[micromacro]

Hi guys. I just got the gig offer from the real estate guy who creates his own business website. For now he needs me to shoot a few pictures of the community entrances. This gig may be something bigger, and I would not mind to start getting into this job. But for now I have no clue how much to charge for this kind of work.
I need to give him price the sooner the better. Please help.

[HullPentaxian]

Cost it. How much will it cost you to do the job? Is he happy to pay you by the hour? Some people are doing these jobs quite cheaply from what I've heard.

[micromacro]

He is waiting to get all information from me which makes sense. I've never charged for my pictures yet.
I don't know how long it will take to shoot one location, but it usually takes more than 5 min to find the right angle. I can't deliver just quick snaps using good camera. Lets say I will spend 2 hours for 10 locations. Deliver 20 images. Plus one hour of editing. I even don't know yet what the best way to deliver the final product. I can set the store on my website, it will take time to figure out how to do that.

[SpecialK]

Don't know if it helps, but...

In the mid-80's I shot apartment complexes for "Let's Rent" magazine. I was provided Fuji slide film and was paid $20 (initially $16) per location. They only needed 1 or 2 good exterior shots of "blocky architecture" per location. It was a 5 minute thing once there, though I might have had to drive 30 minutes.

The realtor who helped me buy my condo in 2016 says she would not pay more than $150 for a complete set of shots, and has some college student she uses for $90 or so - too cheap!

[micromacro]

The realtor who helped me buy my condo in 2016 says she would not pay more than $150 for a complete set of shots, and has some college student she uses for $90 or so - too cheap!

Thank you, Speci
alK.
I'm digging all around to find out these days average pricing models, and so far saw only one quite reasonable to start with. The guy charges $145 for 3.5 hours delivering 20-25 edited images. This is something I can work around when I will know the exact sites locations.
There are more questions popped up. What the best size and resolution will be for the real estate website?

[Bruce Clark]

I do a little work for a local builder showcasing new homes for owners. He pays me $400 Australian for 1/2 day shoot, up to 50-60 hi res jpegs on CD and power point presentation of same jpegs (2 copies). I supply CD's, CD cases and printed labels etc.

I try to get photos of each room, all fittings (doors, taps, handles, appliances, etc) , inside and outside views. A 1/2 day shoot plus a few hours compiling the package.

[Alex645]

Hi guys. I just got the gig offer from the real estate guy who creates his own business website. For now he needs me to shoot a few pictures of the community entrances. This gig may be something bigger, and I would not mind to start getting into this job. But for now I have no clue how much to charge for this kind of work.

He's not selling cars. He's selling something much, much more valuable and stands to profit hugely if your photos are well done, or lose prospective buyers if they aren't. Do not undersell yourself or else when he starts to succeed, he will then hire a more expensive photographer thinking that he's getting a better product.

In business (and the real estate agent is a pro at this) it's best if he gives you the initial offer. From there, you can decide if it's fair enough for you. However, he's counting on you coming in with a low offer, and then will either accept it, or ask you to do more or to take less. I'm not saying to pad your quote, but be ready to negotiate either in terms of price, service, quantity, speed, etc.

Asking other real estate photographers is a good start, although you'll need to be on the low end of their prices as a rookie. Many real estate agents take their own photos. How valuable is their time and how much more can they earn if you did that for them?

Keep in mind there will be all sorts of delays including traffic, some obstruction or construction on the property, poor weather, etc. I can't imagine you being able to shoot 10 properties in 2 hours unless they are all in the same condo complex. The last time I did this sort of work, I spent two days shooting one property, not just for the lender to see the state of the property, but also every angle, inside and out, plus the details of both nice embellishments and trouble spots.

Is this going to be a side job for you or a profession? You either need to figure out what you think your value is per hour (which must include travel and editing time). For a talented high school student, $20/hour may be terrific; college age, then maybe $30/hour; 20-30 something, at least $50/hour. Or if you see it as a one week first project, offer a flat fee. It really depends if we're talking about a drive-by one-shot deal or more of a thorough coverage of 6-18 polished images.

[LensBeginner]

Where I live prices are around 80-100€ for a 20 pictures set (edited).
Shooting a house takes 1-2 hrs, depending on size, shape, if there are outdoors shot to make (e.g. garden) etc.
Don't know if you're already familiar with the genre... a few random tips if you aren't - not needed if you already are! ;-)

1. Always turn on all possible light sources. A well-lit house is a nice house.

2. An UWA is indispensible, IMHO. It is also easy to use, and real hard to use well. Always check what's near the border of your picture, and bear in mind that just angling a line a bit, so that it's not perpendicular to the sensor, can remedy the "stretching" induced by the rectilinear perspective. Finding the right P.o.V. makes the difference between "that absurdly long and thin bed" and a natural-looking bedroom.

3. A tripod is indispensible. If you're using an UWA, make damn sure that the camera is absolutely level.

4.You'll always have too much DR. I generally make a 5-shot bracket and fuse to HDR in post - while maintaining the whole thing realistic. There are techniques (google "flambient") which involve fusing ambient exposures and flash exposures in order to remedy the White in-Balances ( :-P ) that result from the mix of natural/artificial light.

[btnapa]

He's not selling cars.

All excellent points. I agree 100%.

