The Best Drones for Real Estate Marketing

Online Real Estate Marketing

The old school methods of real estate marketing using billboards, newspapers, and TV commercials are now a thing of the past. With the development of the internet and social media, new marketing methods have been developed, such as drones for real estate marketing, to cater to the social media trend. Potential home buyers are going online to find the home of their dreams, and looking for the best drones for real estate videos.

FACT: 89% of home buyers use mobile devices to search for real estate.

The real estate market is more competitive than ever due to rapidly evolving visual marketing tools and technologies. In order to stand out, modern real estate agents have to be more tech savvy and use the newest technological tools. DIY videos, and simple 2D photography are no longer impressive to the modern generation of home buyers. They expect an engaging online experience to get a true picture of a property.

Newly available computer and video technologies make it possible to create professional looking immersive virtual listings without deep technical knowledge, and at a reasonable price point.

Drones for Real Estate Regulations

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued new rules for the commercial use of drones on June 21, 2016. These new rules make it much easier for real estate agents to use drones for aerial photos and videos. What is odd is that if you look at the FAQs of the National Association of Realtors, they state that current FAA laws prohibit the use of drones for commercial use, which includes taking aerial images of real estate listings. They suggest getting a Section 333 waiver from the FAA. What they fail to mention is that you need to have a pilot’s license to get a Section 333 waiver.

Obviously, most realtors, surveyors, and appraisers do not have a pilot’s license so were unable to use drones for business purposes.

The good news is that you no longer need a pilot’s license to fly a drone for commercial purposes, such as real estate sales. Instead, what you need to obtain is a remote pilot’s certificate under the new regulatory framework of Section 107. This is a certification process that covers most low-risk commercial drone operations.

Obtaining the certificate does not require a flying experience. What you need to do is to pass an exam at an FAA testing center. The test cost is about $150 and takes about 20 hours to prepare and study for the exam. The applicant must also meet the following four eligibility requirements:

• Be at least 16 years of age
• Can read, write and understand the English language
• Be in proper physical and mental condition to safely operate a drone
• Pass a background check by the Transportation Safety Authority

Once you have completed and passed your exam at testing center, you will have your flying certificate within six to eight weeks.

There are operational limitations under Section 107. You can read the full Section 107 summary here, but these are the main points:

• Your drone must weigh less than 25 kb (55 lbs)
• Keep your drone in your line of sight. This also applies for drones with waypoint navigation systems. For safety reasons, you need to keep your eyes on your drone.
• Do not fly higher than 400 feet above the ground.
• Do not fly over people. If your drone fails, you don’t want it to hit and injure someone.
• Daylight operations only. You’re not going to get great pictures at night anyways.
• Maximum ground speed of 100 mph. Just don’t be flying a racing drone, and you’ll be fine.
• The pilot must execute a preflight check which includes inspecting the drone to ensure that it is in safe operating condition. Also, the flying route needs to be examined to be sure that there is no risk to people or property.

The Modern Home Buyer

It is critical for a real estate agent to understand who the modern home buyers are. Millennial buyers now comprise 35% of all new home buyers. The modern buyer wants more engaging, interactive, and mobile friendly content from the real estate market.

FACT: 92% of homebuyers search the internet before contacting a real estate agent.

This shift in the buyer landscape has forced an innovation in real estate marking. Experimental and 3D technologies that were once in the research and development stage are now becoming a standard part of listing presentation. The key to utilizing this technology is to emotionally engage with the buyer by better communicating the listing property. Sophisticated real estate agents are learning how to do this.

Online Presence

Buying a home is a good example of a social activity. It requires an individual or couple to involve their family, loan officer, and real estate agent to contribute to their house hunting efforts. Real estate agents are well aware of the need for internet-based advertising with specific focus on social engagement to drive sales.

YouTube offers real estate agents an amazing platform that can be used to reach potential buyers. Videos featuring home tours, personal profiles, client testimonials, and neighborhood profiles are all possible.
Century 21 has reported a 20% increase in sales due to video marketing campaigns on YouTube, Facebook, and Flickr.

Visual Real Estate Marketing

With the change in online media, real estate marketers no longer have a captive audience. Now marketing content has three seconds to attract attention, or the potential buyer will go elsewhere. The best way to capture attention is through visual marketing. Visual marketing is harnessing the power of images.

However, there are different options for visual real estate marketing with associated levels of complexity if you want to do it yourself.

2D Digital Photography

Digital photography is the industry standard when it comes to real estate property marketing. Buyers fully expect to see detailed photos of the property interior and exterior to gain a better understanding of the listing.

