A thread for real estate, architectural, and interior design photography

DJCronin28 wrote in post #12339928
Have any of you seen HDRhomes.com? I believe they're based in Denver, CO- anyway they have some pretty good stuff and say they can shoot a home in about 30minutes?? That seems pretty fast to me even if they're just firing of 3 or 5 exposures and doing all HDR and they charge $129 for 20 shots.

I just shot a home yesterday (first time getting paid for it!!) and it still took me about a 1:45 and then approx 5 hrs of processing- Am I that slow? Does $129 for 20 processed shots seem reasonable or pretty cheap to you guys?

WAY to much time in processing. Yea, that's pretty slow

I've read a few comments about "I don't turn the camera on for $xx". That's obliviously your choice. However in personally working in Real estate I can tell you I bet that attitude doesn't get you a ton of work. Most agents are hurting big time now days. If you think you're going to get $500 per shoot then you're going to get a reality check when someone comes in for $129 and keeps you and your high end attitude sitting at home. Of course there are always going to be the few agents with there + 2 Mil $ listing that are willing to pay that. But the other 96% is not. My price for over 4000 sq ft is only $200. Granted this is a side biz that actually helps me get in the door with agents that are clients for my day job. But as I said, I've been doing this for over 20 years and I don't see to many agents willing to spend over $200 out of their pocket for a listing that they have no idea if it will sell or not. My pricing starts at $79 and goes up to $200. However I do charge more to photograph out buildings, guest houses or land. Recently I have moved to all exposure blending for the outside stuff and I can still shoot & process in less than 3 hours.....that's a large home ending up with over 40 shots....and a virtual tour.

My site-
http://www.thepixelpla​yer.com/

My local tours I have shot-
http://thepixelplayer.​com/unbranded/

Oh and yes I know my site says $149.....but I have raised that price, just having issues updating that page.

I was looking into getting into this type of photography and so far most people i talked to are about $125- $150 area here in new jersey....

SeanH wrote in post #12364615
WAY to much time in processing. Yea, that's pretty slow

I've read a few comments about "I don't turn the camera on for $xx". That's obliviously your choice. However in personally working in Real estate I can tell you I bet that attitude doesn't get you a ton of work. Most agents are hurting big time now days. If you think you're going to get $500 per shoot then you're going to get a reality check when someone comes in for $129 and keeps you and your high end attitude sitting at home. Of course there are always going to be the few agents with there + 2 Mil $ listing that are willing to pay that. But the other 96% is not. My price for over 4000 sq ft is only $200. Granted this is a side biz that actually helps me get in the door with agents that are clients for my day job. But as I said, I've been doing this for over 20 years and I don't see to many agents willing to spend over $200 out of their pocket for a listing that they have no idea if it will sell or not. My pricing starts at $79 and goes up to $200. However I do charge more to photograph out buildings, guest houses or land. Recently I have moved to all exposure blending for the outside stuff and I can still shoot & process in less than 3 hours.....that's a large home ending up with over 40 shots....and a virtual tour.
.

http://photographyforr​ealestate.net …shoot-you-have-a-problem/


read that.

my camera still won't turn on for less than $300. it used to. now it won't. my time is worth more than that. there's no way i'm making a profit for $129, 2-3 hours of shooting, and the appropriate processing, especially when I am shooting $500 plus jobs regularly with a few 4-figure jobs thrown in.

don't you want to shoot more high end, less crap? keep pushing your prices higher and your quality higher. i dont want to be stuck shooting real estate for the rest of my life, and if i keep charging ~150-200 that's what's going to happen. charging more puts the pressure on yourself to do better, gets your agents expecting more, lands you better jobs.

you'll never get anywhere if you aren't pushing yourself...and staying sub-$200 isn't going to get you very far when it comes to shooting luxury, hotels, resorts, editorial, etc.

you have some nice homes on your site, and you are probably aware of what a commission on a nice home is worth. you're getting screwed for $129, no matter how you slice it, as they laugh all the way to the bank with their commission on a $5m home.

Market determines price. Skill determine if you're in the higher price or lower price of that market. My market is TINY! Very tiny. So $200+ would get me NO work. Just the way it is. Mike, lives in a MUCH different market then me and also has access to higher end clients/work. The link you post Mike, does not apply to everyone. Definitely not me and the market I work in. Just thought I'd point that out. We're not all living in/near large cities.

I know - my town has a population of 14,000

Nearest other town is 7,000, which is 20 minutes away, and nearest city is Reno, NV, which is about 45 minutes. And Reno's real small.

