Quality headshots can help you stand out in the sea of other realtors and real estate professionals, but obtaining them may take more planning than you might expect.

In fact, nearly 70% of agents believe professional real estate photography helps them brand their business, and professional headshots are a part of that branding.

It isn’t just about getting a decent photo. To successfully execute professional real estate agent headshots, you need to think about:

Designing or curating a backdrop that aligns with your style and instantly builds trust with potential clients
Outlining the appropriate attire for your photo session
Guiding photo retouches and edits

To make your headshot sessions easier, we’ve broken down the process to help you create stunning, professional portraits. This comprehensive guide shares planning advice, cost factors, and visual examples to help you nail your shoot.

What to Wear for Real Estate Headshots

First impressions go a long way, especially when closing a sale on a house or property. Use these tips and tricks to make sure you show up to your photo session looking sharp.

Women’s Headshot Attire

Headshot attire for women realtors should display confidence and competence. It’s great to pick out an outfit you feel comfortable in, but you generally want to opt for a simple neckline that doesn’t distract from the rest of the photo.

Another good idea is to opt for solid, more vibrant tones, as lighter colors tend to wash out a photo. Sit up straight, smile, and showcase your readiness to help your buyers find their dream home! Should you want to add a blazer, we recommend medium or dark tones, such as dark gray, blue, or navy.

Wardrobe accessories like scarves or light jewelry can be a great way to showcase your personality in a picture. However, anything you wear should accurately represent your day-to-day look.

Looking at some of the photos from The Corcoran Group, we can see the confident yet friendly demeanor communicated in each headshot. Each realtor wears solid, dark colors with occasional pops of color and light accessories.

It would be great to see a little more visual cohesion across this team, but as individual headshots, these are excellent examples of the look to shoot for to get a great headshot.

Men’s Headshot Attire

Men’s headshot attire should focus on dark, solid-colored shirts with an occasional patterned (but not distracting) tie. A confident, friendly smile comes first in earning likability, so don’t be afraid to show your pearly whites.

Colors like navy blue, charcoal gray, and sometimes black tend to work well, while white or light colors can wash you out, especially if you have fairer skin. Be sure you’re well groomed, sit up straight, and dress like you’re meeting your potential clients for the first time. Any accessories should be limited to what you wear daily.

We get a sense of this principle by looking at some of the agent photos on the Compass website. Each has a unique style, and both realtors present a friendly smile and wear dark-colored, professional attire.

Examples of How to Pose for Real Estate Headshots

Here are some common poses for realtor headshots with visual examples to spark inspiration.

The Total Professional

These folks are staged to sell. With professional attire and a centered layout, these classic headshots are a great starting point for any real estate agent. Pose with your shoulders back, keeping your arms relaxed or lightly crossed with a focused smile.

The Personality Picture

These real estate headshots show more of each agent’s personality, showcasing an expressive background or a more casual environment. To achieve this look, maintain the basic guidelines of professional attire and a confident, focused smile. Consider shooting in a location representative of your given market.

These photos are still professional, but they offer more insight into an agent’s background or target market at a quick glance.

Hip to Be Square

Unsure what to do with your hands? Leave one hand straight at your side and the other resting casually on your hip for a simple yet professional pose.

The Friendly Fellow

Closing a sale is all about client chemistry, and these agents know it. Agents who sparkle with charisma may benefit from showcasing their dazzling smiles in their headshots. This pose is similar to the “Total Professional” look in positioning but with a relaxed, friendly smile for a more approachable look.

The Power Cross

Another pose that says, “I mean business,” is the classic crisscross. Simply cross your arms, keeping your hands tucked in and shoulders relaxed, and let your smile do the talking.

Planning Your Real Estate Headshot Session

Planning your headshots can be more of a hassle than you’d first anticipate, especially since the industry is known for highly variable schedules. Here’s what you can expect from each step of the process, from the initial coordination to securing those final prints for your website, social media, LinkedIn profiles, brochures, and more.

Booking a Traditional Session [The Hard Way]

This route requires booking a local photographer to take your headshots. You can expect the process to follow these general steps.

