so this is kind of embarrassing but a local real estate agent reached out to me after seeing some footage i posted and wants me to shoot a property next week. like an actual house, not just messing around. i have my part 107 and ive been flying for about 8 months mostly just for fun and some youtube stuff but never charged anyone for anything.

she asked what my rates are and i kind of panicked and said id get back to her. i have no idea where to start. ive seen people say anywhere from like $150 to $500+ for real estate and that is a massive range. the house is pretty standard, suburban neighborhood, nothing crazy. she wants exterior stills and a short video clip probably under a minute. do i just lowball it to get the experience or is that a bad move? genuinely lost here.

dont undersell yourself, thats the one thing i wish someone told me early on. the second you set a low rate with someone they expect it every time and they tell their friends. real estate is actually one of the more straightforward starting points because there are somewhat standard rates in most markets. for a basic exterior package with stills and a short edit id say somewhere between $200-$300 is not unreasonable for a newer pilot, but honestly if you have good equipment and the footage looks professional you could push toward $350 without feeling weird about it.

factor in your time too, not just the flight. theres the drive, the actual flight which might be 30-45 min, and then editing which can take way longer than people expect especially if youre not fast in post yet. i used to quote just for the shoot and then be 3 hours into the edit wondering why i was making like $8 an hour.

i was in almost the exact same spot last year lol. ended up charging $175 for my first one and looking back i should have asked for more but honestly it was worth it just to get the job done and get the experience. the agent was happy and referred me to two other agents so it worked out. just make sure you have your liability insurance sorted before you show up, some agents will ask and it looks really unprofessional if you dont have it