so ive been doing real estate shoots for about 8 months now and i genuinely have no idea if im charging the right amount. started at $150 per property which felt okay at the time but ive noticed some guys in my area are doing it for $75 and others are charging $400+ and i dont know who to believe.

my current setup is a mini 4 pro, i do basic color grading in lightroom and deliver stills plus a short walk-around video. usually takes me about 2 hours on site and maybe another hour or two editing depending on the property size. so were talking like 3-4 hours total for $150 which when you actually do the math doesnt feel amazing especially once you account for fuel and the time driving out to the location.

the realtors i work with seem happy but none of them have pushed back on price which makes me wonder if im leaving money on the table. does anyone have like a rough framework for figuring this out or is it just trial and error until someone says no

the $75 guys are almost always either hobbyists who dont have part 107, or they're just doing loss-leader work to build a portfolio and they'll burn out in 6 months. don't race to the bottom with them, it's not worth it.

for what you're describing ? mini 4 pro, stills plus video, real editing workflow ? you should honestly be closer to $250-300 minimum in most markets. the way i think about it is: what does a half day of my time cost, add gear depreciation, insurance (you do have liability insurance right?), software subs, and then a margin on top. once you actually lay it all out $150 starts looking pretty rough. the fact that no realtor has pushed back is a really good sign, that usually means you have room to go up. try raising new clients to $225 and see what happens, existing ones you can grandfather in or raise slowly.

honestly same boat as you a few months ago. what helped me was just finding one realtor who was willing to be straight with me and i just asked her directly what she thought was fair. turns out she was paying the photographer $300 and thought my drone add-on at $150 was a steal. raised my prices the next week lol. sometimes you just gotta ask