1. Find a Local Photographer

The first step is to find the right photographer specializing in the headshot style you want. Have a good idea of how many headshots you need and if you need multiple pictures. For instance, you might have a separate photo on the website and another portrait style for a personal brochure.

Professional photographers tend to book up quickly, depending on your market, especially for larger corporate shoots. It’s a good idea to anticipate booking a headshot photographer several weeks ahead of your ideal shoot date.

2. Shoot Day

When shoot day rolls around, you need to show up to your photo shoot site on time and ready to pose. If you’re shooting outdoors, time is precious since fluctuating lighting conditions can make it more challenging to achieve a consistent look.

Your photographer will help direct poses for photos but make sure you’ve educated each team member on the different types of poses and shots they should expect to get out of the session. For example, a headshot for a spotlight on the company’s social media might look different than one built for the listing profile.

3. Photo Editing and Retouches

Most photos will need some form of light color grading and/or retouches before they’re ready to be sent back to clients. Every photographer’s schedule differs, but you can expect a few days to weeks of editing before receiving your first look at completed headshots.

If you have a specific request, like editing out a stray hair or retouching makeup, be sure to deliver these notes to your photographer so they can edit accordingly. Some photographers include multiple rounds of editing revisions, while others charge for additional edits.

4. Solidifying Prints

Once you’re happy with the final headshots, work with your photographer to get the proper photo resolutions. You’ll likely need several files for optimal resolution across the internet and within hand-held marketing materials like brochures.

This extra file management and potential editing can come at an additional cost.

5. Updating Marketing Materials

It’s finally time to put those headshots to good use! Update your photos across social sites, listings, and other outlets accordingly.

Virtual Headshots [The Easy Way]

Getting all your ducks in a row, let alone finding the time to schedule and execute a shoot, can be downright exhausting. Fortunately, you can opt for a service like Headshots.com instead to receive studio-quality, professional headshots at a fraction of the cost.

Unlike the traditional route, getting professional headshots is as simple as taking a few snaps with your phone or another camera you already have. Our team manages the entire process, so you don’t have to lift a finger. And everything is done virtually, so it doesn’t matter if you’re selling homes in Austin or Milwaukee.

We start by giving you specific camera pointers and working to coordinate a backdrop theme or color aligned with your brand. Next, you submit your photos online, and we edit and retouch each one by hand (no AI needed).

After that, we send the photos back to you for review within 3 business days and wait to hear your thoughts. Our Happiness Guarantee ensures you get the results you’re looking for—all without skipping out on your busy showing schedule.

Look through some of our customer examples to see the quality you can expect from our virtual headshot creation.

What You Can Expect to Pay for Real Estate Headshots

Calculating the cost of a real estate headshot shoot can be challenging since there are so many variables. For headshots obtained via the traditional route, you can expect to pay a ballpark amount of $100 to $500 per professional headshot or realtor.

You can expect this cost to include equipment or rental costs, the shooting session, and the initial round of edits. Some photographers may charge extra for retouches like fixing makeup or creating a custom background.

The pricing may vary based on the cost of living in your area and print outlets. For instance, you might want the digital print and an image version suitable for business cards, brochures, and other marketing materials, which may come at an extra expense.

The opportunity cost is especially high for real estate pros since their income is based on their clientele’s at-whim availability.

Opting for a fully remote service like Headshots.com is more affordable, as it only costs $50 per finished picture and can drop to as low as $25 per picture, including all edits. Our team of experts guides your employees through capturing and submitting great photos, and they edit each portrait by hand to provide professional headshots focused on your brand’s identity.

Our online process makes it easy to get headshots done while working with a team of realtors with vastly differing schedules.

Next Steps: Get Studio-Quality Real Estate Headshots Done Entirely Online

Ready to secure professional headshots without having to lock in an in-person photo session? Learn more about our 100% virtual headshot services here.

Our team provides photo-taking tips, edits each photo by hand (always done by a human professional, never AI), and works directly with you to create stunning, polished images that speak directly to your brand. We’re committed to taking care of you at every stage of the process, so your team can focus on showing and selling houses.

How to Take Amazing Real Estate Headshots (w/Examples)