How much to charge for House video's?

R

RocanLover163

Active member
So I've done a couple of videos for a buddy of the houses he builds. What I'm trying to figure out is what I should be charging. What does everyone else usually charge? I don't think it is anything professional, but decent.

Here is some examples of what I have done. What would you guys have charged for these video's?


 
Charge by the hour or else you can get screwed pretty easily and then your friendship doesn't really get in the way of negotiations. Charge what you feel your time is worth.
 
Thanks! I have thought about charging by the hour, but I have also read of people charging by how many rooms, square footage and price of the house as well. I'm just trying to get a feel of what everyone else charges for this kind of work, and what they would have charged for these videos.
 
Yah that would work for shooting but after you turn in an edit and then they want a few more changes.....and then a few more....and then add this and this and take away that.....you are going to be wishing you were charging hourly, and you will just have to do their bidding and salvage what you can. Just make sure to cover your bases when figuring out pricing
 
RocanLover163 said:
Thanks! I have thought about charging by the hour, but I have also read of people charging by how many rooms, square footage and price of the house as well. I'm just trying to get a feel of what everyone else charges for this kind of work, and what they would have charged for these videos.
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Definitely charge per hour. Plus the bigger the house, the longer it takes. I dont know where you live, but if its in an area where you are driving a lot, charge per mile driven too. I think the IRS suggests that to be .42 per mile? Actually its .50 a mile now for 2010 http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=216048,00.html
This includes not only gas, but just the overall wear and tear on your vehicle.

If you really want some numbers, Ill throw mine out there since I do not work much and do not mind telling people. Ill just say that I know about 5 other people that do similar work and I charge less then all of them at 70 an hour.

Hope that helps
 
I don't shoot houses but have thought about it as my dad is in real estate.

I personally like to shoot for flat rate and just bid per job.

Generally I protect myself saying that there are 3 stages to the edit. Rough deliver 1. The client gets a chance to respond and ask for changes. Complete delivery - The client gets chance to make small changes on what should be a complete project. Final delivery. Upon final delivery the video is final and all changes must be on a renegotiated rate.

The reason I prefer this to hourly is it keeps things the most honest I think. It means if I make a mistake and have to come back another day it doesn't cost my client. It also means there is no need for a client to be concerned with how many hours are spent. That's just the way I like to do it, but I am sure you will find what works best for you.
 
Yah I usually ballpark about how many hours I think it will take for exactly what they are asking for. If I break that range due to my own mistakes or something I suck it up and keep the invoice in the range I quoted, if it is due to them or things unrelated to me then they get a big bill :-P but I know what you mean, I hate feeling like they think I am ripping them off, but having had a few bad experiences, if I bid a project now in reality I am bidding significantly higher than I think it will take me in order to protect me from said problems. I am very clear as to why I do that but some people still prefer a bid for the project. For weddings however I have no problem doing a set price and I just make it very clear that the video I give them along with the raw footage that is negotiated is what is included. Unless there are glaring issues, like the dvd not reading, then anything past my first edit is going to have to be negotiated.
 
So what would you constitute a reasonable change at no charge Sure Shott? I just seems that doing that way would be more of a pain if you are stuck with a picky client. I know its your job to provide something they will like, but I sure some people would take advantage of that method.

Do you guys think that $175 is a reasonable price to charge for a video like one of the videos above? I have a client who wants to have one done but is wanting it done for $150. I just feel like that isn't enough.
 
For me reasonable changes differ according to each step. So far my experiences are though, that if you discuss with the client the feeling/mood and style of the piece before you start they are very pleased the first time they see the edit. That makes completion edit about tightening things up and color.

In terms of how much to shoot. My absolute minimum rate for 1 shooting day is $300. Beyond that, my edit costs depend on what I think it would cost to finish. For me it all comes down to days I have to do something. I don't want to run from meeting to meeting to do a shoot and then to another meeting. I like to have the whole day to devote to whatever I need to do, so I always charge day rate.

I think at $175 that would be a steal especially considering editing time. Remember, when its encoding, that's your time, when its rendering, that's your time, all that time deserves to be paid.

Then again we have all made sacrifices when we start and if you don't have something to do, its money in your pocket, footage for your reel, and a connection made, and this business is all about connections.
 
Yah $175 is pretty darn cheap. But at the same time if you need to build on a portfolio or you really need the cash sometimes you gotta just do it. However know that working for cheap in the long run only hurts you and every other freelancer because through that more and more people don't learn the time it takes for us to do projects and what a reasonable rate is.
 
Thanks guys you have been very helpful! I will take into account everything you guys have said. I definitely will not be doing it for this price much.
 
an article was released recently in Videomaker that addresses this. The guy brings up some really good points, discusses pros, cons and going about getting started, although I wonder if he is able to work as much and do as many properties as he claims he is - if so, awesome and you could damn near make a living off of these things. Good job on the videos, btw, solid work as far as I'm concerned :)

Adam
 
adamrahn said:
an article was released recently in Videomaker that addresses this. The guy brings up some really good points, discusses pros, cons and going about getting started, although I wonder if he is able to work as much and do as many properties as he claims he is - if so, awesome and you could damn near make a living off of these things. Good job on the videos, btw, solid work as far as I'm concerned :)

Adam
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Thank you! Glad you like em. I will check the article out!
 
Sure Shott said:
I don't shoot houses but have thought about it as my dad is in real estate.

I personally like to shoot for flat rate and just bid per job.

Generally I protect myself saying that there are 3 stages to the edit. Rough deliver 1. The client gets a chance to respond and ask for changes. Complete delivery - The client gets chance to make small changes on what should be a complete project. Final delivery. Upon final delivery the video is final and all changes must be on a renegotiated rate.

The reason I prefer this to hourly is it keeps things the most honest I think. It means if I make a mistake and have to come back another day it doesn't cost my client. It also means there is no need for a client to be concerned with how many hours are spent. That's just the way I like to do it, but I am sure you will find what works best for you.
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This is EXACTLY how I work, I like to take my time and do it right. So I also charge a flat rate and in the end the client likes this option best. Also if you are only going to charge $150-$175 I would like to know how long a project like this is taking you. In the end work something out then like this HD footage requires a lot of hard drive space so remember to put that in your quote as well.
 
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life4eva said:
This is EXACTLY how I work, I like to take my time and do it right. So I also charge a flat rate and in the end the client likes this option best. Also if you are only going to charge $150-$175 I would like to know how long a project like this is taking you. In the end work something out then like this HD footage requires a lot of hard drive space so remember to put that in your quote as well.
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It doesn't take me long, I haven't timed myself but definitely only a couple hours. Including rendering and exporting. And you do have a point about the Hard drive space!
 
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