol
Hey! I think I saw your email and going to respond to you, but I'll also give you an answer on here too! Personally I think basing pricing on any amount of photos isn't best for that very reason. Like you mentioned, you easily deliver over 60 photos for larger homes, like we do too! I think the size of the home is the biggest factor because the bigger the home, the more photo you deliver, so more work on site and in editing, so it should be worth more! the $.10c is an interesting approach, makes sense! I think simplifying it into tiers that's still kind of based on that, might make more sense for realtors rather than having to do quick math each time.
Your information is always great. I need help understanding how to manage and charge for Matterport tours, considering each scan hogs a space that's paid for monthly.
Tough to say! I’d check out what your local competitors charge for that service to get a general idea. In my area, they charge in sqft tiers starting at $200-$300. So luckily one job would cover the monthly expense and leave some.
I’m from Portugal and I have 2 different clients that I’m charging 530€ for 3 hours work twice a month (1060€ per month), with 30 photos of 2 different properties (15 photos per property), drone photos included and 2 IG reels per month too. So: each client pays me 1060€ per month and they receive 30 photos and 2 reels of their properties. I do this price because it’s a monthly allowance clients. What do you think? Great vids , keep going bro 👊🏻
I think that's great! Especially since it gives you a consistent monthly income, especially if you bring on more clients to that model! I do the same, but not for their listing content, only for the social content like lifestyle photos & education reels. Thanks for watching!
How about pricing consideration based on the listing price? The majority of buyers (who are what you want) view properties based on price, not Sq Footage. The goal is to entice people to actually visit the property based on your work. I saw a listing in Kauai on the north shore and the house was under 1500 sq ft but had a $5M price, the listing had 8 photos and no videos. The media is for the potential buyer and their expectations
Hey! Maybe based on a certain location, like you mentioned for Hawaii, but I still wouldn’t do that here in TX. Typically here, bigger the property = more expensive. Only time that doesn’t work is if it’s a small home on a lot of acres and we charge that custom. But o could see why others might want to do that model!
Hi Andrei I'd like to see if you can expand on something. I am using the per photo pricing method with three packages - base, pro, premium. As you upgrade it includes more services. However, I leave room for add-ons at each level. I am thinking about going to the square footage model, but if I have a base price for each level, how do I handle the add-on services for each level. The add-ons will increase the AOV.
Hey William! Good question. I would think just having base prices for each sqft tier, and the same add on's available for each one. The value will go up, the bigger the property and then the add on's. For example tier one 0-1999 sqft $250. But then add on's available like drone, video, virtual tour, etc. And she for tier 2 listing, 2000-2999 sqft. I think crunching some numbers with how you currently have it set up would be best if switching the model would work! Thanks for watching !
I mean it’s tough to say because we don’t do simple walkthrough videos, they’re all shot like we do our luxury stuff. But I would just video work a little more than video if I was starting out. Thanks for watching!
hey thanks for the video. If anyone could reply to my message i appreciate it. This video did not help me much to be honest, since i just want to get stared with RE photography. You mentioned 3 tiers but not actual amounts. You did not mentioned about the video costs. As i understood you include photos, videos, drone shots for $250? i´ll keep watching videos and try to find some answers. Cheers
Hey! I didn’t mention actual costs because it’s based on too many factors. This video was meant to show you how to structure your pricing and give you some insight. Pricing your services is based on your average market, experience, everything you offer, and so on. When I first started my business, I looked to see what my competitors were charging to get an average, analyze what I offer and my experience, and go from there. And no, our pricing for photo + video starts at $515 and goes up based on the size of the property. Thanks for watching!
Andrei thanks for this video on pricing. I'm just starting out and using the number of images model for pricing just to get started. I will tweak this as I get going. I have my prices on my website. What are your thoughts on showing pricing on the website?
I think it’s totally fine! That way agents know exactly what the cost is so when they reach out they have probably already seen pricing. For us, I don’t show pricing in case we get approached by other work outside of real estate. Thanks for watching!
Oh I agree, I think so too! Some agent just don't, or I guess can't afford it. But that's why we have photo/video packages for smaller homes and they book those if it needs video. 👍🏼
Thanks! Actually no, since typically they're outside for the talking head scenes, I use my VND. Would probably do that if I had a cinema camera w/ internal ND's and could put a pro mist on. Thanks for watching!
how do you charge more when the shoot location is way far than your office? do you have a mile range or something? would really love to know on this topic :)
Definitely, took me awhile to implement that, much needed! It can be very simple, mine is just set take effect for appts exceeding 30 miles and to add a charge to shoots, and then goes up in increments. Typically I don’t shoot passed 50 miles or so, other photographers do. Thanks for watching!
Yes, 3-5 per week! Most of our listings currently are luxury ones. Like today I have two, a small photo package property and a luxury video shoot. Thanks for watching!
Great point! I have a note on our order form where properties exceeding x amount acres are subject to custom pricing based on the size. Because yeah doesn’t make sense to charge the same for a 2500 sqft regular residential home vs the same home sitting on 30 acres of land that you have to get footage of too. Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo ok that makes sense, thanks! I’ve been looking at real estate sites for houses around my area and was trying to find a correlation between the square meters and the number of photos taken so I could make my pricing accordingly. The problem is they all tend to have about 30 photos (15 million dollar place with 42 rooms has 35 photos compared to 1.8 million dollar place with 16 rooms having only 4 less photos). So I am unsure how to evaluate how long it will take me to shoot and edit based on property area. Should I just charge per photo for my first 10 or so jobs then switch later?
Yeah I wouldn’t worry about having it setup perfectly when getting started. Just per amount of photos or even just a flat rate. Once you start going, you’ll get a feel for what works best for you.
It’s a business of hell. In Florida it’s very tough. I can’t stand what I got myself into but I’m stuck. Why would you include drone when there’s so many areas that are close to the hospitals, airstrips or airports you can’t always deliver than what.
Just different in my area because I rarely run into that issue and I'd rather offer it to raise the minimum photo order value! What's the worst part about it for you? For me, I've found that diversifying is key! Half of my business is probably listing work, and the other half is doing social and marketing content for realtors, which I enjoy more anyway! Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo if you go in the section in your webside where you have the 3 service you offered one of their boxes is bigger than the other, sorry about telling you this it's just I don't know anyway how to tell you
Very informative video, Great job! Let me ask you your advice if you happen to know. I am a Realtor, my main profession and previous a pro photographer, I used to own my own wedding/portrait studio many years ago. I always do my own real estate photos and have done shoots for fellow agents, not for free basically similar to what you are doing. Now for the question, recently a past client who I did the photos for and I also sold there home, referred their friend who was selling their home with another Realtor, they asked their Realtor to hire me to do the photos. The Realtor refused, ok not a problem, however, I found out later that the agent feared that I would try to steal the listing which I would never do, the photos I have done for fellow agents, I don't even tell the seller I am a Realtor if I meet them, some recognize me but I never engage in that conversation. Do you or anyone else have any advice on making another Realtor at ease to allow me to do the photos, I am sure this will happen again, I just enjoy doing the shoots. Thanks in advance.
