What to charge for real estate info?

Andi Arndt

Great news! My realtor is also the current head of both her local agency branch and the local realtors' association. She wants to pitch me to her marketing director to use as a unifying "branding" sound for all their properties and developments.

My question: what to charge? They are looking to me to suggest fees for:

*writing a script based on bullet-point property descriptions
*and/or voicing the script (some realtors may want to write their own)
*commercials
*HomeVoice (call for property info) and Virtual Tour (web-based) platforms

Thoughts? I will look at the non-union fee info that V123 provides, but thought maybe some on the list could also help. Thanks!

Andi

Amy Snively · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007, 18:33 (GMT) Post subject:

For VO, I'd say .35 a word, with a $100 minimum per session.
Smile

Andi Arndt · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007, 18:47 (GMT) Post subject:

Whoa - just heard back from her and now she's talking ANNUAL RETAINER as long as I don't record for any other agency in this area (which is ok because hers is by far the biggest and they have a HUGE new development going in that's the size of a small town, so that's a ton of commercials).

Annual fee??

Erik Sheppard · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007, 18:55 (GMT) Post subject:

Congratulations Andi!

As for yearly fee, thats a tough one without knowing, at least approximately, how many spots will be expected of you over the year. You don't want to quote too low and wind up chained to your mic for these people. If they feel that they own you, they might just pile it on and try to get the most out of you that they can. A year is a long time to wait for a fee renegotiation. I know you don't want to scare them off but get as much info as you can before giving them a quote.

Andi Arndt · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007, 18:57 (GMT) Post subject:

Maybe just an agreed-upon fee structure for types of work would be better. I can send them a monthly itemized bill and everyone will be clear about what's going on.

I tried to gently tell another client this morning that $150 for a buyout on a full-length instructional CD-ROM is not exactly up to market rate...perhaps if this realty thing comes through I will have more leverage to say "if you want me, here's what it'll cost ya."

Thanks for the replies--looking forward to hearing more!

Andi

Robert Jadah · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007, 18:58 (GMT) Post subject:

Tough call, Andi.
Well done, by the way. I've been chasing realtors for months. It's a nice gig.

But how many pieces/hours a week? You're writng the pieces, too? What kind of turnaround time/availability will they expect from you?

Off the top of my head, I'd say $30,000 minimum. You're talking a lot of hours and scrambling there. And you will want a contract and nice legal niceties on this one.

Voice On!

Jill Tarnoff · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007, 15:18 (GMT) Post subject: real esate fees

Hi, I have also recently been blessed with the opportunity to narrate the sales videos. I have been asked for a per tour price. The company offers $129 per tour. I still have to make it an attractive add on to that price. I thought $50 was too high, so I came in at $35 for up to one minute. I have done some research and heard prices all over the place including, ugh, a criticism that the agents think a pro voice sounds too impersonal. Do they hear themselves?! They show beautiful homes with the voice of some local yokel reading it. It ruins the whole thing!
I am hope I can knock these babies out at 15 min a piece. I will not be writing the scripts.
Anybody else have a price structure to offer?

Andi Arndt

OK, so I've also gotten some other real estate work in the meantime, and their fee structure is much more modest but the volume is incredible, so it works fine (also they're not picky about editing and all that jazz, as long as there are no major glitches).

For run-of-the-mill listings, they're paying 1/2/3 (as in dollars) for :15/30/60, and for the high-end listings, they're paying 5/6/7. At first I thought man, is this going to be ok? But it only took me I would say a day's work total, spread over several days, and ended up being over $500!!! (They cast me for the high end stuff, yay). They're great to work with, and for someone like me who is just getting myself started, this money allows me to pay for professional coaching and some marketing-related stuff so I can graduate to bigger stuff at some point.

I am starting to think it really comes down to volume. Is it worth it for me to set up all my stuff for one or two spots and make $14? No. But if I settle in and just bang these things out, is it worth it to have several hundred bucks, regularly, from a great client? Heck Yeah!

Andi