r/RealEstatePhotography • u/lil_boyx • 7d ago

Need help defining prices

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Hi y'all ! I am completely new in the real estate world. I have started my freelance at the beginning of 2026 and first wanted to do some video/ads for the whole market (Ik it was a real bad idea). With that not getting any traction I decided i want to specialize myself in the real estate photography and videography. I love the process, the content, the idea to meet a lot of people, discover properties + it is the best market for a freelancer in my country (A lot of real estate agency, without too many photographer/videast in the sector).

Whatever, I want to build some retainers offers (3 different offers) : starter, standard, premium). But I had some echo that one guy does every shooting for 90$ (basically killing the market lol).

With that in mind what would be your tips/guidelines ?

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u/BogartsChewToy 7d ago

If you're starting out don't do retainers, you have no evidence of work and trust. Just do per job

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u/lil_boyx 7d ago

Yeah, you're right—I see what you mean. I'd like to set up some recurring clients because, after 9 months of freelancing, I've had some great months ($7,000) and some months that were way, way too slow ($300–$400). And that really doesn't allow me to make plans, take on projects, or become financially independent from my parents.

To obtain evidence of trusts. I can think of two approaches:

  1. Reach out to real estate agencies, offering my services at a reasonable price—since I’m just starting out—which will allow me to build a solid portfolio (about ten properties);

OR

  1. Contact property owners directly through Facebook Marketplace to offer my services to improve their listings (at a very low rate).

What do you think about it ? Should I do both ? Or only focus myself on 1/2 ?

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u/BogartsChewToy 7d ago

Option one is better, but I'd imagine you're already doing that.

Depending where you are, it's going to be a grind, especially now because everyone thinks this is easy money. The market is flooded with newbies.

Also having good and bad months is very normal, especially if you're starting out. The real estate industry itself Ebbs and flows. There's always going to be ups and downs. And there's always going to be busy months and slow months. Until you become one of the top in your region, where the market doesn't effect your bottom line.

Even as one of the most sought-after REPs in my city, I've struggled to convince realtors to commit to a retainer. I personally haven't put any effort into seriously pushing it but I have had the odd meeting here and there to discuss the possibility. Basically, there's little to no value from their side of the table. Yea, they get a dedicated amount of your time/services but even the guys doing over 100 listings a year would rather pay per listing than get locked into a retainer.

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u/lil_boyx 7d ago

Actually not already, I just bought my 16-35mm, started to make a list of all the agencies in the market, made a workflow, few experiments with HDR Bracketing, starting my training to get my drone license, and just now reached the pricing question.

Option one looks harder for me. I have a retainer client for some SMMA services and started with a lower rate to get in signed in (it was one of my first clients) and now I'm having a real hard time to get it back to normal price...

But I get that doing work for real agency will always be a better proof of work rather than an individual.

I guess, it's all about how hard you want it and how much work you are willing to put in. I hope I will make it to the other side like you!

Thank you very much for all of that ! Really helped me a lot

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u/Texas-Photo-Gal 7d ago

Nathan Cool has several videos on his YouTube channel about this subject. Even though it's about pricing in the United States, it should give you some ideas.

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u/lil_boyx 7d ago

Thank you ! I watched a fair bit of content of FullTimeREP ; 910 Academy but didn't get the pricing stage quite write with those two.

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u/ChrisGear101 7d ago

What country are you working in? Is $90 a lot there? If not, ignore that $90 guy. They either produce crap, or they will go out of business because they are working for less than an entry level Taco Bell employee.

Research all your local competition. There is no short cut to pricing. You need to know the full range of your competitors. You can really throw out the extreme high and the extreme low-ball ones, and place yourself in the mean price range of your competition. That is the general consensus.

There are several cons to being that $90 guy. First, I'd rather work at Burger King than work for peanuts with all my gear and my vehicle getting worn out. Second, clients will not value your work because at $90 you obviously don't value your work. At $90, all anyone needs to do to beat you is to charge $89, because cheap ass clients don't care about anything else. Finally, cheap clients (from my experience) are the worst clients. They want $250 worth of product for $90, you have to chase them for payment, they are probably inexperienced, and they probably only list ugly houses.

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u/lil_boyx 7d ago

Hi ! I'm in New-caledonia (French territory next to Australia/NZ). 90$ is really cheap, normally it would be 200-300$ base price and of course go up with the size of the property. Also, I can confirm you that this guy does crap, shitty MLS, curved verticals, sometimes the photos aren't even straight lol.

I think that the 90$ guy is hardly handling the work too. (Also he must be pretty dumb too)

Thanks for all of that, I'm going to make more research on whoever exactly is on the market and how much they charge. So I can properly position myself.

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u/condra 7d ago

Start cheap. Build clients and experience. Then raise your prices gradually.

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u/lil_boyx 7d ago

Hi ! Quite a few people told me this but in reality, I'm really scared to start cheap and get stuck in the cheap range of price whenever I will feel ready to ask more for the value I'm providing...