Hey! Ahh I see, so to make sure I understood correctly, the realtor doesn't want to hire you in fear of you becoming the listing agent and taking the listing from them since you're also a realtor and the photographer. I would maybe have a conversation with the realtor and let them know you're honestly just involved in the photo aspect and not to worry. It's definitely tricky, maybe having a photo prep list that your realtor gets as and on there it states you're also a realtor but won't poach their business?
@@AndreiRestrepo I like the prep idea that states I won't poach the listing. It got a bit sticky, the seller said to their agent they will not pay for photos unless I did them, good and very bad position to be in. I eventually told the seller I could not do the photos since it interfered with my schedule to keep the peace with their agent. I look forward to your future videos, these are great and you do great work.
$125-$150 is SUPER cheap considering what photogs are providing these real estate agents who are making 3% on a $500k house! Hear me out... imagine we priced ourselves like we're part of the real estate's marketing team (cuz we are) and we priced ourselves the same way they do for commissions. Example - charge 0.25% the listing price. So for that $500k home, at .25% you'd get $1,250. You could also make it 0.25% of the final sale price, so that way if the home gets bid up over asking (cuz you took amazing photos to bring a bidding war in) then you'll reap the rewards. Just be prepared to potentially lose some profits if a home sells for less and is reduced in price (especially in a tough economy). Just food for thought on a 4th/5th pricing model...
Interesting! Unfortunately most realtors just won't pay that, but I think the whole industry is unpaid for sure. I'm probably the most "expensive" in my area and just still too expensive for some realtors sometimes.
@@AndreiRestrepo Agreed, they won't pay that or accept that model. But it would be nice if re photogs all adopted that model, then what choice would they have? Although there's always somebody out there willing to try and undercut everyone just to try and get business (but doesn't mean it's quality). I just always found it ridiculous that an agent will make 3% on a home that is $150k but then also make 3% on a home that is $1.5mil to do basically the same amount of paperwork and filing process. I just can't accept giving up 3-6% of my home's equity if I'm the seller who happened to make a wise investment years prior and then allow someone to piggy back off of that who had no risk in the investment to begin with. Why not just pay realtors a set working rate like so many other industries? How about pay them by the number of showings they perform and then perhaps a bonus on the number of offers that are given? This way they are being measured on actively trying to sell the home to clients rather than relying on the photographs & videos to do all the work to draw people in and get traffic? Just my soapbox...
Never do anything for free bad advice and brings down the value of photography for all of us. Go out and shoot some buildings or your own home for your portfolio
Not really, if you stay doing that, then yeah sure. Don't see anything wrong with giving a potential client essentially a trial run of your business. Just puts no expectations on it and can get your foot in the door doing that new thing. Especially if you can't shoot your own home or someone else's but thanks for your input anyway and for watching!
You explained a lot but you didn't get into you price point right now only what you charge in the beginning... Wow waste of my time appreciate it.... Do you charge by square footage? How do you charge..... Isn't that what this video was about?????
I mentioned that I do charge in sqft tiers now. What my business charges now, is not really relevant to you. Pricing varies based on your market and where you live, experience, and so on. I can't say "you need to charge xx amount, period" I tried my best to give insights on how I came to our pricing that we have now.
How can a business survive charging $170 to $200? imagine all the work you have to do just to have $1,000! I don't get it, I'm a professional cameraman with 25+ years in the market and don't know why the prices go so low for professional work!, maybe is just in the real state market or maybe its just the fact that today everybody can own a camera!
It’s the real estate market, but that’s not my pricing now. That was just an example and around the pricing when I first started. Our average order is between $500-$1000+ luckily! Another plus is now having another photographer that works in my business to handle the smaller shoots that are on the $200-$500 range so we can do more volume. Thanks for watching!
You also hide your prices on your website... WHY DONT YOU GIVE THE INFORMATION???? DO YOU CHARGE BY SQUARE FOOTAGE? OR FLAT RATE? OR PHOTOS AND SQUARE FOOTAGE... WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET THIS INFORMATION???
I don't show our pricing on the website because that could push away clients. No matter what the pricing is, it could be do expensive or too cheap. What if it's a hotel or resort looking at our website? I don't want them to just see pricing for residential work. I've had higher conversion rates having clients reach out first, then explain everything through email along with our order form. Our current photo only package is $210 at the smallest sqft, all the way up to $750 for the biggest sqft tier. And double those prices for photo & video packages. Hope this helps
@@AndreiRestrepothank you! Lol I just watched this video and said I’ll just look at his website and couldn’t find anything. I sent you and email asking lol. Would you recommend someone who is just starting to not show prices? Or is that just because you do higher end houses?
Greetings from Panama! Amazing content and info. Thank you. Im surprised on how low prices are for this type of shoot. Is it because there is a lot of competition? Here we do flat rates depending on how big or luxury the houses are and prices go from $500 to $800 but $125-$150 seems very little for the quality you offer. How do you make it work? Only in gas money you spend at least $50 not to mention tax payment (here you have to pay 7% tax that you charge the client but never the less boosts the price) Im just wondering how do you do your expenses vs revenue so that it works out. Thank you for reading hope you can shine a light on this.
Greetings from TX! Yeah, unfortunately the “average” price for just real estate photography in my area is around $150ish. I typically average the rates you are charging since most of our clients do photo+video. I also spend a lot less on gas luckily. Thanks for watching!
Hi Andrei! Appreciate your videos. What drone would you recommend for a real estate photographer getting into drone photography? Also what gimble would you recommend for dslr? Im using 5d mark 4 at present. Thanks.
Thanks so much! I’d start out with the DJI air series or mini! The Mavic pro series is probably overkill, unless you get into professional real estate video too. I use the Air2s which is great, and the air 2 before that, still recommend it. Also, I used the DJI ronin s when I used that camera, pretty heavy setup. If you have the budget, the rs3 would be great then! Also the crane 4 but it’s pretty pricey. Thanks for watching!
I'm a realtor in Seattle. We have an extremely competitive market along with some of the most tech savvy buyers. They expect all the properties to be staged and the photos to be top shelf. Our premier photographers charge a flat fee to show up, flat fee for add ons and then a per image fee ($10 per edited image). I have my own camera and drone and they will just edit the photos for me. I still hire my pro photographer and videographer but I can bring the cost down by doing the extras myself. it's $250 just to get my pro to show up for a twilight shoot.
I wonder if dense urban areas may require a different pricing strategy. And while there may be homes a good portion of the market may be apartments and condos. Even the homes may be multi-family and space may be limited. Square footage may be much smaller and in fact, some larger spaces may even be single-room lofts whereas a smaller space may have a very complex layout. In that case, the number of rooms may be a price indicator. The detail work may be more important as well such as appliances, closets, terraces, etc. In-building amenities may become important such as health club, laundry room, in-building parking, doorman/concierge, elevator, and indoor or outdoor commons. This could be an added tier "building amenities" Then there are neighborhood amenities which may include proximity to shopping, parks, and public transportation. That could be yet another tier "community/neighborhood." Given the potential for smaller and sometimes simpler spaces, there may actually be a viable volume package but one package may be based on time rather than units (or perhaps a combination of time and units) since the agent will have to consider travel time in the cost. Consider that the agent may well want one to shoot several units in the same building and add a single amenities and community tier since they can be used for all the units. In these scenarios, square footage may not indicate the work involved.
