# real estate photography, how to charge?



## MHB

I noticed a lot of people charge by the square foot. Is there a reason for that? What about charging per photo or for the amount of rooms photographed? Any thoughts/tips? Thanks!


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## tirediron

Billing by area makes no sense to me since a large open room with lots of south-facing windows might only take a couple of minutes to shoot, whereas a much smaller kitchen with lots of dark cabinets and highly reflective stainless-steel appliances might take 30 minutes.  I would bill work like this either per hour or per job.


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## texkam

Houses tend to be priced by square foot. Generally, the larger the house the more expensive, so I guess that's what's driving that line of reasoning. Selling price has more to do with it IMHO. It's going to be tough to get $2,000 to shoot a house listing at $200,000 no matter how good the photos. No realtor is going to pay that. However, up that price to 2 million + and paying for top quality images becomes more justified.


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## cgipson1

Depends on many factors, like any professional photography! What equipment do you have? (yes.. it does matter!). How many days, months, years, decades, of experience do you have shooting? How about shooting that particular subject? Can you turn out $1 dollar images, or $100 dollar images? Is the person hiring you, wiling to pay for $100 images, if you can take them?

Houses may often be priced by square footage, but that price per sq.ft. can vary quite a bit based on other factors.


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## ShaneF

every house has the potential to be drastically different and you can only get paid what someone is willing to pay. If you are new to this i would suggest doing some test shoots of your home or friends so you know what time will be involved.

Just like anywhere pricing is different by location and by demand.  How many others are doing it in you area what are they charging and what is their experience is all relative.

I know someone who does this in my area for agents of a reality company and he offers all the agents at that company a flat fee of 200.00 per house.  That being said he gets a lot of work from those agents by offering the flat fee.  If he does it for anyone else i believe he starts at 250.00 for 10 finished digital files which usually covers

Front of house
Back of house
Kitchen
Bathroom
Living room
3 bedrooms
1 basement
1 miscellaneous

Any images for other areas not covered by this are 20.00 a piece extra such as garage attic, becoany view etc. or 5 extras for $50.00

These are the numbers that work for him in my area but i know can significantly change going 200 km away which jump to about 400.00 to start.  So as i mentioned b4 its dictated by your area competitors and experience and you can only get paid what someone is willing to pay you so if someone contacts you i would ask what their budget is and try to work with them.

Dont know if that helped at all


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## KmH

ShaneF said:


> I know someone who does this in my area for agents of a reality company and he offers all the agents at that company a flat fee of 200.00 per house.  That being said he gets a lot of work from those agents by offering the flat fee.  If he does it for anyone else i believe he starts at 250.00 for 10 finished digital files which usually covers



Does this person do this full time, or do they have another income?


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## ShaneF

He is a full time photographer im not sure if this is part of his business or on the side income.


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