We all know the importance of great real estate photos for home listings. It’s your curb appeal for home shoppers browsing the internet for their next home. Studies show that 95% of home buyers searched for their home online, and 88% of home buyers found online websites and property photos to be a valuable source of property information.
Great property photos draw in more potential buyers…which leads to increased interest, increased property value, and decreased time on the market. There’s no doubt, attractive property photos are essential for online property listings. Due to the importance of great real estate photography, it’s something you’ll want professionally done, versus a DIY effort.
Here’s our comprehensive guide to the costs associated with professional real estate photography.
Average Cost of Residential Real Estate Photography
In our research, we found the national average cost of professional real estate photography is in the $150 – $300 range. This is for a standard photo shoot, based on a 2,000 sq ft home. Three components that can affect the actual rates are photographer’s experience level, what city you’re in, and any optional add-on services from the photographer.
Who Pays for Real Estate Listing Photos?
The general best practice we’ve seen is that the listing agent typically pays for the costs of real estate photos. It’s usually considered as part of the marketing services a listing agent is responsible for.
While most agents include photography as a standard part of their service, we’ve seen some agents charge home sellers separately for additional media services a-la-carte…such as video, drone, Matterport, and an individual listings website.
Different Method of Pricing
There are several main methods a professional real estate photographer might charge for their services. Depending on your property type, listing price, and budget, each of these pricing methods would have their advantages and disadvantages, so you might want to work with several photographers who can accommodate each pricing method depending on your need. Here’s a summary of each pricing method below:
Based on Square Footage
This is perhaps the most common pricing method we’ve found amongst professional real estate photographers. This pricing method is based on the assumption that the larger the property, the more work involved with the photo shoot, and the more photos required. Usually, photographers would tier their pricing based on square footage, ranging from small homes to large homes. The major downside to this pricing method is there is sometimes very little alignment of the property’s square footage, in relation to the complexity of the photo shoot and the agent’s budget.
Based on Number of Photos
This pricing method is based on how many photos are required for your listing. The more photos you need, the more it will cost. Usually, photographers would offer tiered pricing based on a certain number of photos offered in each tier. It’s good to keep in mind that the average number of photos required for most online listings is 25 to 50 photos per listing.
Based on Property Value
This is probably the most uncommon pricing method we’ve seen. This pricing method is based on the property listing price. The actual percentage we’ve seen is around 0.1% of the listing price. This pricing method does seem to align well with both the work involved in the photo shoot and the agent’s incentive and budget.
Options and Additional Costs
Along with standard real estate photography, some full service professional real estate photographers also offer optional services with an additional cost.
- Walkthrough
- Video
- Matterport
- Drone/Aerial
- Photos
- Video
- Twilight Photos
- Extra Photo Editing
- Sky replacement
- Removal of objects
- Additional Buildings or Acreage
- Rush Orders
- Cancellation Fees
- Returning for Reshoot
- Travel Cost Outside the Coverage Area