That'a a great point! I love how everyone's market is different, like in your case I never really do. But your point makes total sense where a per room or time based system would work best. Thanks for watching!
As part of a RE FB group, I see many photographers using the # of photos pricing and claim it to be easier but I agree with you for all the reasons you stated--to me, sq ft simplifies it greatly. I did shoot a $1.2M luxury condo on the ocean that was around 2000 sq ft and another that was $900k that was around 1500 sq ft--but these are outliers and I look at it as a wash--plus they were very easy shoots and delivering quality photos for a great price is a nice investment in the agents we hope to have as longterm clients--especially considering they were in that luxury market. I also shoot neighborhood amenities for no additional charge--so far, I've only had one listing that cost me more than 20 extra minutes... but community pools can be problematic because I'm not shooting people--even if they give permission. Plus, those are usually apartments and I just view the extra photos as what would've been their yard shots. Curious how you handle revisits for a couple exteriors--we've all had places that we shoot but the landscaper is coming tomorrow! How much to you charge (assuming ave travel in your area) for a few exterior shots or do you view that as a cost of business and a service you provide to set you ahead? Currently, I don't charge for returning to get the newly landscaped yard nor for an early visit to shoot a community pool before it opens but I do charge to reshoot rooms that have been staged or remodeled. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I’ve only had 1 or 2 similar to you where it was a small super nice property. Yeah, I’m happy to fly my drone over and shoot amenities, but I personally hate shooting amenities with my camera because almost always people are using it. I do charge for having to come back, takes time, gas, additional editing, etc. but I hardly ever do it since my clients try to just have it ready for me avoiding that. I don’t have a set price for it, but just state “additional fee to come back….” and so on in our terms. Depends on how far, and what all will have to be reshot like you said, just landscape or rooms. I honestly haven’t had to do that in a good while. Thanks for watching!
Such a similar path I’ve taken with my business in almost every aspect…videos more than photos, but do packages, sq ft seems to work best, incl drone when possible, outsourcing, but still clean some up myself, etc. 🤙🏽
Yup, that's how it goes! That's awesome. Where are you based? Do you have team members now? I just added a PT admin and a video editor on a monthly retainer! Thanks for watching
@@AndreiRestrepo I’m based in Bend, Oregon, so it’s a little different “beast” with the real estate than a lot of areas. I can do a double-wide, a luxury 6,000 sq ft home, and then a ranch house on 100 acres on the same day (well, I couldn’t do all of that on my own since I mostly fly solo…ha, ha…but you get the idea). And we can’t charge too much, but I’m also getting to a point where I’m OK with the people that say they can get photos + videos including drone for $150 or whatever and say it’ll also be high quality, 4k, etc…by all means…have at it (and I’d love to see the kind of “quality” it really is). We’ve also got to pay for our gas, equipment, experience and expertise to make a few…and our mortgage. 😉
my wife and I are looking to get into real estate videography and photography. we are thinking of implementing a percentage-based pricing structure, and that amount being 1/10th of a percent of the list price. so, a 250k house pays 250 bucks, a million-dollar house pays 1000, you get the point. the reason we are thinking about going with this pricing structure is because its linear with commission, and as the house price increases there will be more to record and details to showcase. with that said, if we do videography at that rate, should we have a package deal where if they want photos on top of that, its 50% more? if they want just photos or just a video, its 1/10th of a percent. thinking drone footage should be 100 additional dollars flat rate. thoughts?
It's definitely an interesting model! Personally haven't seen anyone doing it in my area like that. What area are you based in? I think the only issue you may run into (especially with how inflated the home market is right now) that you might be too expensive coming out of the gate. While I believe this industry is undercharged and that pricing would be great, I feel like it could possibly turn away some work. That's why I think the sqft model makes sense for us + the agent understands it too. Bigger house = more expensive (typically). Plus, in my experience, sometimes I shoot homes that the agent and sellers haven't even decided on a list price yet so wonder how that would play out too. Once you start going, you may find that the work you do is pretty similar each time and maybe this model or packages makes sense. Also, I think drone could be at least $150 if not more depending on the work. Just my thoughts, thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo thanks for your reply. im in the midwest/upper south in kentucky. yeah i figured a fixed percentage at the right rate would be easier. as i said, the more expensive the home typically its either much larger or if its smaller it has more details that need to be showcased. so, either way bigger or nicer features equals more work for you. you say the market is inflated, just remember the realtor gets their same % commission regardless of the inflated value. if they get 3% as their half off of a 250k home, thats 7500. if they had to pay 250 bucks to get a video or quality photos…i would think any realtor considers that money well spent. 500k home commission 3% is 15k, 500 for video or photos… see where im going? pocket change. if you can offer upmost quality, you can change your 1/10th of a percent to a different amount…say 1/8th or 1/5th depending on what you can actually offer. most homes in my area are around 200-500k for reference
I've seen that a few times. Idk honestly, it also makes sense but half the time I go to shoots and happen to ask what the listing will be listed for out of curiosity, they don't know yet. Could be an interesting model for sure! Thanks for watching
What do you do with the photos then? Where do the files live? If they get stored on your computer, eventually it will fill up! Especially if you start doing a lot of shoots. Having an external drive like the one I showcased and am currently using, frees up my computer's drive and I can keep multiple copies on other external drives if I wanted to as well. Thanks for watching!
Well I usually take them out from my sd card into my computer i then edit them and send it to the client once it’s all set and done and the clients likes the photos I usually just delete it so the drive automatically saves the photos ? And once you take out the SD card it stays in the drive ?
I see, what happens if your client asks you a few mi the later to make a change to a photo or something like that and you’ve deleted them? Even though that rarely happens, I still keep our raw photos for 6 months and state it on our terms and conditions. I just do an extra step from what you’re doing, I back up the photos off the SD card to the external drive, then bring them into LR or whatever editing program.
I am shooting about 25-50 images for a 2000 square foot house for $150. I am in Cincinnati, OH and recently found out my competition is changing $175 an hour with a minimum of 2 hours and $25 per image with a total of only 15 images. So, I have now been doing this for 5 years and lost all but 2 clients. I am about ready to give up on this there is no money in it. My business expense is close to $700 a month to keep things running and I have operated in the red for the last year. Well TURDS! Great job on the video.
Thanks for sharing your story, sorry to hear! That’s wild, haven’t heard of anyone using a traditional photographer model like that in real estate. Why do you think clients are leaving? Are they happy with what you deliver? Honestly I’ve learned pricing doesn’t really matter once you’re in the door and if they’re really happy with what you deliver and love working with you
If I’m reading this correctly it seems your competitors charge more. I don’t think they are the reason you’re losing clients. It may have more to do with quality or reliability.
