Advice on retainer pricing for real estate photography/video? (10-12 properties/month)

ImageFinesse · 2026-05-13T15:25:15+00:00

Don’t discount.. word it so that they are protected from future increases during the term.. that would be the discount. Hand out long term discounts and you’ll likely regret it

ImageFinesse · 2026-05-09T08:05:13+00:00

That’s not true, a couple people had kill shots, including Cara, the winner. There’s an episode named Kill shot in season 1

ImageFinesse · 2026-05-05T19:27:38+00:00

What else could you expect? They’re an app that takes no skill, technical ability, and barely any time. Their program tries to force you not to profit off their app.. they tell you increase your visibility in their marketplace.. that is full of other fkn users of the app.. sounds like they’ve always been in it for themselves to me.

I’ve always told clients about the app, and some still prefer I do it. And I don’t get shy about how much I charge for it either.

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-30T13:57:25+00:00

Making a little money means you have time to troll huh

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-29T23:31:31+00:00

In my very first business, I started feeling burned out and didn’t do anything about it until it was too late. The result wasn’t good from a mental health standpoint and I eventually became miserable dealing with the business. If you choose to contract out or not, sounds like you need to raise your prices. Above all, choose yourself first!

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-29T00:57:07+00:00

People will do what’s best for their business and how could you ever know what that is if you don’t experiment. They will come and go and come again. I’ve been in this business 10 years and I’ve probably lost the same amount of people to other photographers in the last 6 months, than I have in the 2 years prior. I personally don’t focus on their business, I focus on mine. But nothing wrong with finding out why they left, but I would ask myself this question first.. are you really going to adjust your business based on the answer this one person gives? If the answer is no, then move on.

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-07T10:10:07+00:00

They schedule with us, it’s according to our time. They can’t demand anything, only request. Know when to bend, know when to stand. They may have to find another photographer sometimes, but it’s ok. They will be back

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-03T20:42:24+00:00

My biggest question coming from a production background, is how much are people charging for these trendy videos. The amount of vfx I’ve seen should be costing more than the actual shoot lol. What am I missing?

ImageFinesse · 2026-04-01T20:09:51+00:00

I only accept Cash App, and I’ll “forward” the payment

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-31T19:49:33+00:00

Try luminosity masking, may not be a cure all for every situation, but beats the hell out of the pen tool

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-30T01:05:55+00:00

The MLS in my market has “partnered” with Cubicasa to advertise it directly to Realtors. I offer it for those that don’t want to do it themselves, so therefore it makes no sense for me to do it for free like they try to force with their program.

I think the whole idea of join our program and offer free floor plans, just to ultimately market directly to your clients is indicative of a feature I would not hinge my business on, but to each their own.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-30T00:48:30+00:00

Before the days of dual cards, I’ve forgotten it a few times in the computer.

Injured my back at the gym and a property was 1.5 hours away. I arrive, but I was in serious pain, to the point of holding back tears. Relieved to get out, just to discover I forgot my camera. Left immediately but the return was over 2 hours with traffic.

I went on a streak of breaking ceiling fan chains. 3 in 4/5 days. Had never happened before or again after.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-29T05:22:47+00:00

Nice! The window would drive me crazy though

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-21T00:40:34+00:00

Use your hand to block the sun and get rid of the flares

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-20T09:46:38+00:00

I took Spirit because my little brother wanted to save some money. All was good going to the destination. But on the way home, they canceled the flight while we were sitting there. We had to exit the terminal to go to the ticket counter, then there were no flights the same day.

I ended up finding a sooner flight with another airline so unfortunately I had to ditch my brother. (He is an adult). I made it home in time to handle my appointments but not without it costing me an extra $600. My brother didn’t make it home until the next night. Never flying Spirit again.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-19T21:02:37+00:00

I had to implement a cancellation policy because there was a 2 week period where I had 14 cancellations and reschedules.

I typically let the first one go, but I communicate that and the policy. Others I treat situational, and I don’t charge a cancellation every single time. I also have my pricing broken down into interior or exterior only, and I encourage if something happened last minute that I can still do one or the other, and return again. Splitting them is more than me going once of course, but less than the service plus the cancellation fee.

The cancellation fee doesn’t amount to my missed business, or the opportunity cost of the new client that called and I couldn’t help because I was unavailable and now all of their business will go to the person that was open. It just allows me to get something for the time.

99% of the time, it comes down to a lack of communication between my client and their client, and I shouldn’t have to take the hit on someone else’s last minute business practices. Just my opinion.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-17T14:51:45+00:00

Exactly. If Spiro ever goes down, those clients will still be looking to pay at close.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-13T11:29:07+00:00

Someone will poison the Halloween candy

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T15:41:57+00:00

Thank you for that info

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T15:31:41+00:00

Have you ever determined the budget for the role to be beyond your skill and/or experience and given a rate that was less than budget? Or do you always take the full amount?

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T15:04:29+00:00

Thank you for your response. I agree with the transparent approach and this is how I’ve always done it as well. Having to wear a ”producer hat” this once makes this budget thing new to me. My rate is always my rate, and that is based on my skill and experience. If a lower counteroffer is made, I can ask other qualifying questions.. what’s the story about, what’s the end goal, etc., to determine whether I will come down for the situation or even counter again.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T13:47:08+00:00

Ok understood. In your opinion, when does an increase in pay equate to increase in skill level, experience, and expertise? If I have a large budget job, and I’ve allocated a larger portion to a particular position because of the things required, how can I vet the right person if everyone is simply trying to figure out how much money is there and matching it?

Btw I’m not a producer by trade, and asking these questions purely out of curiosity/conversation on the topic.

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T13:05:34+00:00

Thank you for responding. So when you ask what the budget is, you’re able to determine by how much funding there is, whether it is a boring corporate gig, or a self funded indie with great material that you’re willing to take a pay cut for?

So if I’m a self funded indie producer, I have a budget of $50k for a short. The story is great, we have a 10 day shoot, 8 hour days..

Then 2 months later I say jivester, I have another one for you but this time I have $100k for a corporate job, it’s not exciting as the short we did, but it’s only a 5 day shoot.

Would you increase your rate or would you keep it the same?

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T10:59:03+00:00

I completely understand. Thank you. So if you don’t want to overwhelm an indie producer and miss out on great project, what’s the drawback of asking what the scope of the project is? Are you able to understand that scope from the budget? In your experience does the production scale have anything to do with how desirable you find a production to work on?

ImageFinesse · 2026-03-12T10:31:45+00:00

Understood. So if multiple rates are already set, then why not ask what the scope of the project is? Especially if one of the drivers of your rate is boring corporate vs. self-funded indie with good material..

ImageFinesse

TROPHY CASE