Some real estate agents resort to pulling out their smartphones and start snapping photos for the property listing. However, the end results can vary, and will probably not be of the level of quality expected by prospective buyers and sellers. That is not to say that you can’t take professional looking photos yourself. If you have a decent SLR camera, and some basic photography knowledge, you can take high quality images yourself. Otherwise, it’s not difficult to hire a professional photographer for the job.

FACT: Listings with professional photos sell 3 weeks faster, sell an average of $11,000 more, and are 44% more likely to sell above list price.

For low-end listings, taking photos yourself can be practical and save you money. A simple course on smartphone photography and image editing can get you started. However, some agents prefer spending their time winning additional listings and communicating with their clients instead of editing images.

For mid-range listings, real estate agents recognize that a professional photographer is needed to produce high quality images that buyers expect. These images require high end equipment, and knowledge of staging, framing, lighting, and editing.

Video Slideshow

Simple virtual tours of a listing can be created using a series of still photos that are set to music, and use a transition effect. These virtual tours are still-frame slideshows that are an easy DIY option for low end listings where the cost of a professional photographer is not practical.

Videos for Real Estate

The video quality expected by the modern buyer excludes the option of using a smartphone for a DIY listing video. A shaky hand-held video will not inspire confidence in the buyer, and will make the resultant video look amateurish.

FACT: 70% of home buyers expect to see a video as part of the property listing.

Using a professional video shoot, the listing can include shots at multiple times of the day that give the buyer a real feel for the property. Similar to 2D photos, a professional videographer is needed to produce high quality videos.

360 degree Panoramic Walkthroughs

360 degree panoramic photography gives the viewer a sense of where a scene sits in relation to the property. It feels as if the buyer is standing in the property, and turning around.

Including this panoramic view on a 2D floor plan provides for a truly immersive walkthrough experience.

This is similar to what you can experience with Google maps. You can move your standing location by clicking on the 2D map, and then rotate your point of view to gain a better understanding of your surroundings.

Drones for Real Estate

Aerial drones have added a new dimension to real estate photography and videography marketing. A drone with a camera can be flown high above the property to capture unique exterior views, and provide vies of the surrounding neighborhood.

Drones videos compliment interior videos to give online buyers a complete feel for the interior and exterior of a property. Videos of the surrounding neighborhood are useful for highlighting proximity to schools, parks, or other area features.

There are many benefits for using drones for real estate marketing:

Create more compelling images: Modern drones allow a pilot to create simple dramatic shots using a combination of GPS programmed waypoints, with automatic points of interest camera targeting.

Create more interesting virtual tours: A camera drone can be used on the interior of a home to generate a virtual tour of the property.

Highlight Property Features: Aerial photos and videos can highlight important property features such as landscaping, pools, back yards, and walking paths.

Generate New Business: By showing the market that you are capable of using a drone for photos and videos sends the message to prospective sellers that you are technically savvy, and will make their property look amazing.

Beat the Competition: It is obvious that listings that look better, and provide more clarity of information will sell better.

Save money: Drone videography is far cheaper than shooting videos and photos from a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft.

Best Drones for Real Estate Marketing

This section is for the real estate agent who wants to get a drone to shoot aerial photos and videos for their property listings, but are not sure which one to get. Before going into our drone recommendations, there are some things you need to keep in mind when selecting a drone for real estate photos and videos.

Battery Life

Typical average battery lifetime for a mid-range drone suitable for real estate shots is about 15 to 20 minutes. You will definitely want to get an extra battery or two so you can have more flying time. Before you put your drone in the air, you need to think about what shot you want to get, and what course you want to set your drone. You will also want to take the same shot a few times, so that you can pick the best one during the editing process.

Camera Gimbal

You absolutely want to have a drone with a camera gimbal. A gimbal is a support system that allows the camera to point in the same direction regardless of the drone motion. This will remove any image jitter that may have been caused by the drone flight motion. A gimbal is important for getting steady, flowing shots and preventing any camera vibrations. If you do not use a gimbal, you will certainly be disappointed with the results.

Intelligent Flight Modes

To get great aerial photos and videos for real estate listings, you need to do two things: 1. Fly the drone, 2. Control the camera. By getting a drone with intelligent flight modes, you can essentially remove the drone flying task, and focus on getting great pictures. Using waypoint navigation, you can set multiple GPS points that the drone will automatically fly to. This enables you to focus on capturing the shot that you want.

Camera Quality

Any images that you take won’t look good unless a high-quality camera is used. With the advent of 4K image quality to capture creative and innovative videos, it was only a matter of time before such cameras were available for the drone market.