Frequently Asked Questions
Working with us is easy, but you may still have some questions about our servies or policies. The answers to our most common questions are below. Please feel free to contact us with additional inquiries.
Booking
How do I book a photo shoot?
What is your reschedule/cancellation policy?
We ask that reschedling or cancelations be done 24 hours in advance whenever possible.
Payments
What payment methods do you accept?
You will receive an email invoice payable via Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or Discover cards. We can also accept payment via PayPal, ACH transfer, and Venmo.
When is payment due?
You will receive an invoice via email shortly after the shoot, due in full on receipt.
Do you offer any discounts?
All first time bookings receive 10% off your initial invoice. We do occassionally offer additional promotions exclusively through our email list.
Do you charge late or no-show fees?
In order to provide quality service to all of our clients, we take our appointment times seriously.
We allow a 30 minute grace period on appointment times, however late starts may impact the quality or quantity of the work we are able to complete.
If the start time is pushed more than 30 minutes due to a late arrival, a $50 late fee will be added to your invoice.
Any arrivals more than 60 minutes past our appointment time will be considered a ‘No Show’ and the job will be canceled. The job may be rescheduled for a $100 no-show fee.
Please read our full policy here.
What is your refund policy?
No refunds will be given after the photography services are performed.
Please read our full policy here.
Content Delivery
How will I receive my content?
Dollhouse has a secure client area for easy delivery of your content. When your first content order is ready, we will send you an email with a login to our secure client area. You will be asked to create a password, and any future content orders can be accessed from your secure client page.
How long does it take to receive my photos/videos/tours?
Photos and 360 tours are delivered within 2 business days of the photo shoot. Videos are delivered within 3 business days. Websites and marketing flyers are delivered within 3-5 business days depending on the size of your content order.
Day of the Shoot
How long is a shoot?
The time it takes to complete a photo shoot can depend on many factors, but the following times are approximate based on a 2000 sq ft house:
- Interior/Exterior Photography: 2-3 hours
- Twilight Photography: 2 hours
- Zillow/Matterport Tour: 45-60 minutes
- Video Walkthrough: 2-3 hours
- Aerial Photography: 30 minutes
- Aerial Videography: 30 minutes
Please allow an additional 30 minutes at the beginning of each shoot for walkthrough and setup, and approximately 15 minutes at the end of the shoot for equipment breakdown and load out.
Do you do staging?
Unfortunately, no. We do not perform any staging or cleaning, but we are happy to do an inital walkthrough and point out anything we think could be quickly improved. You can also check out our Staging Tips to better prepare a home for photography.
What about residents and pets?
While it’s usually easiest to do the photo shoots with an empty property, we’re happy to accomodate the seller in whatever situation works best for the seller and agent. We do request that any pets are secured and kept away from the photographer and photography equipment.
What happens if the property isn't ready?
If the property is not camera-ready when we arrive, we can either shoot it as is or reschedule for a $100 fee.
How large is your crew?
For most cases a single photographer is assigned to a property. The photographer may bring an assistant at his or her discretion. For large properties with limited time availability we may bring additional photographers as part of our team.
360 Virtual Tours
When will I receive my tour?
Zillow 3D Home and Matterport 3D tours are usually turned around in 1-2 business days. Floor plans may take an additional day for delivery.
For custom 360 tours, we will provide an estimate during our consultation, but most custom tours can be turned around within a week.
Can you retouch the 360 tours?
For tours published through Zillow or Matterport, we cannot retouch the images before they are sent for processing. We shoot all images in HDR and review them carefully at the time of capture for color and quality.
For custom tours, we can do retouching for an extra fee. Custom tours intended for your MLS cannot include significant retouching so as to mirepresent the property (no fixing holes, changing wall colors, removing water stains, etc.), but simple object removal and advanced color corrections are common.
Custom tours not intended for an MLS can be retouched for an additional fee.
Do you edit the Zillow and Matterport tours?
Yes. Once the images have been uploaded and processed by the service, we will review the tour, optimize the default views for each room, clean up the navigation buttons and make your tour as smooth and natural as possible before sending to you for review.
How will I receive my 360 tour?
Once we have finished editing your tour we will include your tour link and a code to embed it on a website on your client area property page. We will send you a secure login to access any deliverables for download.
How long is my tour available online?
Zillow will host your tours indefinitely, or as long as your listing is active as far as we know.
Matterport tours are hosted for 6 months by default. With your approval we may remove your Matterport tour before 6 months are over if your property has sold.