@expozure360 I'm not sure exactly. I have never had a complaint regarding image or video quality. I also offer clients same day shoots and asset delivery. Maybe I should just raise my rates and see who sticks lol
Love the videos. Joining the Discord as soon as my business bank account goes live. What happens when a client chooses a 2000sqft option on a 4000sqft house? Any thoughts? Thanks.
Glad you're finding them valuable! Sounds good. They can't choose that. Like first they have to input the sqft and then on the next page it populates the pricing for that size of property, so doesn't even give them the option. At least that's how it works in the system we use, Aryeo. Thanks for watching!
Great Video! I agree on the pricing structure by square footage and that is what I use. I used to price by photo but had a realtor question why he was getting charged the same for a condo that he was for a house - so I changed up my structure. As far as portfolio photos for a new photographer - what I did and what I suggest is gong to model homes. I went to 3 different companies models, told them I was in a photography course and a project was for us to photograph homes and asked to take photos of the models. None of them batted an eye - said sure and I was able to photograph like 6 or 8 staged furnished homes for my portfolio. Even if they were to say no, thank them and go to the next company. They typically aren't busy at all and you are able to take your photos without being in anyone's way.
That's a great point! Can't believe I forgot to mention model homes as well, thanks for adding that!
I have been doing sq ft pricing over a year now and it relieved the stress of figuring out what to price. "How big is the house? price starts at this." Thank you for saying that majority of your clients request the base price you offer. I know talking about luxury homes is sexier, but I shoot so many 1500-2000 sp ft homes I thought I'm doing something wrong. It's what's been requested in my area, but seeing yt videos only discuss luxury million dollar homes was discouraging me. I appreciate the honesty and realism about what your business actually works on. Keeps me confident that I'm in the right direction and to be patient with the process.
Hey Eric, thanks for sharing! You're definitely on the right path, glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching!
I make the bulk of my income off average homes. I also charge a travel fee if the property is over 30 miles outside of my city range. I’m enjoying it.
Last week I started "launching" into the real estate photography space. I have been seeing a real need in my area. I only see ONE other real competition out here (and he IS good). I live in a very small town but with many nice homes within the lake communities.
It seems like the hardest part may actually be convincing realtors WHY they actually NEED good photos.
Before finding your video I'd decided to go with a square foot approach. But what I learned from you is to have tiers.
Thank you. I look forward to kicking ass in "my" market.
That's awesome! Glad it was helpful. Where are you based? Do other homes that go up for sale in your area have professional photos or realtor phone photos? Thanks for watching!
This is confirmation for me wanting to get into this industry. I am searching about price bc I can't believe how much realtors make compared to how much good photography is for the listing. Anyways, I am already structuring my tiers based on Sq ft. !
Hey! Yeah for real. That's why branching out into their other marketing needs like lifestyle photos and video work can help your business out too. And great move, sq ft tiers have been the best route so far! Thanks for watching
Getting that drive and joining the discord , you’re a gem mate!!
Awesome !! It's been working out great. Thanks for watching!
I just booked my first real estate gig outside of a company today for $60/gig
❤
Congrats! First of many I hope! Thanks for watching
Super helpful video Andrei. Currently launching my business as I recently obtained my 107 certificate and this was a great watch. Keep up the good work!
Congrats, glad it was helpful! Best of luck on your business! Thanks for watching
I don't like the idea of starting too low like that. It undermines other photographers and you attract the wrong kind of clients.
Sure, but most people getting into RE might be starting out, or good photographers in other niches, and not RE. Even if you attract the wrong clients in the beginning, gotta start somewhere! Once you get your foot in the door, you can climb up and do the type of work you want to do. Thanks for watching!
When you're *just* starting out in photography, it's really challenging these days to get your foot in the door. Offering free shoots can be one of the only 6 to get experience. In addition, it wouldn't be fair to charge a client for learning on the job if you've never shot anything in this industry before.
Keyword... STARTING. Nobody said you have to stay with this model, the point is to get your foot in the door. Look where he's at vs where he started
Agreed
That’s kinda how you start a business dude….
A lot of knowledge right here, to the point! Very much appreciated
Glad to hear it, thanks for the feedback and for watching!
Thanks! And yes, I'd like to see how you do your photo/video packages 📦
Thanks for watching! Appreciate the tip!
I did the same thing for wedding photography. How it all started for me was I sold a camera to a wedding studio owner and he let me on board and taught me everything about the craft. I shot 1 month of weddings and edited in the studio for him just to get my foot in the door. It actually sucked cuz wedding shoots and editing them are super long work days without pay… I got free meals though out of it 😂 but in the end it was all worth it cause I been shooting weddings for the past 6 yrs. Sometimes u have to just give and give to get anything in return. For realestate I’ve only done 2 paid photo gigs and 1 video gig for friends who are realtors.
Nice, I started in the wedding space too, just wasn’t for me. But yeah, sometimes it’s best to do whatever to get your foot in the door! Are you adding RE photo/video to your work? Transitioning?
@@AndreiRestrepono I just do photo for weddings. Not transitioning to video work. I don’t do it full time as I have a day job. I shoot weddings as a contract shooter for a wedding studio and I get own gigs by word of mouth mostly. I tried shooting weddings full time for 3 years but it’s not for me either. It ages you quick. I’m happy just shooting as a side hustle. Works better with my schedule. I wouldn’t mind getting more into realestate work though. It’s way shorter than shooting weddings 😂
24-36 photos made sense 20+ years ago when I shot film. You bought film in 24 or 36 frame rolls. I went by ft2 when I started my RE business, it makes more sense. You have to leave out something if you’re shooting 24 photos with drone, especially in my area where a lot of houses have pools, outdoor kitchens,etc. I typically deliver about 40-50 photos.
Same! That’s around how many I deliver now too. Love how no pressure on a certain amount. Thanks for watching!
Great video Andrei! Super helpful info!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Thank you mate, great video, I have my first shooting here in Portugal where I moved last year and this was very helpful
Hey! Great to hear that, glad it was valuable! Best of luck on your shoot. Greetings from TX!
I have a base fee of $200 and charge $5 for each photos, doesn't matter the size of the property, any orders with 20 photos or more get drone photos included
Nice! Interesting model. What kind of homes do you typically do? How do they pick the photos, do you send them previews for them to select and then you fully edit those?
@@AndreiRestrepo wow a celebrity responded lmao, anyways I've just changed to this model but had a client go with it, in my shopping cart they select the amount of photos that they want and I'll shoot that, I use HDphotohub for deliveries and right now I'm focused on using flambient. Also I'm in southern cali
I am in no way a celebrity. Haha. I’ used to use HD, but it felt a bit of outdated to me, and some of the customization was a little weird so now I use Aryeo. Same thing though. Thanks for sharing!
Great stuff. Would definitely like to see how you handle deliverables.
