Everyone loves old Frank Sinatra songs. “Come Fly with Me” still remains one of his most popular. Thanks to modern technology, more and more people are participating in the wonders of aviation.
Sure, piloting your own aircraft can be an expensive proposition – between renting the airplane, fuel costs and training to be a pilot - the costs can really add up.
There’s another way that’s becoming very popular these days, and it’s a lot less expensive.
You guessed it. I’m talking about drones. From large military drones taking out terrorists to smaller drones outfitted with cameras, these pilotless aircraft are really (pardon the pun) taking off.
People are finding all kinds of uses for drones in many different industries. Amazon made national news when it announced it was testing drones for package delivery – right to your front doorstep.
If lots of other industries can use drones, why not real estate?
Prior to the ‘drone age,’ Realtors looking to sell luxury real estate or commercial properties would hire an aerial photography company to take pictures of the property. Aerial photography using aircraft could only justify the cost when used on high-priced properties.
Aircraft for the Common Person
For about $1,000, you can purchase a high-quality drone. For that price, the drone will be easy to program and fly. Plus, it will usually have a very high-quality camera that will take beautiful pictures and video.
Here are a few examples of drones used by people in real estate:
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The Yuneec Collision Avoidance Hexacopter has a gimbaled, 360-degree ultra high-definition camera that can take 4k video and 12-megapixel stills. It also has a ‘you-guessed-it’ collision avoidance system to make sure it doesn’t run into trees.
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The DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter – has an auto takeoff and auto return home feature to use GPS technology to pretty much fly itself. It can live stream video as it flies and has a range of up to 2 km.
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The DJI Inspire 2 is about twice the price of the other two drones ($2,000 vs. $1,000), but can be upgraded to 5.2k video capability. It is extremely easy to fly, can stream video and has excellent range.
Another camera similar to a drone is a Glidecam. Unlike a drone, the camera is attached to an arm that is attached to a person walking around.
Glidecams have controls in their handles to reposition the camera and stabilize the pictures or video. That way, the photographer can walk around a home and make it appear that the camera is flying.
Glidecams can range in price from around $50 all the way up to several thousand dollars. Here is a video showing how someone might use a Glidecam to shoot real estate.
Drones vs. Regular Cameras
Drones can capture lots of shots that regular cameras can’t. Besides the obvious overall aerial view of the property, drones can be used to create stunning images and videos.
Photographers can vary the speed of the drone to speed them up as they approach the house from the driveway, or slow to a hover to appreciate a dramatic view.
Drones can be used both outside and inside a home to create an extremely stable virtual tour. Here is an example of a home for sale shot by a drone.
In addition to the homes, drones can take aerial footage of the neighborhood. Showing people how close amenities are, such as schools, highway access, shops, restaurants and leisure activities, may go a long way in creating desire in prospective buyers.
On the buying side, drones may become future bird dogs for real estate investors. They could quickly film a whole neighborhood for an investor. The investor could then see the footage live streaming or review it later, looking for tall grass, deteriorating roofs or general decay.
Instead of terrorists, your drone could be seeking motivated sellers.
Drones can also be used for inspection and surveying of commercial properties, especially office or apartment buildings that have many stories.
Right now, drones are serving mostly the luxury and high-end commercial markets that aerial photographers served before. But like most technology, experiments are going on in all kinds of real estate markets.
As the costs of drones go down and the technology becomes better, expect to see real estate marketing and drone technology become more and more entwined.
Flown ‘Em?
Share your experiences with drones and real estate in the comments section below.
Change Your Marketing – Try new ideas all the time. Experiment and see what works.
Create High-Quality Pictures – People look much more at pictures of real estate than read the text. Saving a couple of hundred bucks on photography may lose you thousands in the sale price.
Take Lots of Pictures – Listing properties online allows you to add lots of pictures. Take advantage of it. Pictures, and lots of them, tell people you aren’t hiding anything and builds trust.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.