Of course it will be harder in a smaller town - but you still should be able to charge what you're worth. If not - why are you still doing it? Just my honest opinion.

Well, with out the extra work on the side I'd long have lost my home. Money is not great where I work and there are not much for options for other work unless I pack up and move. No desire for that. Trust me, I'd love to charge more but then I'd have no work. Sometimes you have to charge what the market will allow. Even with what I charge, I still make in the range of 40-50/hr for my time. Which is good in my books. I just need to secure more regular work. Sounds like the next few weeks I will be busy which I am looking forward to.

What I was trying to say is all markets are different. You seem to be in an area that supports the prices you charge. I am not unfortunately as I am sure others are as well. So indicating that charging less is a waist of time and people shouldn't bother unless they charge more grinds my gears a little. As it seemed to have with SeanH as well. Just my opinion

TheReal7 wrote in post #12365285
Well, with out the extra work on the side I'd long have lost my home. Money is not great where I work and there are not much for options for other work unless I pack up and move. No desire for that. Trust me, I'd love to charge more but then I'd have no work. Sometimes you have to charge what the market will allow. Even with what I charge, I still make in the range of 40-50/hr for my time. Which is good in my books. I just need to secure more regular work. Sounds like the next few weeks I will be busy which I am looking forward to.

Your market sounds a lot like mine. The sad part is there are over 600k people here, but because it is a military town people are just frugal. Oh, don't get me wrong, we have people with money, lots of them, they just don't like to spend it on certain things. Add to that the fact there is no desire to have great quality photos by most agent, it makes for a tough market. Most agents here can't tell a great photo from an average one, and those that can tell the difference typically won't pay the high price for it.

Like you, my fee breaks down to about $40/hour. I will take that all day long. It really all is the same. Get $1000 for a high end shoot and spend days processing the photos, or go shoot 4 homes a day and make the same amount of money in the same amount of time. My busy weeks pay me $2k to $3k a week. When it is all said and done, I doubt the end result is much different. I live in a market that will give me a lot of volume for being in the $150 to $300 range. If I doubled my prices I know for a fact I would lose more than 50% of my business. In the end, I would lose big time.

Considering the fact I shot over 400 homes each of the last two years I would say I am doing just fine considering the market. Once the market bounces back and agents are less frugal, I will be able to raise my fees. But, if not, I am building up the video tours just in case. Now, that is excellent money per hour. Video pays 2-3 times more per hour than photos because it takes me no time and someone else does all the editing. I am putting together a photo/video package that I will be marketing very soon. I am trying to reduce the marketing of the floor plans a tad. Photo/video can yield me much better $$/hour than the floor plans can.

mikekelley wrote in post #12365245
I know - my town has a population of 14,000

Nearest other town is 7,000, which is 20 minutes away, and nearest city is Reno, NV, which is about 45 minutes. And Reno's real small.

Of course it will be harder in a smaller town - but you still should be able to charge what you're worth. If not - why are you still doing it? Just my honest opinion.

I thought you lived in Lake Tahoe, according to this site http://www.bestplaces.​net …lifornia/south_​lake_tahoe South Lake Tahoe has 23,620 people. According to this site, South Lake Tahoe costs 28.8% more to live there. People in your area are used to paying more, which is why you are able to charge more. Go to a market where people live for a lot less and you will see they won't pay the same fees for the same work.

It is all economics, Mike. You are blessed to be in an area where people are accustomed to paying more for things than in other places. Therefore, why should your prices be any different. I know that doesn't work here because I know who my competition is here and I know what they charge. No one has a larger share of the market than me, that is just a fact. Yet, there are plenty of photogs that shoot for $65 a house. Considering how much more I charge for what I do I would say I am priced right to get so many orders and be so much higher than the others. The busiest virtual tour company in town charges between $99 and $149 per tour and even they don't do as much volume as I do.

I think the difference between you and I is that you spend a lot more time on the computer processing and I spend a lot more time in the field shooting more properties. To be honest, I actually prefer it that way. I would go nuts if I had to spend 2-3 days processing photos for one house. I would get sick of being inside and sitting at the computer. That is what I hated about the appraisal business so much. I spend an hour or two in the field and then 4-6 hours on the computer....that drove me nuts.

mikekelley wrote in post #12365179
http://photographyforr​ealestate.net …shoot-you-have-a-problem/


read that.

my camera still won't turn on for less than $300. it used to. now it won't. my time is worth more than that. there's no way i'm making a profit for $129, 2-3 hours of shooting, and the appropriate processing, especially when I am shooting $500 plus jobs regularly with a few 4-figure jobs thrown in.