It’s really getting me to look at my plans (packages of photo quantities). I am wondering how a sq footage model would work for large ranch properties. The place could have a 1600 sq ft home but sits on 30 acres, has an area, stables, etc.
Thanks so much! Good point, I've only ran into that like once where it was a huge acreage property with a small sqft home. Could easily just a have a disclaimer like ranch properties exceeding x acres are subject to custom pricing or something. I should do that too haha thanks for watching!
As a 19 year old heading into the business, I was wondering how would you suggest starting up? What would be the best ways to promote myself, expand my contacts, and start with literally nothing? I've been studying a film course and I have intermediate levels of knowledge with Cameras, Lighting, Sound, Editing, Directing and Producing. I have a very basic idea on what I want to do with my life and I'd love to start off in Real Estate only because it's (In my opinion) one of the easiest veins of film to start off in.
Hey! That’s awesome you’re getting started young, I didn’t get into doing this till I was in my mid twenties. I’d start looking in my inner circle and see if I know any realtors, or any connections to one through family/friends! Guarantee once you start promoting you do that someone will give you a chance. If you’re pursing video primarily and in different fields, weddings is another good one too! As I was transitioning into RE, I was doing wedding work at the same time. Also check out this video where I dive more into that question about getting clients, thanks for watching! ruclips.net/video/4aWDlwQca7Y/видео.htmlsi=0Pn43b0xG8pugvXb
I’m 9 months late checking this video out since it went live but if you haven’t I’d love break downs on all that stuff you said at the end!
Thanks, appreciate it!
thank you for this. it helped me a lot as a beginner.
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching
Really great video, thank you for breaking this down. I'd love to see more videoa like this, especially about combo packages.
Thanks for watching, appreciate the feedback!
Yeah, I laughed when I got to your price by picture count segment. Didn't take me long to move away from that model myself lol.
Hahah yeah, a lot of other companies in my area still do that. Guess it works out for them. Thanks for watching!
Charge based on size of property will be more sustainable
Seems like the best way to go for sure! Thanks for watching
Great advice thanks...
Welcome, glad it was valuable!
Hi, Andrei. Would you use the same method if you were capturing apartment buildings with or without different unit layouts?
Hmm, interesting! Maybe. Or if it was a lot of units, I would just quote it with a custom price. Just depending on their needs and what all they are wanting. For a one off apartment order here and there that just need the same as a regular listing, sure I would because it would be a quick an easy job. Thanks for watching!
I m really inspired
GLad to hear you enjoyed it!
Great video!! 🔥
Thanks so much!!
thanks for this i het subscribe, keep it up bro
Thanks so much!
Ok real talk. I live in western north carolina. Each house I photograph is easily $1million on average, these agents are making money! I've shot houses up to $18m around here! My base price is $275 for 35 interior including covered porches with $6-$8 after that. Well most of these houses are a min 3500sqft, some up to 8,000sqft! I'm trying to figure out a pricing tier that makes sense. I charge $150 for Drone and Matterport is $.10c per sqft. Should I follow the Matterport pricing? I easily give agents over 60 photos for a 4000sqft house, 10 Drone photos. I definitely feel like I'm being taken advantage of but that's kind of my own fault! My work is spectacular but I am going to raise my prices next year and want to do a tier system. I just need some help on well everything lol
Hey! I think I saw your email and going to respond to you, but I'll also give you an answer on here too! Personally I think basing pricing on any amount of photos isn't best for that very reason. Like you mentioned, you easily deliver over 60 photos for larger homes, like we do too! I think the size of the home is the biggest factor because the bigger the home, the more photo you deliver, so more work on site and in editing, so it should be worth more! the $.10c is an interesting approach, makes sense! I think simplifying it into tiers that's still kind of based on that, might make more sense for realtors rather than having to do quick math each time.
Thank you!!! 🙌🏽
No problem 😊 Thanks fro watching!
Your information is always great. I need help understanding how to manage and charge for Matterport tours, considering each scan hogs a space that's paid for monthly.
Tough to say! I’d check out what your local competitors charge for that service to get a general idea. In my area, they charge in sqft tiers starting at $200-$300. So luckily one job would cover the monthly expense and leave some.
I’m from Portugal and I have 2 different clients that I’m charging 530€ for 3 hours work twice a month (1060€ per month), with 30 photos of 2 different properties (15 photos per property), drone photos included and 2 IG reels per month too.
So: each client pays me 1060€ per month and they receive 30 photos and 2 reels of their properties. I do this price because it’s a monthly allowance clients. What do you think? Great vids , keep going bro 👊🏻
I think that's great! Especially since it gives you a consistent monthly income, especially if you bring on more clients to that model! I do the same, but not for their listing content, only for the social content like lifestyle photos & education reels. Thanks for watching!
How about pricing consideration based on the listing price? The majority of buyers (who are what you want) view properties based on price, not Sq Footage. The goal is to entice people to actually visit the property based on your work. I saw a listing in Kauai on the north shore and the house was under 1500 sq ft but had a $5M price, the listing had 8 photos and no videos. The media is for the potential buyer and their expectations
Hey! Maybe based on a certain location, like you mentioned for Hawaii, but I still wouldn’t do that here in TX. Typically here, bigger the property = more expensive. Only time that doesn’t work is if it’s a small home on a lot of acres and we charge that custom. But o could see why others might want to do that model!
Hi Andrei I'd like to see if you can expand on something. I am using the per photo pricing method with three packages - base, pro, premium. As you upgrade it includes more services. However, I leave room for add-ons at each level. I am thinking about going to the square footage model, but if I have a base price for each level, how do I handle the add-on services for each level. The add-ons will increase the AOV.
Hey William! Good question. I would think just having base prices for each sqft tier, and the same add on's available for each one. The value will go up, the bigger the property and then the add on's. For example tier one 0-1999 sqft $250. But then add on's available like drone, video, virtual tour, etc. And she for tier 2 listing, 2000-2999 sqft. I think crunching some numbers with how you currently have it set up would be best if switching the model would work! Thanks for watching !
@@AndreiRestrepo thanks for the response 😄
So what would you price a basic 2 min walk through video for a medium size family home ... Thanks! love the channel
I mean it’s tough to say because we don’t do simple walkthrough videos, they’re all shot like we do our luxury stuff. But I would just video work a little more than video if I was starting out. Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo just joined the monthly group ! appreciate all the content on this subject you have been putting out !
Thanks so much, glad to hear it! 🤙🏻
HAHA I just bought that SSD drive today at Costco!!!
Lol wow!! I'm sure you'll like it, it's been working great!
hey thanks for the video. If anyone could reply to my message i appreciate it. This video did not help me much to be honest, since i just want to get stared with RE photography. You mentioned 3 tiers but not actual amounts. You did not mentioned about the video costs. As i understood you include photos, videos, drone shots for $250? i´ll keep watching videos and try to find some answers. Cheers
Hey! I didn’t mention actual costs because it’s based on too many factors. This video was meant to show you how to structure your pricing and give you some insight. Pricing your services is based on your average market, experience, everything you offer, and so on. When I first started my business, I looked to see what my competitors were charging to get an average, analyze what I offer and my experience, and go from there. And no, our pricing for photo + video starts at $515 and goes up based on the size of the property. Thanks for watching!
