Interesting - at what price point do you think people would need to see it in person first? Certainly some sites have proven people will buy ever-more-expensive goods online, but real estate hasn't gotten there yet...
It's not just the price point (though if I'm going to spend $200,000 buying it, I'm sure going to see it first, including the inside).
It's also that I'm going to have to live in this environment. That noisy neighbor? The web site isn't going to tell me about that. It isn't going to tell me about the gang sign on the building across the street (I know, Google Street View). It isn't going to tell me about the feel of the neighborhood - whether, at gut level, I'm going to feel comfortable having my wife and kids live there. There's simply no way I'm going to make a decision about living somewhere without physically going there first. It's not like renting a hotel room for a night.
I think something implying: "Online Code Repository" would be better. Portfolio may mean, you want to look at the outputs while you want to check out the "code" or attitude here...
We debated this number at length... We don't usually do projects for less than 5k, but every once in a while there is something small and quick that is worth it. We figured start low and if we need to raise the bar we will. Thanks for the feedback.
But maybe you don't want more of "every so often" type clients — you should market for the clients you want to get. Do another site for $2k jobs and define what those are (and they won't be "code an idea" -- more like "make me a thingie")...
5k seems cheap too. You might just want to ask for more.
In my experience, software projects always work best when the buyer considers the work to be plain expensive, and the developer feels well paid. Actually, that goes for all sorts of projects.