My take on the whole real estate shoot thing is the segment of the market they are covering. An agent selling a $100-300K home does not have the same budget or possibly the requirements in term of image representation or quality as does an agent selling a $1-10 Million plus home. Charging a $1,000 for the first home seems like a lot but a mere pittance for the more expensive home.

[micromacro]

Keep in mind there will be all sorts of delays including traffic, some obstruction or construction on the property, poor weather, etc. I can't imagine you being able to shoot 10 properties in 2 hours unless they are all in the same condo complex. The last time I did this sort of work, I spent two days shooting one property, not just for the lender to see the state of the property, but also every angle, inside and out, plus the details of both nice embellishments and trouble spots.

I should have explained better yesterday, but it was late night to stay sharp ))).

He wants me to start with images of community entrances, not the houses.

It's not really big travel distance, but of course it will take more than 1 hour for sure. Houses may come later. He is moving forward with his own website. I'm not moving anywhere to make money with my photography, but I don't mind to do it. We have friendly relationship being good neighbors, and he likes my work.
It's kind of mutual to help each other, I guess. For me it may be easy way to enter the field instantly. For him it will save start up cost, and I also can give him some design tips, I don't mind.

The price of houses in our community is 350K- 460K average. If I have the opportunity to shoot the whole house ones, I guess staying within $40/hour will be fair enough for both of us.

[R. Wethereyet]

Hi guys. I just got the gig offer from the real estate guy who creates his own business website. For now he needs me to shoot a few pictures of the community entrances. This gig may be something bigger, and I would not mind to start getting into this job. But for now I have no clue how much to charge for this kind of work.
I need to give him price the sooner the better. Please help.

- - -
So this Realtor is looking for Community images at the moment and not Interior/Exterior images of his listings, correct? This is something that I am doing at the moment as well (first time for me too). Similar to you, the client wanted community shots for his website. There are a total of 10 communities in the project all relative close to the city where I live. As this was my first work for this client, I gave him a bit of a break (there will be comments on the wisdom of that decision, I am sure). I am providing 5 or 6 high res images for each community for $100/community. I use Dropbox.com to upload to a shared folder where they can download and use right away. So far I have completed 2 out of the 10 locations successfully. Make sure that you prepare a non-exclusive licensing agreement so that he can use the images on his website and you have the ability to resell the images at some point as well.

As was mentioned earlier, it is wise to determine your costs (mileage, fuel, time, special equipment, parking fees, mark-up, post processing, etc) and make sure you cover your costs plus profit. This project is a bit different from doing the residential listings that are more of a production type of photography - get in, shoot, get out, process and deliver as fast as you can for as cheaply as you can... unless you are shooting high end properties.


Hopefully, this helps... Good Luck!

[Alex645]

He wants me to start with images of community entrances, not the houses.
For me it may be easy way to enter the field instantly. For him it will save start up cost, and I also can give him some design tips, I don't mind.
The price of houses in our community is 350K- 460K average. If I have the opportunity to shoot the whole house ones, I guess staying within $40/hour will be fair enough for both of us.

Just keep in mind that although you may already have your camera, lenses, computer hardware/software, it wasn't free and your car, gas, insurance, and the risks along the way are very real. If you both find $40/hour fair, then who is to say otherwise?

I am no longer a pro photographer, but those of us in the arts often undervalue our services and skills because of both perception (hey I got a cell phone and can do that too) and because we intrinsically love the process. I'm not saying those working as attorneys, medical profession, real estate, etc, don't enjoy their jobs, but I don't think my auto mechanic would agree with working on my car for $40/hour if he knew I could flip it for half a million and score a 15% commission off that.

Either way, trust your instincts. If you are gaining experience, exposure, covering your expenses, and enjoying the process, then "it's all good".

[SSGGeezer]

Just keep in mind that although you may already have your camera, lenses, computer hardware/software, it wasn't free and your car, gas, insurance, and the risks along the way are very real. If you both find $40/hour fair, then who is to say otherwise?

I am no longer a pro photographer, but those of us in the arts often undervalue our services and skills because of both perception (hey I got a cell phone and can do that too) and because we intrinsically love the process. I'm not saying those working as attorneys, medical profession, real estate, etc, don't enjoy their jobs, but I don't think my auto mechanic would agree with working on my car for $40/hour if he knew I could flip it for half a million and score a 15% commission off that.

Either way, trust your instincts. If you are gaining experience, exposure, covering your expenses, and enjoying the process, then "it's all good".

Most Real Estate agents are looking at splitting 6% max between buyer's and Selling agents here. Where are you getting 15% Alex? That sure sounds like a reason for inflated housing prices!

[Alex645]

Most Real Estate agents are looking at splitting 6% max between buyer's and Selling agents here. Where are you getting 15% Alex? That sure sounds like a reason for inflated housing prices!

Yes 3-6% is the industry norm, but on the islands where demand is much higher than supply (Manhattan or Oahu), Iʻve seen fees more than double. And yes, housing prices are inflated especially when there are no protections from outsiders flipping real estate and outsiders ʻinvestingʻ with only the intent to resell for large profits.

Even at 6% for property at $350k, you sell one property per month and youʻre making $252k per year. It just seems disproportionate to the value of the photos and what they photographer is compensated. Hereʻs a better idea for the OP: Do it for no cash. Just ask for a quarter to half of one percent commission on all sales. The math is looking good now.

[micromacro]

Wow, thank you guys! We did not talk yet about all details, but now I have an idea what to tell.