Andrei thanks for this video on pricing. I'm just starting out and using the number of images model for pricing just to get started. I will tweak this as I get going. I have my prices on my website. What are your thoughts on showing pricing on the website?
I think it’s totally fine! That way agents know exactly what the cost is so when they reach out they have probably already seen pricing. For us, I don’t show pricing in case we get approached by other work outside of real estate. Thanks for watching!
14:20 Wait...why would a small home not want video? Every property benefits with having video. Can you explain?
Oh I agree, I think so too! Some agent just don't, or I guess can't afford it. But that's why we have photo/video packages for smaller homes and they book those if it needs video. 👍🏼
Great vid! Do you use a pro mist filter on your talking head shots?
Thanks! Actually no, since typically they're outside for the talking head scenes, I use my VND. Would probably do that if I had a cinema camera w/ internal ND's and could put a pro mist on. Thanks for watching!
you still undervalue yourself true value based pricing like 0.1% of the listing price would be your next step ;)
Haha yeah, I haven’t seen anyone in my area charging that way. Interesting though!
@@AndreiRestrepo we should all charge like this
@@AndreiRestrepo realtors also get the percentage
Literally thought of this last week that 0.1% would actually be the best standard but realtors won’t go for it.
@@gamerbryanbtw6501 its their way of thinking.. why not?
how do you charge more when the shoot location is way far than your office? do you have a mile range or something? would really love to know on this topic :)
Definitely, took me awhile to implement that, much needed! It can be very simple, mine is just set take effect for appts exceeding 30 miles and to add a charge to shoots, and then goes up in increments. Typically I don’t shoot passed 50 miles or so, other photographers do. Thanks for watching!
Great info! QUESTION: are you saying your business volume is currently around 5 properties per day or per week? Thx!!
Yes, 3-5 per week! Most of our listings currently are luxury ones. Like today I have two, a small photo package property and a luxury video shoot. Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo Thanks!
What systems do you use to deliver photos and have that price tier
Started with HDphotoHub, now use Aryeo. Has an online order form, calendar integration, pricing/invoicing, everything you need
how does this model work with farms and bush properties which are massive but small house with not many photos needed?
Great point! I have a note on our order form where properties exceeding x amount acres are subject to custom pricing based on the size. Because yeah doesn’t make sense to charge the same for a 2500 sqft regular residential home vs the same home sitting on 30 acres of land that you have to get footage of too. Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo ok that makes sense, thanks!
I’ve been looking at real estate sites for houses around my area and was trying to find a correlation between the square meters and the number of photos taken so I could make my pricing accordingly. The problem is they all tend to have about 30 photos (15 million dollar place with 42 rooms has 35 photos compared to 1.8 million dollar place with 16 rooms having only 4 less photos). So I am unsure how to evaluate how long it will take me to shoot and edit based on property area. Should I just charge per photo for my first 10 or so jobs then switch later?
Yeah I wouldn’t worry about having it setup perfectly when getting started. Just per amount of photos or even just a flat rate. Once you start going, you’ll get a feel for what works best for you.
It’s a business of hell. In Florida it’s very tough. I can’t stand what I got myself into but I’m stuck. Why would you include drone when there’s so many areas that are close to the hospitals, airstrips or airports you can’t always deliver than what.
Just different in my area because I rarely run into that issue and I'd rather offer it to raise the minimum photo order value! What's the worst part about it for you? For me, I've found that diversifying is key! Half of my business is probably listing work, and the other half is doing social and marketing content for realtors, which I enjoy more anyway! Thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo all of it. I was supposed to be shooting supermodels of the 1990s. Now women have fake arses and eyelashes and do selfies at 20 mm.
hey I just saw a problems in your website on the Photo/Video Content
What’s that? Thanks!
@@AndreiRestrepo if you go in the section in your webside where you have the 3 service you offered one of their boxes is bigger than the other, sorry about telling you this it's just I don't know anyway how to tell you
Very informative video, Great job! Let me ask you your advice if you happen to know. I am a Realtor, my main profession and previous a pro photographer, I used to own my own wedding/portrait studio many years ago. I always do my own real estate photos and have done shoots for fellow agents, not for free basically similar to what you are doing. Now for the question, recently a past client who I did the photos for and I also sold there home, referred their friend who was selling their home with another Realtor, they asked their Realtor to hire me to do the photos. The Realtor refused, ok not a problem, however, I found out later that the agent feared that I would try to steal the listing which I would never do, the photos I have done for fellow agents, I don't even tell the seller I am a Realtor if I meet them, some recognize me but I never engage in that conversation. Do you or anyone else have any advice on making another Realtor at ease to allow me to do the photos, I am sure this will happen again, I just enjoy doing the shoots. Thanks in advance.
Hey! Ahh I see, so to make sure I understood correctly, the realtor doesn't want to hire you in fear of you becoming the listing agent and taking the listing from them since you're also a realtor and the photographer. I would maybe have a conversation with the realtor and let them know you're honestly just involved in the photo aspect and not to worry. It's definitely tricky, maybe having a photo prep list that your realtor gets as and on there it states you're also a realtor but won't poach their business?
@@AndreiRestrepo I like the prep idea that states I won't poach the listing. It got a bit sticky, the seller said to their agent they will not pay for photos unless I did them, good and very bad position to be in. I eventually told the seller I could not do the photos since it interfered with my schedule to keep the peace with their agent. I look forward to your future videos, these are great and you do great work.
$125-$150 is SUPER cheap considering what photogs are providing these real estate agents who are making 3% on a $500k house!
Hear me out... imagine we priced ourselves like we're part of the real estate's marketing team (cuz we are) and we priced ourselves the same way they do for commissions. Example - charge 0.25% the listing price. So for that $500k home, at .25% you'd get $1,250.
You could also make it 0.25% of the final sale price, so that way if the home gets bid up over asking (cuz you took amazing photos to bring a bidding war in) then you'll reap the rewards. Just be prepared to potentially lose some profits if a home sells for less and is reduced in price (especially in a tough economy).
Just food for thought on a 4th/5th pricing model...
Interesting! Unfortunately most realtors just won't pay that, but I think the whole industry is unpaid for sure. I'm probably the most "expensive" in my area and just still too expensive for some realtors sometimes.
@@AndreiRestrepo Agreed, they won't pay that or accept that model. But it would be nice if re photogs all adopted that model, then what choice would they have?
Although there's always somebody out there willing to try and undercut everyone just to try and get business (but doesn't mean it's quality). I just always found it ridiculous that an agent will make 3% on a home that is $150k but then also make 3% on a home that is $1.5mil to do basically the same amount of paperwork and filing process.
I just can't accept giving up 3-6% of my home's equity if I'm the seller who happened to make a wise investment years prior and then allow someone to piggy back off of that who had no risk in the investment to begin with.
