bit of a rant but also a genuine question. been doing aerial real estate photography for about eight months, have decent gear (Mavic 3 Pro), editing is clean, turnaround is usually 24 hours. started charging $175 for a standard package which I thought was pretty reasonable but keep running into agents who say they found someone on Bark or whatever for $75-90.

I dont really want to match those prices, like that's barely worth loading the car. but I also cant figure out how to get clients who will actually pay a fair rate. most of my work has come through word of mouth so far but it's inconsistent. wondering if anyone has cracked the code on this or if real estate just kind of sucks as a market in general

real estate is a tough market because there are so many people doing it, a lot of them are just weekend fliers who dont have proper insurance or a 107 and they're racing to the bottom. you're not going to out-price them and you probably don't want to.

what worked for me was going after the higher end agents, like the ones selling $600k+ homes. they care more about quality and they understand that cheap photos cost them money. I started reaching out to those agents directly with a portfolio and a pitch that was basically about how good listing photos mean faster sales, not about my drone specifically. also started offering a package with ground photography included using a mirrorless so I became a one-stop shop and that made it easier to justify $300-400 per listing.

the $75 guys will burn out or get dropped when an agent has a bad experience, and then they sometimes come looking for someone more reliable. had two agents come to me that way this year.

yeah I ran into the same thing starting out and honestly it made me question whether it was worth it. what I ended up doing was niching down a bit, started targeting new construction and developers instead of just resale agents. completely different conversation, they have bigger budgets and actually appreciate consistent quality because they need the content for more than just one listing.

still do some real estate but I'm pickier now about who I work with. some agents genuinley don't get why they should pay more and those are just not your clients, no point trying to convince them.