Hi All,

I invited a real estate agent to be my guest on WGAN-TV Live at 5 to share their Matterport journey.

The real estate agent bought a Matterport Pro2 3D Camera in 2016 and sold the Matterport Pro2 3D Camera - and exited the real estate photography business - this year (2021).

While the real estate agent declined to be a guest on WGAN-TV Live at 5 to discuss their Matterport journey, the real estate agent did send me a detailed reply (below) and gave me permission to share a redacted version.

Your thoughts?

Best

Dan

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Dan,

I'd rather not do an interview but I will share some answers to your questions.

[redacted] is a partnership between my wife and I. It is a "side business" as she is retired and I am in the last few years of my full time work. Our plan was to grow real estate photography into a business I could pursue more or less full time when I retire form my full time job. Together, we have more than 45 years experience in professional and semi-professional photography.

1. We originally bought our Matterport camera in late 2016 because a Realtor friend of ours asked us to start taking Matterport tours for her. She was working in a large local real estate office with more than 20 agents.

They had decided they need to start having Matterport tours and my friend convinced us that it could be a good addition to our photography business. (Up until then, we had not been doing real estate photography, but research showed us that, with our experience in photo documentation and commercial photography, we could add it to our list of qualifications easily.) We crunched the numbers and - based on our friend's promise for work and her promise for referrals to the other team members, we decided to buy the camera.

2. We exited the business because of two reasons.

First, we left because there was not enough work to sustain us. Our friend never followed through as she had promised. She hired us for one in ten of her listings. Only two of her fellow real estate agents hired us. They were selling homes in the $350,000 to $1.2M range and they said our approx. $300 - 350.00 fees were too high.

We did some promotion and did get work from other real estate groups, but the work was sporadic. We also did some contract work for apartment rental groups and a national remodeling company, but their pay was only about $150.00 per job.

Second, When the COVID-19 lockdowns happened, we preferred to NOT go out where we could be exposed to the virus. Our Matterport work dried up almost completely. Although we did get two requests for tours, we chose to not take the jobs. I asked you for a referral to a local Matterport provider. I gave the leads to this company.

In addition, we have decided to exit real estate photography completely as there are several other photographers in the area and all are willing/able to shoot, process and deliver photos at a price well below our pricing. I don't think our prices were too high, I honestly believe the competition is charging too little.

3. As I stated earlier, I asked for a referral to a local Matterport Service Provider and we have given this company all threads we have received. We will continue to refer potential customers to them.

I hope this helps you.

[redacted]