Its that time of year where we review our previous year and make plans for the new year. In this video I breakdown and show you how much money I made with the video camera in 2019 and how I made it.
I also give my thoughts on the elusive Work-Life balance and what I give priority to.
You didn’t mention slider when doing the videos? Did you give up on the slider? I have been really enjoying the video classes.
Absolutely not, I still use the slider the most I just forgot to mention it.
Grant thank you for share we us your 2019 money done. It’s a great experience. Good job. I agree with you, the most important is definitely the balance between job and our family time. Thank again.
Thanks Grant, that is very interesting video. I live in Canada and am trying to improve my video techniques. I have not yet figured out what the sweet point for charging for realty videos. I have a good grasp of the market for stills. For video the costs are higher; much more equipment (including drone, etc), substantially more time for post production (at least a full day) and the technology is still rageing along, so new equipment is required plus drone licensing is costly. My present ballpark fee for a 3 min video of a modest country property around $350 Cdn ($406NZ)plus tax plus travel. I’m told this is cheap and I see YouTube videos in the USA with people talking about $1000US and more. I also do large estates where I charge a little more. Stills are in addition.
Hi Hutton – your pricing does sound a little low to me. I’m obviously not aware of your local market and what your competition is doing but I would try and find out what your competition is charging for example and more importantly what you would be happy with?
Hi Hutton – your pricing seems low to me too. I’m located in Whistler, BC and if we had a videographer who did a 3 minute property video for me I’d pay $350 – $500 Cdn all day long.
I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed this video. I have never seen or heard of another videographer describe the details of their business income. So refreshing to say the least. I am a real estate photographer that does still photography and recently added drone photography to my business. This has become my retirement income. Thanks http://www.genemoretti.com/ If I were younger I would get into video real estate.
Thanks for sharing Grant. It helps me figure out my earning potential.
Thanks for your candid video Grant! I really appreciate the transparency as it gives a real world example of what it is like to be a videographer. Love the work/life balance that you talk about, it is something I am extremely grateful for being a videographer myself and totally agree with prioritising family and time for yourself while still paying the bills. Love your work!
Thanks for the honest, transparent video Grant. Nice to see the wise balance in your life!
I’ve really appreciated your videos and teaching style. Also, thanks for responding quickly to my questions!
Thankful –
Thanks for doing this Grant. Nice transparency. Helps us guage a bit better where we are in our real estate photo and video business. We did about $55k USD before taxes and expenses. This includes video work and still photography . Makes us at least feel we are on the right track. Thanks again.
Hi, Grant. Very nice video. Thank you for the candor. I’m curious: In New Zealand do you not deduct your expenses as a “business cost” before paying taxes on your income? In the US, with a $96K gross income we’d probably be able to reduce that considerably by deducting the cost of equipment, supplies, travel, home office, etc. After three years, I think, of declaring that you actually made no money due to expenses (spend, spend, spend!) the government declares that you aren’t, then, a business. What’s the deal in NZ?
And I have to say, it certainly looks like $96K supports a much nicer lifestyle in NZ than it does here. I’m assuming the 25% tax rate enables you to not worry a whole lot about health care, medical emergencies, or your kids’ education (financially anyway.) Again, thanks!
Hi Jon – yes same here we deduct expenses before tax but I used 25% as a ball park figure from the gross amount which is what it’s often close to. With regards to supporting our lifestyle my wife works full time so my income is only half the equation otherwise it would definitely be less skiing for me!
Grant, your honesty and candor is impressive. I would have thought that you would have made a lot more money considering your work quality and knowledge of videography. I am considering real estate videography as a retirement income but can see that I will need other income streams (besides my pension) as well – thanks to you!
Hi Michael – I’m sure I could have made more shooting real estate in a larger city but we actually only have a resident population here of about 16,000 so quite small and very seasonal. Cheers
I like you. I live in Barbados.
My main Income is shooting Horse Racing twice a month. I have a crew of 7 cameras and one in the control room.
These videos are played back for the stewards to review any bad riding or complaints. At the end of the day I produce a video of the days event.
I also do Virtual Tours for hotels and real estate. This part of the business is very slow as these clients dont want to spend money advertising anything.
Cheers
Video in Australia seems to be a bit higher but I think it really comes down to what areas you target, population size (as Grant suggested), the quality of your work but also just as importantly your level of customer service.
I am able to charge the highest rates for my area and still get lots of work because agents know they can rely on me to deliver consistent results in a professional manner. This is mainly because I have systemised my business to streamline my workflow so I can offer faster turn around times. All I shoot is real estate, I average just over $2,000 per week (before taxes and expenses) shooting real estate stills and video. My average working week is 3 days which allows me plenty of free time to pickup or dropoff my kids to school and have a great life/work balance.
Thanks again Grant, great video!
Nathan Devine
Instagram: @southcoastphotographer @myphotocareer