The verdict in three sentences
For a Queenstown luxury real estate agency, a redesign must reconcile two opposing demands: high-quality photography, video and floor plans, and pages that load fast on a phone over 4G. As a 2026 ballpark, a local agency charges NZD 12,000 to 45,000 (≈ USD 7,200 to 27,000), Kolonell USD 2,900 (Starter), USD 4,900 (Growth) or USD 8,900 (Premium), while media production stays a third-party cost paid to local photographers and videographers. The timeline fits in 3 to 4 weeks once media is delivered, ideally in the shoulder season to avoid switching over during winter and summer peaks.
Why does image weight decide your enquiries?
In Kelvin Heights, Dalefield or Arrowtown, a lakefront home or alpine retreat is discovered through images first, often by a second-home buyer browsing from overseas or during a ski trip. If the first photo takes 6 seconds to appear, they move on to the next listing. Google rates a Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds as good: that is the mobile target.
| Media | Typical weight on an ageing site | Target after redesign | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main listing image | 3 to 6 MB JPEG | 200 to 350 KB | AVIF or WebP, sizes matched to the screen |
| 30-photo gallery | 50 to 90 MB loaded at once | 3 to 5 MB as the user scrolls | lazy loading, thumbnails |
| Property video | 40 MB autoplay | poster image, click to play | streaming host |
| Floor plan | 8 MB PDF | 300 KB | optimised image, PDF optional |
| 360 virtual tour | loaded on page open | loaded on click | deferred embed |
| Drone footage | heavy header video | short compressed clip | 10 to 15 seconds, muted |
What do the redesign and media cost in 2026?
Ranges are a 2026 ballpark, based on typical local agency quotes and public supplier rates, converted approximately (NZD 1 ≈ USD 0.60).
| Redesign option | Price | Media handling | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queenstown freelancer | NZD 4,000 to 10,000 (≈ USD 2,400 to 6,000) | depends on the theme | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Regional web agency | NZD 12,000 to 25,000 (≈ USD 7,200 to 15,000) | optimisation often an option | 8 to 12 weeks |
| Prestige specialist agency | NZD 25,000 to 45,000 (≈ USD 15,000 to 27,000) | included | 10 to 16 weeks |
| Kolonell Starter | USD 2,900 | modern formats, lazy loading | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Growth | USD 4,900 | galleries, click-to-play video, floor plans | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Premium | USD 8,900 | same, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote | 3 to 4 weeks |
Media are third-party costs paid directly to local suppliers, as a ballpark per property: professional photography NZD 400 to 1,200 (≈ USD 240 to 720), floor plan NZD 150 to 400 (≈ USD 90 to 240), drone NZD 300 to 800 (≈ USD 180 to 480) by an operator compliant with aviation rules, video NZD 800 to 2,500 (≈ USD 480 to 1,500). Kolonell charges none of these.
Included with Kolonell: a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English or French copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and 3 months of support. On quote: maintenance afterwards, the Trade Me Property feed, CRM connection, third-party hosted virtual tours. Details on the international offer page.
What timeline and which risks?
Week 1: URL inventory (active listings, sold, suburb pages), Search Console export, page-weight audit. Week 2: listing templates, media format rules sent to the photographer. Week 3: build, migration and recompression of existing photos. Week 4: 301 map, wording review, go-live on a quiet day in the shoulder season.
- SEO: ranking lakefront listing pages keep their URL or get a 301; sold properties move to an archive per area.
- Image rights: check that the photographer's contract allows use on the site and portals, and for how long.
- Wording: licensees work under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, regulated by the Real Estate Authority (Te Mana Papawhenua); the Fair Trading Act prohibits misleading claims, including retouched photos that hide a defect. Overseas buyers, largely restricted since 2018, are pointed to the official source. This is not legal advice.
- Forms: name, contact, property reference, optional budget, in line with the Privacy Act 2020; no ID documents. Anti-money-laundering checks are the agency's own process.
Questions to ask: what maximum page weight will you commit to? Who recompresses the 2,000 existing photos? Is the Trade Me feed priced separately? A local agency is the better choice if you want one team to produce photos, drone footage and the site, with on-site meetings.
Need a professional website?
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Mini case study
Illustrative example: Wakatipu Shore Property, an agency specialised in waterfront and view properties. It markets about 12 properties a year, each with photography (NZD 800), floor plan (NZD 250) and drone (NZD 500), so NZD 1,550 per property. Over a year: 12 x 1,550 = NZD 18,600 (≈ USD 11,160) of third-party media. The Growth redesign at USD 4,900, paid once, brings a typical listing page from 48 MB down to about 4 MB loaded progressively, so that visual investment is finally seen on mobile.
FAQ
Do photos lose quality once compressed?
Not visibly if compression is set properly. A 4 MB image reduced to 300 KB in AVIF stays sharp on a phone and on most laptop screens.
Does Kolonell organise the photo shoot?
No, production stays with a local photographer, a third-party cost of roughly NZD 400 to 1,200 per property. We send the expected formats and framing.
When should the new site go live?
In the shoulder season, away from winter and summer tourist peaks. The project itself takes 3 to 4 weeks once media is delivered.
Do we need Premium for international buyers?
Growth at USD 4,900 is enough for an English site. Premium at USD 8,900 makes sense if you target several languages, set in the quote.
Does a faster site sell faster?
No website guarantees a price or a time on market. Measure load time and enquiries over 90 days instead.
Let's scope your project. A redesign that showcases your photos, video and floor plans without weighing down mobile, 301 map included, at a fixed USD 4,900 for Growth, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