don't you want to shoot more high end, less crap? keep pushing your prices higher and your quality higher. i dont want to be stuck shooting real estate for the rest of my life, and if i keep charging ~150-200 that's what's going to happen. charging more puts the pressure on yourself to do better, gets your agents expecting more, lands you better jobs.

you'll never get anywhere if you aren't pushing yourself...and staying sub-$200 isn't going to get you very far when it comes to shooting luxury, hotels, resorts, editorial, etc.

you have some nice homes on your site, and you are probably aware of what a commission on a nice home is worth. you're getting screwed for $129, no matter how you slice it, as they laugh all the way to the bank with their commission on a $5m home.

See, on this site the guy is saying we should be making $30/hour, minimum....I'm already over that rate.

I do see what you are saying and you have a valid argument.....if the market will support it. I can assure you, there are many cities in this nation that would not support your fees. Regardless of how much the agent makes, there are some cities where they are just frugal, or cheap, each one is different. Not to mention, if they can't tell the difference between great photos and decent photos, they won't understand why they should pay more. Again, certain markets will 'get it', you are in one of those markets, I am not. I have had this conversation with so many of my agents and even with my slight price increase there year I already noticed a slight drop in orders. Clients that usually order 10+ a year have not ordered a single one this year. I call and ask and they say 'money is tight' or some other BS excuse.

You have to understand that not all markets are the same. Look up Colorado Springs real estate market and search homes over $1 million and look at how many have crappy photos taken by the agent. Do that and you will see what I am talking about. There is a mentality here that is based on fact, homes over $400k are sitting for a while and home over $1 million sit for a very long time. Therefore the mentality is 'why spend money if it is not going to sell'. I have used all the logic I can think of but when the agent knows that the odds are against them and they don't want to risk spending the money it is a hard mentality to change. I realize, they need to look at it differently, but that isn't going to change the buyers. Spending money to have someone with your skills shoot all the homes over $1 isn't going to create more buyers. The buyers are fixed and we don't have a lot of high income people coming here these days. The greatest number of increase is from military, which means homes under $250k, for the most part. Agents will not spend $500 to market a home that price, regardless of how much they make. Why would they when that price range is selling just fine?

Like I said, you are blessed to be in the market you are in. It is allowing you to work your way up into bigger and better things. Maybe one day my market will change and I will be able to do the same, but until then I do what I can and keep looking for opportunities to expand.

SeanH wrote in post #12364615
WAY to much time in processing. Yea, that's pretty slow

I've read a few comments about "I don't turn the camera on for $xx". That's obliviously your choice. However in personally working in Real estate I can tell you I bet that attitude doesn't get you a ton of work. Most agents are hurting big time now days. If you think you're going to get $500 per shoot then you're going to get a reality check when someone comes in for $129 and keeps you and your high end attitude sitting at home. Of course there are always going to be the few agents with there + 2 Mil $ listing that are willing to pay that. But the other 96% is not. My price for over 4000 sq ft is only $200. Granted this is a side biz that actually helps me get in the door with agents that are clients for my day job. But as I said, I've been doing this for over 20 years and I don't see to many agents willing to spend over $200 out of their pocket for a listing that they have no idea if it will sell or not. My pricing starts at $79 and goes up to $200. However I do charge more to photograph out buildings, guest houses or land. Recently I have moved to all exposure blending for the outside stuff and I can still shoot & process in less than 3 hours.....that's a large home ending up with over 40 shots....and a virtual tour.

My site-
http://www.thepixelpla​yer.com/

My local tours I have shot-
http://thepixelplayer.​com/unbranded/

Oh and yes I know my site says $149.....but I have raised that price, just having issues updating that page.

Since I made that comment I can tell you that this attitude works pretty well. If you are willing to work for 30$ per hour and work your ass all day, even if you're doing it for 15 years doesn't mean you're doing it right., I prefer to have less shots for over 300. My gas, expenses, time, knowledge are not gonna be sold for that little. For a house they sell for 300k they'll get 9k and let me tell you this. You work more to take those pictures than he works to show that house to few clients and fill some standard contracts. How do you feel asking them for 130$ when you know you help them get 9k?!
Mike already post the link I wanted you to read.

I think I should also clarify that for what I charge they are NOT getting my best work either. Oh, I show it, I pitch it, I promote it like crazy, but very, very few agents request it. When I do the HDR shots on one of my orders the price doubles or more, depending on the number of shots they want with HDR. Its not like I'm not pitching it to them, I show them the HDR photos and I get the response I want. But, when I tell them the price difference they say things like 'wow, that's a big difference in price, I'll just go with the standard because that is good enough'....or something like...'I'll have to do that on my high end stuff'....and then when I get the order for those homes over $1 million I mention the advantage of the better photos and they say 'the standard will be good enough'.

