Real Estate photography business/website

discoduck wrote in post #13667365
https://photography-on-the.net …ead.php?t=90297​3&page=279

You could learn a lot here.

That is a great thread! Subscribed!

Here is a website from a person who does real estate photography in SoCal, east of LA in the valley.
You will notice her charges.
http://bayhomestudios.​com/serv.htm

network is slow here.. but I couldn't get to your page.. too slow

Can't load your page. Regardless of anything (talking about your web presence) you need to get this straightened out right away.

I understand you want to be able to touch every aspect of your business, however, that just makes no sense. If you're not a web programmer, pay someone who is to do it correctly. You can always learn later. You wouldn't try to fix your air conditioner would you?

This is no different than photogs getting angry with other people for taking their own photos when they don't know what they're doing.

Other than that, RE photography is a tough gig. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Most realtors make little to no money. This means they have little to no money (and most of the rest tend to not want to spend it) to spend on extras like RE photography. You have to find the realtors who DO have money to spend--and who will spend it.
  
• It's not as easy as going in and showing them you take better photos. Many realtors feel it's a non-issue.
  
• Most-likely, you'll need to find a way to supplement this type of business. I don't know of many RE photogs who came out of the gate shooting enough (regularly) to pay the bills.
  
• Don't expect to charge a ton of money for the photos. It's very difficult to get hundreds of dollars for photos. You may be able to with the premium listings but (even then) it tends to be difficult. You'll need to make it up with volume.
  

GadgetRick wrote in post #13678601
Other than that, RE photography is a tough gig. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Most realtors make little to no money. This means they have little to no money (and most of the rest tend to not want to spend it) to spend on extras like RE photography. You have to find the realtors who DO have money to spend--and who will spend it.
  
• It's not as easy as going in and showing them you take better photos. Many realtors feel it's a non-issue.
  
• Most-likely, you'll need to find a way to supplement this type of business. I don't know of many RE photogs who came out of the gate shooting enough (regularly) to pay the bills.
  
• Don't expect to charge a ton of money for the photos. It's very difficult to get hundreds of dollars for photos. You may be able to with the premium listings but (even then) it tends to be difficult. You'll need to make it up with volume.

Now, I don't mean to sound all doom and gloom. Obviously, there are some RE photogs making money. However, the vast majority are doing other things to earn a living on top of the RE photography (myself included). Just go into this with your eyes open and you'll be much better off.

Just out of curiosity, realtors generally sign a contract with the seller for a period of time, and if at the end of that time the home hasn't sold, contract expires and said realtor is out their advertising (and photography) costs. Have you (or anyone listening) ever had a contingency on the photography work? Example, charge $100 for the initial work, and get paid the remaining $400 when the house sells. Sharing the risk, as it were.

Also, how about selling your work directly to the home owner? That way the home owner owns the right to use the photos with a different realtor if after the contract expires, they decide to try a different realtor??

Just wondering . . .

golfecho wrote in post #13679213
Just out of curiosity, realtors generally sign a contract with the seller for a period of time, and if at the end of that time the home hasn't sold, contract expires and said realtor is out their advertising (and photography) costs. Have you (or anyone listening) ever had a contingency on the photography work? Example, charge $100 for the initial work, and get paid the remaining $400 when the house sells. Sharing the risk, as it were.

Also, how about selling your work directly to the home owner? That way the home owner owns the right to use the photos with a different realtor if after the contract expires, they decide to try a different realtor??

Just wondering . . .

Both great ideas...many of us have thought about them. Unfortunately, in practice, they don't work out so well.

Regarding taking a little then more at closing...

First, you'll be hard-presses to get $500 for RE photos (unless it's a high-end listing). Obviously, there are exceptions but I've not seen a lot of RE photographers getting this on anything but high-end listings and, even then, it's tough.

More importantly, its a PITA to track this sort of thing. It would be on YOU to keep track of all of the properties you've shot to see if they sold or not. Then you'd have to go collect the money. A nightmare!

You can go directly to the sellers but think about it. They're already paying a hefty commission to the realtor (up to 6% for the most part). So the feeling is they shouldn't have to pay for the extras. You may find some people willing to do this but I think you'd have a hard time with it.

Dealing with the realty companies is really the best way.

Now, you can do it and make some money. Just know it's not like other forms of photography where you can charge what it's really worth if you know what I mean. You have to lok to make it up in volume. It's not easy but it can be done.

