What real estate photography costs, and why

01

The short answer, with the actual numbers

Listing photography around the valley generally runs between $250 and $600 for a standard single family home, and the number moves with square footage rather than room count. Mine sits inside that. $275 up to 2,000 sq ft, rising to $550 for 4,001 to 5,000, and anything bigger quoted on its own.

That is the whole base price. It is not a deposit against a licensing fee and there is no per image charge on top.

• Up to 2,000 sq ft: $275
• 2,001 to 3,000 sq ft: $350
• 3,001 to 4,000 sq ft: $450
• 4,001 to 5,000 sq ft: $550
• Over 5,000 sq ft: quoted individually

02

Why square footage and not room count

Because square footage predicts time on site better than anything else. A 3,500 sq ft house with four bedrooms takes about as long as a 3,500 sq ft house with five, but a 2,000 sq ft house takes noticeably less than either.

Room count also punishes the wrong properties. Casitas, split floor plans and the guest suites you see all over desert homes would inflate a room count quote without adding much actual work.

03

What genuinely adds cost

Add ons are the honest variable, and they are optional in the real sense. A listing shot with none of them is still a complete set of MLS ready photographs.

Drone is the one that earns its money most often, particularly where the lot, the view or being on a golf course is part of what you are selling. Twilight is the one that produces the single most striking frame, on the right house.

• Drone photography: $200
• Twilight photography: $200
• 3D floor plans: $100
• Virtual staging: $50 per image
• Lawn replacement touch-up: $15 per image

04

How to read a quote that looks too cheap

A ninety nine dollar listing shoot is not impossible, but the money has to come from somewhere, and it is usually one of four places. Fewer images, so a five bedroom home gets fifteen photographs. Slower delivery, so the files land after you needed to go live. No HDR work, so every window is a white rectangle. Or licensing, where the base price buys web use and print costs extra.

None of those are scams. They are fair ways to run a cheaper service and for some listings they are genuinely fine. They are just worth asking about, because the difference never shows up in the headline number.

Four questions to ask anyone, me included. How many edited images, what turnaround, is HDR included, and can I use these in print as well as on the MLS.

05

What you should be getting for the money

In that price range, in this market, a standard listing shoot should give you 25 to 35 professionally edited images, interior and exterior coverage, HDR where the windows need it, sky replacement, and files sized for both the MLS and print.

Turnaround should be 24 to 48 hours. Any longer and the photography is deciding your listing date instead of serving it.

On rights, I keep the copyright, which is normal in photography. You get a licence to use the photographs however you need to market that property, for as long as you want. What you cannot do is pass the files to another agent for their listings. If that comes up, send them to me.

06

Is it worth it on a lower-priced listing?

Honestly, the cheaper the listing the bigger a share of the budget this is, and I understand the hesitation on entry level properties. My view is that photographs matter most exactly where the property has the least else going for it. A four hundred thousand dollar condo up against forty near identical condos gets decided on the thumbnail.

If the budget will not stretch, book the base package and skip every add on rather than skipping the shoot. Twenty five good photographs with no drone beat forty phone photographs every time.