How to Save Money by Spending More on Renders

You need architectural renders for your new project. You want things to look good, of course, but you get two quotes from two different vendors: one for $100 per image, and one for $350 per image. That feels like a big difference in price, and you're tempted to go with the cheaper option.

Hold on! Before picking the vendor who offers the cheaper renders, consider whether image quality will be the only thing you're sacrificing. While it's tempting to cut costs in any place you can, renders are not a good item to cheap out on - and here's why:

Good renders will pay for themselves in the near-term. (And we went out and proved it.)

Our pricing is competitive with other render shops out there, but there's always going to be a corner of the market that's just cheaper. And that's OK. In fact, we openly tell clients, "If price is the only factor you're deciding on, we're not going to win your business." We're confident that this is the right approach, because higher-quality renders are a more cost-effective solution in the long run. Or are they?

We ran a small experiment to validate our assumptions. We produced a render that we'd charge $350 for. And we provided the same blueprints, etc. to a competing render shop that charges $100 per render. Then, we ran both renders as ads on Instagram, seeing which would generate more engagement. Ours is on top, and the competitor's is on the bottom:

The results? Our render generated more than 2.5x the engagement as the competitor's render. That means that it'd be considerably cheaper to reach people on social media if you opted for the better renders. Check out the numbers in the graphic below:

Look at how much more affordable it was to reach a certain audience with the higher-quality, more expensive renders. They quickly proved to be the smarter investment. Effectiveness on social isn't the only reason to opt for the higher quality renders, though. Here are some other reasons:

Easier to Grab (and Hold) Attention

It's not just social media. Improved imagery on your website, in email marketing, on Zillow, in print marketing makes it significantly easier to attract eyeballs. E-commerce entrepreneurs fight a constant war for attention, and their battlefield is a sea of thumbnail images. They know how crucial it is to have attention-getting imagery. Real estate is no different. Higher-quality renders can help you at every stage of your marketing funnel — getting more clicks, generating more leads, and driving more sales.

It's a Reflection On You

Whether you're a developer, real estate agent, or hold some other role in the real estate world, you're trying to impress someone — investors, buyers, new listing prospects. And good renders = good branding. They say, "Work with me, and this is the kind of quality you can expect." If you're simply trying to check a box, the cheaper renders are probably a fine option. If you think about why you're purchasing the render in the first place, though, (to sell the property and grab attention and impress people) will a cheap render really help you do that? If you want people to think you're a first-class professional, use first-class renders.

They're Closer to the Real Thing

Statistics show that buying sight unseen has never been more popular.  It sounds obvious, but beautiful renders have the added advantage over cheaper renders of being a better digital representation of the real-life physical world, and that shouldn't be overlooked. When the real-life experience matches what buyers see on their screen, they can have that confidence to move forward earlier, as they feel like they're being taken care of.

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