Real Estate Photographer

[tecboy]

Any thought about real estate photographer? I'm thinking about applying, but there a $150 fee for interactive training, marketing material, some sorts of equipment.

 

[astroNikon]

you have to get a certificate for that ??

from what I've seen. you just start contacting real estate people ... and it's all about price and quality of what they are selling.

 

[Light Guru]

Any thought about real estate photographer?

What real estate photographer are you asking about? Or did you mean to ask "Any thought about real estate photography?" Those are two completely different things.

I'm thinking about applying, but there a $150 fee for interactive training, marketing material, some sorts of equipment.

Any job that wants you to pay a fee for applying is a scam.

 

[tecboy]

I found this. It seem interesting and tempting.

 

[gsgary]

All you need is the cheapest point and shoot and your good to go

 

[CameraClicker]

They want to provide a panning machine to mount on your heavy-duty tripod, below your camera. Who you work for is not clear. The $150 probably covers the fee to learn to use their machine.
Scam is probably a strong word for this. Unsecured investment, perhaps?
They are making files that work like Google street view. You get to the page, then you can look left or right, all around the room.

 

[Light Guru]

That definitely sounds like a scam.

First red flag is they want you to pay to apply for the job.

Second red flag. Real estate agents pay little to nothing for photos unless the house is worth more then a million. In fact most real estate agents take the photos they use themselves with their cell phones. The add indicates that they are not the actual real estate agents but a 3rd party company so they would be taking a cut of the small amount that real estate agents are willing to pay for photos, this leaves almost nothing for the photographer.

Third red flag. Any place that wants you to pay to apply for a job with them is a scam.

If you want to do real estate photography then contact local realtors yourself.

 

[Tailgunner]

Any job that wants you to pay a fee for applying is a scam.

This^

Check out the want adds or craigslist in your area jobs for real estate photography jobs.

 

[tirediron]

Sounds like another scam to me. There's not a lot of of opportunity for real estate photography any more, since most estate agents just post happy snaps taken with their cell phone. If you want to get into it, then market yourself; call agents, look around on MLS and when you see listings with really crappy images, contact the owner/agent and see if you can get the job to re-shoot them.

 

[dennybeall]

YES IT"S SORT OF A SCAM.
What they say is true and you do get training, the problem is that there's no work for you after you get through the process. There are thousands of folks out there taking house photos for insurance - they get 3 to 7 dollars per house and can do it with their cell phone.
Real estate agents, except for the multi million dollar properties, are taking their own pics with a pocket camera.
There are exceptions but almost every market has an existing RE photographer with a dozen in the wings waiting to step in if needed.

 

[Browncoat]

I wouldn't say it's a scam...it's just stupid. They've set themselves up to be a middleman between photographers, real estate and insurance agents. They charge the photographer to be "certified" through their program, then charge the agents to use it and pay the photographer peanuts in return.

As a former insurance agent, I can tell you that any home that is underwritten must be photographed by the agent. Usually 3-5 images at least. But knowing how cheap insurance agents are, I don't see them using this kind of service. Certainly not enough to build any kind of income on. Small agencies couldn't afford it, and larger agencies would have their own staff do it. Real estate agents would be far more likely to seek out pro level photography, but even that is a niche market that generally only applies to higher end homes and affluent areas.

 

[Overread35]

As said most estate agents just take the photos themselves with a point and shoot camera. That's all they need - only the very top high class ones will have a professional photographer take photos and chances are they'll not be using this kind of middleman service.

Where this service works is by charging people for training; so ok they've got your money and you've gotten a bit of training - oh and you've bought a panning head (at likely inflated prices over normal retail). And then what. You've got to go out and do all the leg work yourself getting your own clients - so you're really little if no better off than you were before, save that you've spend a chunk of money going nowhere.

The company works because they don't care if you don't get work; their focus is upon the training fees.

You see this model in a lot of places - generally speaking if any company charges you to train you it means that there is likely no job at the end.

 

[Browncoat]

Yup, agreed. I dunno if any of you listen to Clark Howard on the radio or not? He's a self-proclaimed cheapskate, spots deals, ripoffs, and offers financial advice, etc. Anyway...the difference between the two:

A scam is an intentional lie with malicious intent to separate you from your money. Selling beachfront property in Iowa, that's a scam. A ripoff is pretty much what this thread is about. Up front fees, overpriced items that they require you to buy, etc. It's a legit business, but you'd have to be pretty thick in the head to really think it was worth the money. Reminds me of those get rich quick schemes. None of that real estate crap really works. The best way to get rich quick is to write a book on how to get rich quick.

 

[vintagesnaps]

You could look up the company - at the bottom of the page it shows an address in Utah, if you get on the state's website (it might be under the secretary of state) you should be able to look up registered businesses. Their site shows it as an LLC so chances are they're registered.

From looking at their site it seems to be more about marketing; I wouldn't pay for the training either. At best it seems to be somewhat like those places in the mall that do portraits, they just train people to all take pictures the same way. This one seems to involve getting their (apparently patented?) spin-o-rama sort of device to use on your tripod to do pano shots. They seem to want the photos taken, edited, and turned in to them by the end of the same day, but I don't think it says how much it pays or how many assignments you might get.

Their site under Photography shows they can provide Professional Photography or Agent Photography - Self Serve (do you get a creamy whip cone with that? LOL). I don't know, it doesn't strike me as being too promising. I'd certainly find out first how much it pays and how many hours you work etc. and don't think I'd give them a credit card number.

 

[PropilotBW]

I am currently looking at purchasing a new home. I can honestly say that having a REAL professionally-taken photo of the house being represented is a tremendous advantage to the seller and the selling agent. A really good photograph can really accentuate the nice features of a home; and contrarily, a bad photo can make the not-so-nice features of a home REALLY bad. I am less likely to consider the houses that have poor pictorial representation.

I definitely think there is a need for that line of work, but I would walk into a real estate firm with a business portfolio with photo samples to sell your work to the agents.