The best marketing photography way is convince and work witk some listing Realtors and let them use your photography skills to get them more sellers and listings.
Or join the Realtor when he does his listing presentation and help the Realtor by telling mister and misses sellers how important it is to get 35 pictures of their home in the MLS, Realtor.com, Zillow, Google and about 100 other sites.
Realtor gives his business card and you do the same.
Make single page flyers and drop them at the front door of homes, go to open houses and give them your information.
Present a free little siminar of 1 to 2 hours at a Real Estate board why it is important to have their clients home pictures on the net. There are always classes at the local board and you can be a fill in.
Visit local real estate offices, talk to agents or ask when they have their weekly meetings and ask if you may have 20 minutes to present your photography.
Remember Realtors and owners want to sell a home and do not have any idea about photography.
Realtors use often the concept: If you are sick you want the best doctor, if you want to sell a home you want the best Realtor, and if you want good pictures..............​.!
I am 25 years in Real Estate.

Joe.Recon wrote in post #13625825
Any suggestions would be appreciated, any constructive criticism on anything in the website (photos etc.), layout.

What "photos"? It wants me to log in.

OP, when I opened your webpage, I am greeted with a Joomla generic page. Not cool if you are already open for business.

Nevertheless, when i did RE work a few years ago, there was a forum in Flickr that is dedicated to RE photography. Lots of working RE shooters there. I learned alot. Like anything, people will only post their greatest work of high end mansions or beach side homes.
In reality, the majority of the work will be at regular homes, apartments etc... Depending on your target clients, you will find alot of realtors unwilling to pay top $ for photos when as another poster has mentioned, they are OK with P&S photo quality. Also with the glut of All-in-One services that provide hosting, 360 degree images and video all for $59.99!!! You will have to either move up-market in a serious way or fight these "outfits". What I also learned is that these same outfits would 'rent' a spot in the RE office thus servicing the entire staff needs. That is pretty and convenient for the realtors. Some might even put in the contract that those Realtors are not allowed to engage external marketing services.

Also it helps alot if you can offer some sort of home staging skills. However becareful to not end up spending so much time doing that & taking the photos as they will eat into your time. Where I live the RE market is stupid hot thanks to rich foreign asians. So many home properties do not really need to be marketed much before they got sold. It came down to location location location. Google Map and Streetview was enough to sell the house sometimes!!! Crazy yes. This is Vancouver market. Perhaps in a cooler market, there is a real need for great photography to sell a house. First impression is important!

Website gives error:

veritasimg wrote in post #13686563
... So many home properties do not really need to be marketed much before they got sold. It came down to location location location. Google Map and Streetview was enough to sell the house sometimes!!! ...

I've been noticing that Google's Streetview is often as good as, or better than, the agent's photos. Several years ago, there was an appraisal company that was selling territories that gave individuals the exclusive right to photograph every property and have the photos included in a nationwide database. Oops - they clearly didn't see Google and Zillow coming. The market and the opportunities are changing every year and I'd bet that the "all-in-ones" (staging, floorplans, valuations, sign installation, photography, website development) that are willing to work with an agent's cash flow (contingency payments) are the businesses that will succeed. Or, with increasing competition for listings, it's possible that the agents (or agencies) who personally have all of those skills will be the only ones who survive. Trying to get a job in-house (or even renting a desk at a larger agency) is a great idea.

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Ronny Geenen wrote in post #13671624
Here is a website from a person who does real estate photography in SoCal, east of LA in the valley.
You will notice her charges.
http://bayhomestudios.​com/serv.htm

So, if that's her primary occupation, she's got to do almost one a day just to bring home a paycheck. Even with a local monopoly in her high-value high-density market, that would be tough. I don't know if her portfolio is any representation of her volume but there are less than 100 addresses shown. There's a job there, but it doesn't look like a goldmine. Edit: She's in the SF Bay area. Her work is really good.

OP's site doesn't even load for me

Hey guys, thx for all the advice. My website is officially down and won't be up until I fix some loading issues that the hosting supplier can't understand why it takes so long to load up. They are running tests.

EDITED ON 2012-01-11 * WEBSITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION *

Glad youre taking care of it and hope all works out.

Thx mate !

tristinGrind wrote in post #13687739
Glad youre taking care of it and hope all works out.