Am I the only real estate photographer?

Question

Hello,

Am I the only real estate photographer in this forums?

Richard Lee · Answer

i use verifly.  And i just studied for the exam. No formal training.

Chad P. · Answer

@Richard Lee Who did you go through for your drone training and insurance?  I have been thinking about getting one to play around with.  I would like to use it for pictures of my rentals and listings also.

Richard Lee · Answer

I provide fully licensed aerial imaging for real estate, infrastructure, government, and marketing purposes via my business Tailwind Productions.  I service East Tennessee but would go farther afield if the opportunity was right.

Factors like travel, equipment cost, insurance, FAA NAS (national airspace system) research for the prospective area, weather monitoring etc. all take time and money, so I turn down jobs regularly that expect bottom dollar.

You get what you pay for, as always.

Good thread!

Marcus Auerbach · Answer

It's a tough business. We use a professional service for every listing and also for my rental properties. It is very inexpensive (I think $80-120 depending on size) and the quality of the pictures is on a totally different level compared to an agents cell phone pictures. On high end listings we also do a drone video. You can take a decent exterior shot with a cell phone if you have a little but of talent, but interior shots require specialised equipment.

Joe Arida · Answer

Over the last 4 or 5 years I have gotten progressively more into photography. It was (and still is) nature photography as I would take my camera hiking with me and on vacations. I literally photographed and videoed my first property on Friday evening!

There is a person around my area that seems to have a bit of a monopoly. They charge $90 per property and seem to do quite a lot of properties. In my area, when looking at most of the pictures of properties on the market, they look professionally photographed. It really does make a huge difference--mostly due to lighting (using a good flash) and the lens. Phone cameras are closing the gap on low-end digital cameras, but there is no substitute for a high end DSLR or mirrorless. There's also no substitute for a gimble to stabilize video shots. Having a bouncy cell phone video walkthrough would not be appealing.

So....while I haven't made a business out of it, I am getting into it more. I am working with another investor doing before and after shots of his flips. It's a great way for me to learn and eventually make some extra cash on the side doing something fun.

Is photography your main business? Your photos are excellent, by the way!

Stanley Bronstein · Answer

@Joel Owens Drone photography to provide aerials can be a nice touch. I have a client who's son does lots of that for agents. The only drawback is that there are licensing requirements when you start doing aerial photography for hire.

Joel Owens · Answer

Photographer is kind of a TOUGH GIG these days. I do commercial real estate as a broker and investor but lot's of my broker/agent friends in residential just take their own pics. With high end cell phones now the quality rivals some higher quality cameras.

Maybe they use a photog to use software to touch up and make better what the broker/agent took. I can see in places like CA where they might be more popular but on entry level to mid level houses many will not want to spend the money.

My picture and video guy does mainly weddings now as his bread and butter and corporate company pics to use on marketing materials and websites.

Mark Sewell · Answer

arrggghhh.

Am I the only real estate photographer?

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