Custom 360 tours are also hosted for 6 months by default. You have the option to extend your hosting for an additional $5 per month or to download the files and self-host your tour.
Photography
Do you shoot brackets / HDR?
We use a variety of techniques to get a great shot depending on the angle, lighting, and mood required for each shot. Because mid-day lighting can be harsh, most finished photos are generally a composite of multiple exposures to balance interior and exterior lighting. We also bring our own flash lighting to fill in specific areas as needed for the best result.
What retouching is included?
We perform color correction on all images and will do sky replacements and cord removals as needed. For images intended for the MLS we cannot retouch property blemishes or misrepresent the property in any way, so we recommend any renovations, repairs, manicuring and staging is complete before the photo shoot.
Image Licensing
Dollhouse retains copyright on all images created through its services. This keeps our costs low and places the burden of addressing unauthorized use on Dollhouse and not the agent.
Your license will include non-transferable permission to use any media created for you by Dollhouse to promote your listing, yourself or your agency in print distribution under 1000 copies and online. We’re not copyright hunters, so play nice, don’t try to sell or give the images to anyone else and consult us to discuss publishing. If you have a question about use beyond promoting your property or yourself, we’re happy to answer any questions.
What image sizes are delivered?
We will deliver you two sizes of your images, one optimized specifically for your MLS, and a high-res version that is 3000 pixels on the long side of the image (which would allow you to print the image up to 10 inches wide).
Videography
What size is the finished video?
Your finished video will have a FullHD size of 1920×1080 pixels encoded at 20MB/sec.
Can you add custom branding to the video?
Yes, on request we can deliver a branded and unbranded version of your video for no extra charge.
Can I post my video to YouTube?
You can post your video anywhere you like to help promote your property. We also have YouTube and Vimeo channels where we upload our videos, so you can always link, embed or share the video from our channel as well.
Can I choose the music for my video?
We are happy to discuss a style, genre or mood, but the final music choice is usually left to the editor to be able to put together the video in the best way possible. We use a wide selection of quality royalty free music in our videos. If you have a specific piece of music you would like to use we are happy to discuss, but you will be responsible for procuring and delivering a copy of the music license in writing before the editing process.
Websites
When will my website be live?
We aim to have your website live for you within a day or two of delivering any photo or video work we have done for you. Your timely delivery of any property or agent information or profile images needed for the website will help us turn it around as fast as possible.
Can I customize my website?
To provide the highest quality and fastest turnaround, our $249 websites are created as templates that are designed to drop in your media and property details with no additional changes. If you would like to customize the colors or other elements of the website, we may be able to make those changes for an additional fee.
If you have a specific vision for your website, we can create a fully customized website for your property starting at $699. Contact us for a quote.
I don't have all the elements for the website.
Our website templates are designed to accomodate a wide range of media options. If you don’t have a 360 tour or video to include in your website, we will simply omit that section of the template in the final site.
Can I have admin access to my website?
No. Your website is hosted and fully managed by Dollhouse, so if you have any corrections or find any errors please contact us and we will update the site for you.
How long will my website be live?
By default your website will be hosted for free for 6 months. With your approval, we may take the website down before the 6 months is over if the property has sold. If you need to extend your hosting the cost is $5 per additional month.
My website appears to be down.
For any support issues related to the website, please contact us and we will look into the issue as soon as possible.
Aerial (Drone) Photography
Are you licensed and insured?
YES. We hold a pilot certificate under 14 CFR Part 107 covering small unmanned aircraft and our drones are registered with the FAA. We are insured with a $500,000 insurance policy for bodily injury or property damage resulting from drone flights.
What does 'FAA approved airspace' mean?
Airspace, especially around Los Angeles and Orange counties, is governed by the FAA. Certain areas such as those around airports, first responder activity, schools, and national parks are restricted from drone activity. If your property is in a restricted airspace, we cannot fly a drone in your area.
How can I check my property's airspace rules?
Airspace regulations are subject to change at any time due to emergencies, first responder activity, security threats, etc. This is the service we use to check your property’s airspace rules: AIRMAP Airspace Map
What happens if the airspace rules change?
If your area is normally unrestricted and we have approved drone flights, in the case of an emergency or temporary airspace restriction, we will reschedule the drone photography or your entire shoot for no charge.
Additional questions?
We’re happy to answer any questions about Dollhouse services and pricing, or discuss your property and provide a quick estimate. Contact us today to book your next property imaging session!