so ive been part 107 certified for about four months now and i got my first real inquiry last week - a local real estate agent wants aerial photos and maybe some video for a listing. i have no idea what to charge. ive been looking online and the range is all over the place, like anywhere from $150 to $800 for basically the same thing depending on who you ask.

i dont want to lowball myself and set a bad precedent but i also dont have a portfolio yet so i feel weird charging top dollar. do i just pick a number and hope for the word? i keep going back and forth. also do you guys charge a flat rate or do you itemize like deliverables, editing time, travel separately? any advice from people who actually went through this would be really helpful

been doing real estate work for about three years now and honestly the best thing i did early on was just pick a floor and stick to it. my floor for a basic real estate shoot - like 15-20 edited stills and a short property video - is $275 and i dont go below that no matter how small the listing is. once you go low for someone they expect low forever and word gets around fast in those circles.

what i'd say is look at what photographers in your area are charging for ground shoots and position yourself just under that, because a lot of real estate agents are still figuring out the value of aerial and you can educate them as you go. also i always charge a small travel fee if its more than like 20 miles out, just build it in, dont make it a line item or they get weird about it. the editing time is where people really undersell themselves - factor that in before you ever give a number.

same boat a while back and what finally helped me was just... telling the client my rate and seeing if they flinched. sounds dumb but most people wont negotiate unless the number is way off. i started at $200 for real estate and within like six months had bumped it to $350 because nobody said no. you kind of calibrate as you go