Why not just pay realtors a set working rate like so many other industries? How about pay them by the number of showings they perform and then perhaps a bonus on the number of offers that are given?
This way they are being measured on actively trying to sell the home to clients rather than relying on the photographs & videos to do all the work to draw people in and get traffic?
Just my soapbox...
Never do anything for free bad advice and brings down the value of photography for all of us. Go out and shoot some buildings or your own home for your portfolio
Not really, if you stay doing that, then yeah sure. Don't see anything wrong with giving a potential client essentially a trial run of your business. Just puts no expectations on it and can get your foot in the door doing that new thing. Especially if you can't shoot your own home or someone else's but thanks for your input anyway and for watching!
You explained a lot but you didn't get into you price point right now only what you charge in the beginning... Wow waste of my time appreciate it.... Do you charge by square footage? How do you charge..... Isn't that what this video was about?????
I mentioned that I do charge in sqft tiers now. What my business charges now, is not really relevant to you. Pricing varies based on your market and where you live, experience, and so on. I can't say "you need to charge xx amount, period" I tried my best to give insights on how I came to our pricing that we have now.
How can a business survive charging $170 to $200? imagine all the work you have to do just to have $1,000! I don't get it, I'm a professional cameraman with 25+ years in the market and don't know why the prices go so low for professional work!, maybe is just in the real state market or maybe its just the fact that today everybody can own a camera!
It’s the real estate market, but that’s not my pricing now. That was just an example and around the pricing when I first started. Our average order is between $500-$1000+ luckily! Another plus is now having another photographer that works in my business to handle the smaller shoots that are on the $200-$500 range so we can do more volume. Thanks for watching!
You also hide your prices on your website... WHY DONT YOU GIVE THE INFORMATION???? DO YOU CHARGE BY SQUARE FOOTAGE? OR FLAT RATE? OR PHOTOS AND SQUARE FOOTAGE... WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET THIS INFORMATION???
I don't show our pricing on the website because that could push away clients. No matter what the pricing is, it could be do expensive or too cheap. What if it's a hotel or resort looking at our website? I don't want them to just see pricing for residential work. I've had higher conversion rates having clients reach out first, then explain everything through email along with our order form. Our current photo only package is $210 at the smallest sqft, all the way up to $750 for the biggest sqft tier. And double those prices for photo & video packages. Hope this helps
@@AndreiRestrepothank you! Lol I just watched this video and said I’ll just look at his website and couldn’t find anything. I sent you and email asking lol. Would you recommend someone who is just starting to not show prices? Or is that just because you do higher end houses?
I use sq ft pricing with a minimum price.
Minimum price is smart! I do the same. Thanks for watching!
You watching over my shoulder? I seriously just sat down at my computer to revamp my pricing model and this video pops up!
Maybe I am 👀 haha awesome!
Is that 5 a week or 5 a month?
3-5 a week! Sometimes more sometimes less.
Greetings from Panama! Amazing content and info. Thank you. Im surprised on how low prices are for this type of shoot. Is it because there is a lot of competition? Here we do flat rates depending on how big or luxury the houses are and prices go from $500 to $800 but $125-$150 seems very little for the quality you offer. How do you make it work? Only in gas money you spend at least $50 not to mention tax payment (here you have to pay 7% tax that you charge the client but never the less boosts the price) Im just wondering how do you do your expenses vs revenue so that it works out. Thank you for reading hope you can shine a light on this.
Greetings from TX! Yeah, unfortunately the “average” price for just real estate photography in my area is around $150ish. I typically average the rates you are charging since most of our clients do photo+video. I also spend a lot less on gas luckily. Thanks for watching!
Stoked you're loving the blazing-fast Lexar Portable SSD with 2000MB/s read/write! :)
Definitely! Can’t beat that price point for the speed you get, thanks Lexar! 😊
Hi Andrei! Appreciate your videos. What drone would you recommend for a real estate photographer getting into drone photography? Also what gimble would you recommend for dslr? Im using 5d mark 4 at present. Thanks.
Thanks so much! I’d start out with the DJI air series or mini! The Mavic pro series is probably overkill, unless you get into professional real estate video too. I use the Air2s which is great, and the air 2 before that, still recommend it. Also, I used the DJI ronin s when I used that camera, pretty heavy setup. If you have the budget, the rs3 would be great then! Also the crane 4 but it’s pretty pricey. Thanks for watching!
I'm a realtor in Seattle. We have an extremely competitive market along with some of the most tech savvy buyers. They expect all the properties to be staged and the photos to be top shelf. Our premier photographers charge a flat fee to show up, flat fee for add ons and then a per image fee ($10 per edited image). I have my own camera and drone and they will just edit the photos for me. I still hire my pro photographer and videographer but I can bring the cost down by doing the extras myself. it's $250 just to get my pro to show up for a twilight shoot.
Wow, thanks for sharing! I don’t really see anyone in my area using a model like that for RE work. So what’s an average total cost come out to be?
I wonder if dense urban areas may require a different pricing strategy. And while there may be homes a good portion of the market may be apartments and condos. Even the homes may be multi-family and space may be limited.
Square footage may be much smaller and in fact, some larger spaces may even be single-room lofts whereas a smaller space may have a very complex layout.
In that case, the number of rooms may be a price indicator. The detail work may be more important as well such as appliances, closets, terraces, etc.
In-building amenities may become important such as health club, laundry room, in-building parking, doorman/concierge, elevator, and indoor or outdoor commons. This could be an added tier "building amenities"
Then there are neighborhood amenities which may include proximity to shopping, parks, and public transportation. That could be yet another tier "community/neighborhood."
Given the potential for smaller and sometimes simpler spaces, there may actually be a viable volume package but one package may be based on time rather than units (or perhaps a combination of time and units) since the agent will have to consider travel time in the cost. Consider that the agent may well want one to shoot several units in the same building and add a single amenities and community tier since they can be used for all the units. In these scenarios, square footage may not indicate the work involved.
That'a a great point! I love how everyone's market is different, like in your case I never really do. But your point makes total sense where a per room or time based system would work best. Thanks for watching!
As part of a RE FB group, I see many photographers using the # of photos pricing and claim it to be easier but I agree with you for all the reasons you stated--to me, sq ft simplifies it greatly.
I did shoot a $1.2M luxury condo on the ocean that was around 2000 sq ft and another that was $900k that was around 1500 sq ft--but these are outliers and I look at it as a wash--plus they were very easy shoots and delivering quality photos for a great price is a nice investment in the agents we hope to have as longterm clients--especially considering they were in that luxury market.
I also shoot neighborhood amenities for no additional charge--so far, I've only had one listing that cost me more than 20 extra minutes... but community pools can be problematic because I'm not shooting people--even if they give permission. Plus, those are usually apartments and I just view the extra photos as what would've been their yard shots.
