Is real estate media worth scaling compared to retainer client work?

I own a media business with a small team of three: me, an editor, and a videographer/photographer. Our main service is social content for small businesses on retainer, but almost two years ago we started pushing real estate media more seriously too. Now we offer listing photography, video, 3D tours, etc. On average we do about 10 listings a month, and busy months can hit 15–20. We contract out all the editing for real estate, so our team mainly handles travel, shooting, communication, uploading, and managing the workflow.

The real estate side has grown well, but I’m starting to question whether it’s worth pushing harder. For example, if we make $3,000 from real estate in a month vs. $3,000 from retainer clients, the retainer work feels much more efficient. It’s less travel, more predictable, more repeatable, and overall less taxing. Real estate, even with good systems in place, still feels more labor-intensive because of travel, variable shoot times, agent communication, and the number of moving parts. So I’m curious if anyone here has experience in both: real estate media and ongoing content work for small businesses or corporate clients.

Did you find real estate media worth scaling, or did retainer work end up being the better long-term play?I’m in a smaller Southeast USA market with a healthy real estate scene and room to grow, but there’s also room to grow on the retainer side. I enjoy real estate media, but I’m trying to decide where the better opportunity really is long term.

Would love to hear from anyone who has worked in both.