Real Estate Drone Photography: Top 3 Benefits and Considerations

Cinematic Aerial Real Estate Photos

Drones with high-resolution 4K cameras can deliver expansive, cinematic images and videos of a property’s interior and exterior areas from multiple angles. Aerial drone photography can truly capture and sell the ambience of a property and allow homebuyers to visualize the lifestyle that the listing has to offer.

Accurately Showcase a Property’s Roof and Surroundings

One major advantage of drones for real estate is better visual accuracy. Drones can deliver a bird’s-eye view of a property, allowing potential homebuyers to see a development in the context of its surroundings. Homebuyers get a better understanding of the property’s size and neighborhood, including tree cover and proximity to parks or other nearby outdoor amenities. This helps homebuyers feel more confident in their decision-making and makes the listing more appealing.

For large commercial developments, condominiums, and apartment buildings, drone photography can be especially beneficial to fully showcase a property and its outdoor features, such as parking facilities, which would be tough to capture from the ground level using a handheld camera.

Further, real estate drone photography is also a relatively safe and inexpensive resource to provide potential homebuyers with a closer look at a property’s roof. Using a drone to get aerial shots of the roof as opposed to having someone physically climb up and take photos minimizes the risk to human life as well as associated labor costs.

Boost Real Estate Marketing and Sales

In this digital age, high-quality real estate visuals are key to attracting potential homebuyers online. Standard, cookie-cutter property photos are not enough to capture the attention or imagination of today’s tech-savvy homebuyers.

Drones can deliver breathtaking visuals of different properties and capture footage from a new perspective, which can help elevate a real estate company’s marketing and sales performance. In fact, according to MLS research, property listings with aerial images are 68% more likely to sell than those without. So, to ensure their listings stand out in the competitive real estate market, realtors would benefit from incorporating drone photography into their promotional campaigns.

Expertise and Communication

Realtors should evaluate a drone service provider’s expertise by reviewing the pilot’s portfolio of real estate photography and video work. Skillful execution is key to capturing eye-catching photos and footage of property listings, so it’s essential that realtors hire experienced service providers who can find the right lighting and angles to ensure stunning aerial real estate visuals.

Besides expertise, a realtor should ensure the drone service provider maintains open communication regarding the scope of the project, potential challenges, applicable FAA 107 rules, final deliverables, time frame for project completion, and other key factors to successfully manage expectations and ultimately bring the realtor’s vision to life.

FAA-Certified Drone Pilot

Realtors should always hire an FAA-certified drone pilot to capture promotional visuals of their property listings. FAA regulations mandate that drone operators should have a Remote Pilot Certificate if they are flying the drone for commercial purposes. So, working with a drone pilot that does not have the necessary certificate puts a realtor at risk of hefty penalties.

Besides, licensed drone service providers are also reliable and focused on safety because they are well versed with the FAA Part 107 rules, flight restrictions, processes to secure airspace authorization, and other operational factors.

Liability Insurance

While insurance is not mandated by the FAA, working with a drone service provider that has extensive liability insurance coverage protects realtors and homeowners in case of any accidents that cause property damage.