Its not like I can't do it, I can. It's not like I don't push it, I do. The photos are out there and I get calls from agents saying 'I saw your photos on ........., how much do you charge?' As soon as they hear the price for the HDR they either don't order from me or they say something about using it on the high end stuff. Trust me, I have pushed it, I have presented it, I just can't get them to pay the extra money. A $1 million dollar home pays them $30k in commission, and it is like pulling teeth to get them to spend more money. I know this has a lot to do with the fact that only 30% of the homes that go on the MLS here actually sell. There is a 70% failure rate.....70%. I looked up Tahoe and their prices are appreciating. If prices here were appreciating and a higher percentage were selling, you bet your butt I would raise my prices and I know I would get more because they would be more confident. Colorado Springs got hit hard by the downturn in the economy because all the tech jobs that were here left. That left a lot of people high and dry. Many moved but in doing so they had to dump their homes. Prices dropped, more people left than came, and that made a mess of things.

Please understand, I am not complaining, just trying to paint a picture so people can understand it is not an attitude thing, it is an economical thing. At some point it will turn around, and things will be different. People that like in stronger markets typically can charge more with much more success. It is just a matter of adapting to the current economy and local market.

chips34 wrote in post #12364957
I was looking into getting into this type of photography and so far most people i talked to are about $125- $150 area here in new jersey....

In Bergen County, there is a place doing $99 shoots, and they get a lot of business. I'm trying to find a way around them...

Sometimes the only solution is to burn it with fire..

Without having read everything that Tyler and others have said (I'm tired and gotta sleep), I must say that Tyler's right in that it's what people will pay. I live in probably one of the cheapest places in the country. Our prices are rock bottom and people will still complain! Come on, gimme a break, there's no way I'll pay you a jewelry piece for the price of scrap gold; that's how little people pay for things here. We know some jewelers here that have lost tens of thousands of $ a year because other jewelery places like us charge for less and more of them are opening places and taking slices from the cake. Zales, for crying out loud, and other high end jewelry stores are closing stores in malls and whatnot because people are cheap. If we had a place in Beverly Hills, then yeah, I'd gladly charge $2000 for a necklace that will sell for $400 here (rough estimate).

I´m not in this market, but I guess it´s the same in every market.
I used to work with event and nightclub security and there are some serious risks involved with this kind of work. But people in the industry was selling out themselfs anyway, working for peanuts. They have to work 10-12 hours/night 6-7 days a week to get enough money to survive. They had no time of. No vacations. No freetime to spend with family and friends. Just work, work, work. How fun is that?

Both me and my wife have done this for a living. I started in 2006 after several years of other security related work. And my wife started in 2007.

We both became head of security at large nightclubs right from the start because our ability to do a good job and marketing ourself´s. Many months we have just worked the weekends, and about 6-7 hours/night. And still was able to make a good living. And we had tons of free time for our family and doing fun things.

So how could we do that due to the fact that there were lots of people working for half the pay we did?

Well, we became better then them. We became the best we could be at it. And when we workd we always did it 200% and with a great attitude. And we marketed ourselfs according to that. In a short period of time the word spread and we got so many job offers that we had to say no to most of them.

We have even turned down offers to go to Dubai and work with close protection for businessmen, and my wife was offered to go to USA to work with personal protection for Jay-Z. She was the head of security for him when he was in Sweden the last time.
The reason we turned down these offers is because we hav children.

I have now quit the security industry but my wife is still there. Working as head of security at one of Stockholms hottest nightclubs. And she´s getting offers every week to work at other places as head of security. And everybody knows that either my wife or I work cheap. And they accept it although there are still a lot of people doing it way to cheap. These people could do the same thing that me and my wife do. But they don´t have the drive, the work ethics, the ability to market themself´s, and they are not interested in education for getting better. So they keep doing the job cheap for 10-12 hours/day for 6-7 days a week.

I should be the same no mather what industry you work in. And those who sell out should really think about if that´s what they really want to do for the rest of teir life. And ones you started to sell out yourself, it´s extremely hard to higher your price later on.

Of course I understand that the economy looks different in different places in the world, but if there was no sell outs, the customers would have to accept the prices.
I mean, who would want to work for free?

"I work to live. I dont live to work."

Best regards/Daniel