What does a first-time home buyer video series cost with an avatar?

Six 30-second first-time home buyer tips made with a Sume avatar cost $33.12 at standard quality, $44.10 at plus (the default) and $99.00 at max, plus a one-time $0.95 to create the avatar. Those figures are 180 seconds of talking video at $0.184, $0.245 and $0.55 per second, rates read on 2026-10-07.

An agent's advice series is a good fit for an avatar. The content is a script, the format repeats, and the viewer wants a consistent face. The cost is also easy to plan, because it is a per-second rate with no other line items.

Create the avatar once

Avatar 1.0 creates a reusable avatar from a photo, and the response gives a handle you use on every video. Do that one time, with a clear, front-facing photo you have the right to use. Make it of the agent themselves or of a person who has agreed in writing to be used. Do not use a photo of a stranger.

Each video then needs only the handle and a script. A script is accepted when its estimated duration is 4 to 60 seconds, so plan each tip near 30 seconds and keep longer topics as two tips.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: buyer-tip-1" \
  -d '{
    "avatar_handle": "my_agent",
    "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
    "quality": "standard",
    "script": "Tip one for first-time buyers: get your pre-approval letter before you tour a single home. It tells you your real budget and it makes your offer stronger."
  }'

Pick the tier for the job

Standard is the fastest path and costs the least. Plus is the default and sits in the middle. Max is the highest quality and the slowest, and costs about three times standard. For a tips series on a phone screen, standard or plus is usually enough. Spend max on the one clip that anchors the series, such as the channel intro.

A mixed plan is common: one max intro (30 seconds, $16.50) and five plus tips ($36.75) is $53.25 in all.

Six tips that work as a series

• Get pre-approved before you tour.
• What closing costs are, and who pays what.
• How an inspection contingency protects you.
• Why the lowest list price is not always the lowest cost.
• What to check in a neighbourhood at three different times of day.
• What to ask your agent before you sign a buyer agreement.

Write scripts a viewer can use

Each tip should be one idea a first-time buyer can act on this week. Open with the action ('Get your pre-approval letter first'), give the reason in one sentence, and close with what the viewer should do next. Thirty seconds of speech is not much: that is a hook, two facts and a call to action, and no more.

Say each number as a spoken phrase and keep jargon to a minimum. If a term must appear, explain it in the same sentence. Local rules on fees, disclosures and agency agreements vary, so keep claims general and leave the specific rules to the page the video links to.

Run each script past your broker and keep the approved text with the job id. If a rule changes, you can find every video that used the old sentence and replace it.

Schedule the series

Six clips make six weeks of posts, or two weeks at three a week. Generate them all in one session, each with its own Idempotency-Key such as buyer-tip-3, so a retried request never bills twice. Poll each job, download the finished files, and store the Sume URLs. Plan one extra clip's worth of budget for a retake: a single 30-second retake at plus is $7.35.

Finish by putting each clip in a short Timeline 1.0 render if you want a music bed or a branded end card. That is $0.10 per clip and does not touch the avatar.

What it costs

Rates are per second of finished talking video. Check the live figure in GET /v1/catalog before you commit to a budget, because the avatar tiers carry their own rate-card version.

• Add the one-time avatar creation: $0.95.
• Burned-in captions on an avatar video are a separate add-on in the estimate; confirm the amount in the catalog.
• Real estate advice is regulated in many places. Have your broker check each script before it is posted.