How much more should I charge for a large house?

Let the sheet decide. Cineminn's runs by size from $149 to $1,499, quoted at 3,000 square feet. The photo count climbs with the size, and the price climbs with it.

How many photos does a 5,000 square foot house need?

About 50. The $149 basic is 20 photos; 30, 40 and 50 only come inside the marketing-kit upgrade, so the count walks the agent up the sheet.

Answers › Pricing & packages

Ask the agent

How do I quote a 5,000 square foot house?

Five of the wealthiest counties in the country, mansions. My package was built for a 2,000 square foot colonial and I freeze when the big one calls.Asked by a photographer on Mike Long, outside Washington DC

Ask the square footage before you say a number. The size sets the price, not your nerve and not your hours. Quote a mansion off a colonial package and you shoot 50 photos for the price of 20.

Ask the square footage before you say a number

Mike shoots in five of the wealthiest counties in the country. The package he built for a 2,000 square foot colonial is a fine package. It is just the wrong line for a 5,000 square foot house, and freezing on the phone is what happens when the right line does not exist yet.

It is the first question on our order page. Not the address, not the date. How big is it?

Our sheet is quoted at 3,000 square feet and runs by size from $149 to $1,499. The agent gives me a number and the sheet gives her one back. Nobody guesses.

A 5,000 square foot house is not a small shoot with more rooms. It is a different line on the sheet, and the line already exists before she calls.

Ask the square footage before you say a number. It’s the only thing that moves the price.

Let the photo count do the climbing

This is the part that makes the top number feel obvious to the agent, not greedy.

The $149 basic is 20 photos. That is the base line. 30, 40 or 50 photos only come inside the marketing-kit upgrade.

A house that size needs 50. So the count walks her up the sheet for you. You never have to argue that a mansion costs more. The sheet says it has more rooms, and more rooms need more photos.

Nobody argues with a photo count. She can see the house. She knows 20 photos will not cover it.

Your cost barely moves. The commission did.

If charging more still feels wrong, here is the number that ends it. Editing is 50 cents a photo with Anna at PixlMB. 50 photos is about $25. Your cost on a mansion is a few dollars more than on a colonial.

The price moves because the commission moved. I listed homes for ten years, and on a big listing the seller compares the agent’s marketing to the neighbor’s. Nobody asks what the photographer charged.

On a mansion, drone, twilight and video are not upsells. They are the minimum. Quote them as the package, not as extras.

Guess high and you freeze. Quote off the colonial package and you shoot 50 photos for the price of 20. The sheet stops both. When the big one calls: ask the size, name the tier, say what is in it. No guessing, no freezing.

The big lesson

A mansion isn’t a bigger shoot. It’s a different line on the sheet.

Do this

This week: add a square-footage question to your booking form and write your top tier before Friday.

The three-package sheet I send agents

Put your numbers in it before your next booking. Free. Then take the sixty-second roadmap quiz and I tell you what to fix first.

Get the sheet Get my roadmap

Straight answers

How much more should I charge for a large house?: Let the sheet decide. Cineminn’s runs by size from $149 to $1,499, quoted at 3,000 square feet. The photo count climbs with the size, and the price climbs with it.
How many photos does a 5,000 square foot house need?: About 50. The $149 basic is 20 photos; 30, 40 and 50 only come inside the marketing-kit upgrade, so the count walks the agent up the sheet.
Should I include drone and twilight on a luxury listing?: Yes, as the minimum, not as upsells. On a big listing the seller compares the agent’s marketing to the neighbor’s. Drone, twilight and video are what that comparison needs.