Curious how you handle revisits for a couple exteriors--we've all had places that we shoot but the landscaper is coming tomorrow! How much to you charge (assuming ave travel in your area) for a few exterior shots or do you view that as a cost of business and a service you provide to set you ahead? Currently, I don't charge for returning to get the newly landscaped yard nor for an early visit to shoot a community pool before it opens but I do charge to reshoot rooms that have been staged or remodeled.
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I’ve only had 1 or 2 similar to you where it was a small super nice property. Yeah, I’m happy to fly my drone over and shoot amenities, but I personally hate shooting amenities with my camera because almost always people are using it. I do charge for having to come back, takes time, gas, additional editing, etc. but I hardly ever do it since my clients try to just have it ready for me avoiding that. I don’t have a set price for it, but just state “additional fee to come back….” and so on in our terms. Depends on how far, and what all will have to be reshot like you said, just landscape or rooms. I honestly haven’t had to do that in a good while. Thanks for watching!
Such a similar path I’ve taken with my business in almost every aspect…videos more than photos, but do packages, sq ft seems to work best, incl drone when possible, outsourcing, but still clean some up myself, etc. 🤙🏽
Yup, that's how it goes! That's awesome. Where are you based? Do you have team members now? I just added a PT admin and a video editor on a monthly retainer! Thanks for watching
@@AndreiRestrepo I’m based in Bend, Oregon, so it’s a little different “beast” with the real estate than a lot of areas. I can do a double-wide, a luxury 6,000 sq ft home, and then a ranch house on 100 acres on the same day (well, I couldn’t do all of that on my own since I mostly fly solo…ha, ha…but you get the idea). And we can’t charge too much, but I’m also getting to a point where I’m OK with the people that say they can get photos + videos including drone for $150 or whatever and say it’ll also be high quality, 4k, etc…by all means…have at it (and I’d love to see the kind of “quality” it really is). We’ve also got to pay for our gas, equipment, experience and expertise to make a few…and our mortgage. 😉
Thanks for another video! I can't agree more, your third option you explained has been the best for me as well.
Thanks for taking the time to watch, appreciate it! Glad it was valuable.
Awesome video! Thank you. Keep up the great work 😃
Thanks so much, appreciate it!
my wife and I are looking to get into real estate videography and photography. we are thinking of implementing a percentage-based pricing structure, and that amount being 1/10th of a percent of the list price. so, a 250k house pays 250 bucks, a million-dollar house pays 1000, you get the point.
the reason we are thinking about going with this pricing structure is because its linear with commission, and as the house price increases there will be more to record and details to showcase.
with that said, if we do videography at that rate, should we have a package deal where if they want photos on top of that, its 50% more? if they want just photos or just a video, its 1/10th of a percent. thinking drone footage should be 100 additional dollars flat rate.
thoughts?
It's definitely an interesting model! Personally haven't seen anyone doing it in my area like that. What area are you based in? I think the only issue you may run into (especially with how inflated the home market is right now) that you might be too expensive coming out of the gate. While I believe this industry is undercharged and that pricing would be great, I feel like it could possibly turn away some work. That's why I think the sqft model makes sense for us + the agent understands it too. Bigger house = more expensive (typically). Plus, in my experience, sometimes I shoot homes that the agent and sellers haven't even decided on a list price yet so wonder how that would play out too. Once you start going, you may find that the work you do is pretty similar each time and maybe this model or packages makes sense. Also, I think drone could be at least $150 if not more depending on the work. Just my thoughts, thanks for watching!
@@AndreiRestrepo thanks for your reply. im in the midwest/upper south in kentucky.
yeah i figured a fixed percentage at the right rate would be easier. as i said, the more expensive the home typically its either much larger or if its smaller it has more details that need to be showcased. so, either way bigger or nicer features equals more work for you. you say the market is inflated, just remember the realtor gets their same % commission regardless of the inflated value. if they get 3% as their half off of a 250k home, thats 7500. if they had to pay 250 bucks to get a video or quality photos…i would think any realtor considers that money well spent.
500k home commission 3% is 15k, 500 for video or photos… see where im going? pocket change. if you can offer upmost quality, you can change your 1/10th of a percent to a different amount…say 1/8th or 1/5th depending on what you can actually offer.
most homes in my area are around 200-500k for reference
Yes, totally makes sense that way! I hit similar numbers with my model so they’re honestly pretty similar. Wish you the best when you get started!
I have some photographers that charge by property value and swear by it. Do you see a down side?
I've seen that a few times. Idk honestly, it also makes sense but half the time I go to shoots and happen to ask what the listing will be listed for out of curiosity, they don't know yet. Could be an interesting model for sure! Thanks for watching
Thanks for getting right back to me.@@AndreiRestrepo
What’s the point of a SD card drive when I usually take photos I just take out my SD card and insert it directly into my computer
What do you do with the photos then? Where do the files live? If they get stored on your computer, eventually it will fill up! Especially if you start doing a lot of shoots. Having an external drive like the one I showcased and am currently using, frees up my computer's drive and I can keep multiple copies on other external drives if I wanted to as well. Thanks for watching!
Well I usually take them out from my sd card into my computer i then edit them and send it to the client once it’s all set and done and the clients likes the photos I usually just delete it so the drive automatically saves the photos ? And once you take out the SD card it stays in the drive ?
I see, what happens if your client asks you a few mi the later to make a change to a photo or something like that and you’ve deleted them? Even though that rarely happens, I still keep our raw photos for 6 months and state it on our terms and conditions.
I just do an extra step from what you’re doing, I back up the photos off the SD card to the external drive, then bring them into LR or whatever editing program.
I am shooting about 25-50 images for a 2000 square foot house for $150. I am in Cincinnati, OH and recently found out my competition is changing $175 an hour with a minimum of 2 hours and $25 per image with a total of only 15 images. So, I have now been doing this for 5 years and lost all but 2 clients. I am about ready to give up on this there is no money in it. My business expense is close to $700 a month to keep things running and I have operated in the red for the last year. Well TURDS! Great job on the video.
Thanks for sharing your story, sorry to hear! That’s wild, haven’t heard of anyone using a traditional photographer model like that in real estate. Why do you think clients are leaving? Are they happy with what you deliver? Honestly I’ve learned pricing doesn’t really matter once you’re in the door and if they’re really happy with what you deliver and love working with you
If I’m reading this correctly it seems your competitors charge more. I don’t think they are the reason you’re losing clients. It may have more to do with quality or reliability.
@expozure360 I'm not sure exactly. I have never had a complaint regarding image or video quality. I also offer clients same day shoots and asset delivery. Maybe I should just raise my rates and see who sticks lol
Yes video package pricing 🤩
I'll add it to my list! Thanks for watching!
Love the videos. Joining the Discord as soon as my business bank account goes live. What happens when a client chooses a 2000sqft option on a 4000sqft house? Any thoughts? Thanks.
Glad you're finding them valuable! Sounds good. They can't choose that. Like first they have to input the sqft and then on the next page it populates the pricing for that size of property, so doesn't even give them the option. At least that's how it works in the system we use, Aryeo. Thanks for watching!