I paid $3,200 last year to have my bumper cover, hood, roof, and trunk painted by an expert. The rest of my car's paint is excellent, mileage is quite low, and there's no rust anywhere. So, it was worth it to me to have a professional do it right. That said, I chose to save myself several thousand dollars by not painting the whole thing, because it is a "driver"--albeit a fair weather one--and won't stay perfect anyway. On the other hand, I have several other, rather high mileage vehicles that only get my personal "hack" form of body work--grind (cut and weld if necessary), fill, sand, spray with "Rust Reformer" and, if the car is lucky, coat with a some Rust-oleum or bed-liner spray. On those cars, I'm just trying to prolong the body and frame long enough to get a respectable amount of miles out of them (this is a challenge in Vermont).
As for the cost, $1,000 to do the fender and hood is pretty consistent with what I've paid for quality work in the past, but is he going to do the whole fender or just the damaged area?
2004 BMW 330i ZHP (52k miles), Jet Black with black leather, MFactory LSD (3.38) with Z4 cover, 18"x8.5" ET38 APEX Arc-8's (Anthracite) with 245/40 Michelin PSS', Koni Sports with factory springs and front and rear reinforcement plates, Shark Injector, Corsa TSE3 cat-back exhaust, TMS under-driven pulleys (water & steering), CDV delete, TMS CF strut brace, K&N CAI, GAS DISA rebuild, TMS pedals, Wheelskins steering wheel cover, roller tray center console, black-out grilles, and WeatherTech mats