Shooting real estate for Realtors for property listings

11 years 5 months ago #256459 by Big Kevin
Is this worth even looking into? I'm struggling to find enough work to pay the bills and was thinking perhaps I could speak to some Realtors to take quality photos of their property listings. I've seen some very nice homes up for sale around me and their photos are horrible. I know I can provide better.

Speaking of which, how would you price this out to Realtors: by the house?

I really appreciate the honest input on this thread topic. I'm not sure, and really would appreciate your feedback.


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11 years 5 months ago #256528 by Roy Wilson
Well the real estate market isn't exactly doing so hot either. I would charge by the hour or have the flat rate high enough per house that it makes it worth your time.

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11 years 5 months ago #256540 by Darrell
I would suggest to charge by the job, so the agent knows what the cost will be. I gave some thought to this myself and came up with an idea: Offer to do this service that you get paid when the house sells and no charge if the house does not sell. ( Most homes sell, mind you I am in Canada we didn't have the crash near as bad as the USA had )
Now this means it will be a while before you get your first pay but after that it should fairly regular.

( I assume this is for regular real estate and not million dollar homes, If this is for the high end market I would charge up front for sure ) :beerbang:

You will not be judged as a photographer by the pictures you take, but by the pictures you show.
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11 years 5 months ago #256650 by Joves
Well you can offer, but I suggest that you have a portfolio of home shots to show them how much better your work is. Then they have a comparison to their current ones. They will most likely if they bite on it at all, only have a few high end houses to shoot. I would do it per job myself, and have a contract that defines what is included for the price. They will also want some interior shots of some of their listings, so I hope you have an ultra wide lens to those.


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11 years 5 months ago #256834 by Solstar
Consider a per-room pricing structure. It takes a lot more time to shoot a 5br house than a 2 br condo. I also recommend having the home-owner present because you will often have to move/remove items for the pictures to be better (clutter is the enemy!) and you don't want to be responsible for breaking something.


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11 years 5 months ago #256866 by John Landolfi
Good posts. I have done it myself, before having decent equipment. If you need to shoot interiors, I would suggest a couple of remote triggers to be able to set up some flash to light mofre evenly and show to better advantage.


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11 years 5 months ago #256936 by FedererPhoto
Lots of people have thought of this idea before. "I'll pop in in the morning, do some quick stress-free shooting in a clean home, and deliver the images before noon, and count my money all afternoon"

The trouble is, most realtors are not willing to pay a price that makes it profitable for us Sure, you might be able to pick up 50 or 100 bucks... but if it takes 10k in equipment, 30 miles of driving, and 5 hours of your time... have you really made any money?

To do it well takes a long(er) time, a reasonable amount of time in post, and some decent gear (it's not just "plop on a wide angle and go -- you need lots of remote triggers, strobes, gels, modifiers, etc)...and they aren't willing to pay what you'd need to make that profitable.

To do it at a level where what they are willing to pay is profitable... and you have to work so fast and do it so quickly that the quality drops to the point that it's not really worth it for the realtor.

That is not to say you can't make good connections with real estate agents or find a niche that works... but overall, this is a market that seems ripe for the picking but never really bears fruit.,


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11 years 5 months ago #257040 by Adam Nagle

FedererPhoto wrote: Lots of people have thought of this idea before. "I'll pop in in the morning, do some quick stress-free shooting in a clean home, and deliver the images before noon, and count my money all afternoon"

The trouble is, most realtors are not willing to pay a price that makes it profitable for us Sure, you might be able to pick up 50 or 100 bucks... but if it takes 10k in equipment, 30 miles of driving, and 5 hours of your time... have you really made any money?

To do it well takes a long(er) time, a reasonable amount of time in post, and some decent gear (it's not just "plop on a wide angle and go -- you need lots of remote triggers, strobes, gels, modifiers, etc)...and they aren't willing to pay what you'd need to make that profitable.

To do it at a level where what they are willing to pay is profitable... and you have to work so fast and do it so quickly that the quality drops to the point that it's not really worth it for the realtor.

That is not to say you can't make good connections with real estate agents or find a niche that works... but overall, this is a market that seems ripe for the picking but never really bears fruit.,


:goodpost:


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11 years 5 months ago #257424 by Crazyguy

Solstar wrote: Consider a per-room pricing structure. It takes a lot more time to shoot a 5br house than a 2 br condo. I also recommend having the home-owner present because you will often have to move/remove items for the pictures to be better (clutter is the enemy!) and you don't want to be responsible for breaking something.


You bring up some good points. 360 shots might give opportunity for some video time too.

An Irishman is not drunk as long as he can hold on to one blade of grass to keep from falling off the world.
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11 years 5 months ago #257486 by MYoung
Is there much market for real estate photographers?


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