House interior shoots for real estate agents

[Onslow]

Morning All,

I've have just been cold called by a real estate agent who want some interior shots of a house which is going onto the market.

The seller of the house apparently knows of my work and told the agent that they wanted my photos as she knew of my quality. ( I don't know the woman )

Interior / exterior photos are required but the main problem that the agent had was doing justice to an extremely large family room. This room apparently is the major focus of the house.

I have the contact details of the seller so I can walk through the house and assess the job. I've been told around 10 to 20 photos will be required.

I will be asking a fair price. I am wondering if there is any consensus on offering a slightly lower price in the hope/expectation of repeat business or better to stick to the price?

[wolfd]

You might find this article to be of some help.

8 Tips for Taking Interior Shots Like a Pro

[ksgal]

Stick with the price.. the same price for the same work. or at least have a consistent base price, the plus for extras.

Hoping the pros will chime in.. but I think if you want to continue with word of mouth referals(sp?) Then the word needs to be passed with a consistent cost. Don't discount until they come back for a second time, or if they establish a steady workflow with you.

People don't get mad about paying a fair price for something, but they get mad if they feel they were over charged when they hear someone else got it cheaper. JMHO.

[RocketRick]

A few ideas that I've seen suggested by professional real estate photographers:

• Instead of offering a discount on the first job, in which case you may only get the one job, offer a discount if they commit to a certain number of jobs. "Pay for 5, get the 6th free" sort of thing.
• Offer a money-back guarantee: Charge them your regular rate, but tell them that, once they see your photos, they are free to decide not to use them, and you will refund the full price of the shoot. You can even make it a "money back plus" guarantee -- offer to meet them at a coffee shop and buy them a cup of coffee when you hand over the images. Even if they don't use your photos, they still come out one coffee ahead....
• Tell them you don't discount your work since you already price your services to offer great value for the money, but you do reward good referrals. Offer them one free shoot every time a new client that they refer to you pays for their third shoot.
• Instead of discounting, offer a free upgrade or "add-on". Pole Aerial Photography is a good one -- instead of charging extra to take an elevated shot of the front of the house, offer to do that for free on the first job for a new customer. When you deliver the pictures, be sure to deliver both a ground-level and an elevated photo of the front of the house, so they can see the difference it makes, and will be inclined to order that "add-on" when they next use your service. Basically, give them a free taste of one of your *upgraded* services, in the hopes that they'll be inclined to add it to their "package" the next time they use you.

Bottom line: PFRE is already a very competitive and low-margin business. If you want to make a consistent living at it, you need to differentiate yourself on the basis of something other than price.

[Brooks]

Most real estate agents don't like to pay for photography, preferring instead to take their own snapshots. It's the seller of the house that wants you to take the photos, not the real estate agent. With that in mind, stick to your regular rate.

[Steven G Webb]

The most valuable commodity you have is your time, the second most valuable is the money you exchange for it. Don't negotiate with your money its nearly the most costly bargaining chip you have. Take the previous advice and use products to bargain with.

If you give a cash discount, you give up your entire value in the cash. If instead you add a product to sweeten the deal, then you've only given up your raw cost. I have to tell customers in a diplomatic way that if I'm going to save them some money, they are going to have to spend some.

Steve

[Onslow]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I do appreciate them.

@Brooks, actually, I was doing an assessment of the job last night and was talking to the owners. It was the agent who suggested paying someone to do the job. I discussed the amount of time and the different colour light in each room and was able to show her that on the back of my Canon. I let her know it wouldn't be thousands but, it would be around 3 - 4 hrs of work. I indicated a price range and as she said, if we want to sell the house, we need to spend the money. I did quick snaps to gain an idea of angles etc.

There is a large amount of late afternoon light for one side of the house. 2 rooms however require a morning shoot. It also has a lovely outdoor decked area as a feature.

I suspect around 4 hours to do the rooms correctly. I have speedlights and my monolights that can help lift a room for awkward lighting.

I have a copy of the OZ freelance rates for photographers (Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance award). I think the 1/2 day rate is a reasonable amount. I'll also provide them with a copy for comparison so they can see I am not ovecharging. I'll also show previous examples of this sort of work that I have done.

To all, some really good ideas there. In reality, I know the money isn't going to be bargained with, but, I do like the idea of sweeteners thrown in. I'll go through some of the suggestions a bit further I think....

[pszilard]

There is some very good responses on this thread.

As a fellow Oz photographer, I wish you good luck.

IMHO if they are selling a home worth 1/2 mil to couple of mil $$ then spending $500 to $1k on photos is a very good investment. Point out to them that a good photo set could get them $10+ better price and a quicker sale, which is also worth many bucks.

Must clients belive that you get what you pay for (rightly or wrongly), so if you drop your price, they think they are getting a poorer product. Unless they are the ones that are trying to beat the price down, stick with your normal rate.

I normally charge $135 per hr ex GST for on site time, which includes post production but not prints. Let us know how you go, we are all curious!

[M1images]

I think what is most important is being missed here.

Originally Posted by Onslow

The seller of the house apparently knows of my work and told the agent that they wanted my photos as she knew of my quality. ( I don't know the woman )

This woman said she wanted you to be the photographer because she knows your WORK and your QUALITY. Not that she knew you offered discounts, freebies or any other pricing gimmicks.

The objective here is to get the house sold. If your pictures help do that, then the homeowner and realtor will be happy and any pricing quirks you offered will be forgotten.

What they are looking for is outstanding pictures and outstanding service. Do that and you'll receive more referrals than any pricing gimmick can bring. The realtor is going to talk about how you take great pictures and was fast and easy to work with. The homeowner is going to talk about how your great pictures helped sell her house. That great price gimmick you came up with will be insignificant in terms of what is most important - selling the house.

Take great pictures. Provide outstanding customer service. Charge full price for your work.

[photolew]

Originally Posted by Brooks

Most real estate agents don't like to pay for photography, preferring instead to take their own snapshots. It's the seller of the house that wants you to take the photos, not the real estate agent. With that in mind, stick to your regular rate.

Ditto that