Have you considered using drones to take photos for your real estate listings? Drone photography can be a great way to show off a property, giving your listing the “wow” factor and also helping potential buyers to get a more accurate view of the property as a whole.
In almost all cases, the benefits of drone photography will be more than worth the cost. Even if you’re an independent real estate agent, you can make use of drone photography to sell properties faster (and even potentially at a higher asking price).
Benefits of Drone Photography
Drone photography allows you to:
- Impress buyers with high-quality professional photography that helps your listing stand out when compared with others. Home buyers are still used to seeing street-level photos, so your aerial shots will stand out as something different. The extra attention and time you’re putting into photos will give the impression that the property is special and well worth their attention.
- Show a property in context. This can help potential buyers picture where they’ll be living. It’s a great way to show off features that are hard to capture in street-level photos: for instance, you might want to highlight the amount of land a property has, or show it in context alongside other nearby properties.
- Highlight great features of the property, like a waterfront location, a swimming pool, or a beautiful and well-maintained garden. Simply writing about these in the listing, or even showing street-level photos, won’t make such a striking impression.
- Impress potential clients. If someone’s thinking of hiring you to sell their property, they’re highly likely to look at how you’re listing other people’s homes. If they see high-quality drone photos, this might nudge them into hiring you instead of a competitor.
- Create video tours of the location. Drones can be used to shoot video footage as well as photographs, so you could even create a custom video tour of the location, highlighting the property. This is certain to impress.
Key Use Cases for Taking Real Estate Photos Using a Drone
Drone photography can be used to great effect in the following situations:
- You’re selling a luxury property. You want your photos to show it off to the best possible effect – plus, high-quality photos help to show potential buyers the care and attention you put into your property sales, boosting their confidence in buying from you.
- You want to show the boundaries of the property. If it’s a big estate, if it’s adjacent to other properties, or if it’s a large area of land like a ranch or farm, then an aerial photo lets you easily mark on the boundary lines. This helps show potential buyers how far the property extends.
- The roof and/or gutters need to be shown. Perhaps these have been recently repaired and you want to prove to potential buyers that they’re in great shape. Using aerial photography lets you easily show their condition.
- The property is near to amenities like a local school, park, and/or other attractions. Drone photos let you show just how close the property is to these, adding instant visual appeal. It’s worth thinking about the likely buyers for a property and what they might value most. For instance, a family with kids might be delighted to see a play park near their potential new home. A young professional couple might be more interested in the nearby Whole Foods Market or the local sports complex.
How Much Does Drone Photography Cost?
You can either buy a drone yourself or pay for a professional photographer to get the shots.
Hiring someone is likely to cost several hundred dollars, and potentially as much as $1,500 if you need a full day of shooting.
Purchasing a drone and high-quality camera will likely cost more (and you’ll likely want professional editing software too). However, this could be a great investment according to the team at Paperless Pipeline – particularly if you’re still working from home as a real estate agent.
There are drones on the market with a range of 8 miles, so it’s possible for you to get a bird’s-eye view of many local properties without leaving your home.
If you’re on a tight budget, you could get a budget mini drone for as little as $400. You could even use this for some striking indoor shots.
The ROI on Drone Photography
Real estate agents are increasingly using drone photography for their listings – and you can make sure your listing looks just as good by using drones.
Statistics from MLS (the multiple listing service) found that listings sold 68% faster with drone photographs than without.
To get the best ROI, you’ll want to consider:
- Only hiring a drone photographer for the length of time that you need. You don’t need to pay for a full day of shooting if you only want a handful of shots of one property.
- Hiring a photographer with previous real estate experience: ask to see their portfolio. You might also want to talk to other realtors who’ve used that photographer’s services.
- Shooting photos for several properties at once. Remember, even if the properties are some distance on the ground, a drone might be able to get between them surprisingly fast.
- Using the drone photographs alongside other marketing efforts. For instance, you might add them on social media, include them in direct mail campaigns, or even use particularly impressive shots on signage or billboards.
- Buying your own drone if you’ll likely want to use drone photography recently. Just keep these tips in mind before purchasing a drone and when getting started. You’ll also want to read reviews carefully to be sure you’re purchasing a drone that’s suitable for your needs.
Using drones can give you the edge over your competitors and can make your listings even more attractive and eye-catching.
You don’t need to be selling luxury properties or large areas of land, either: drone photography is affordable and accessible even for regular homes.
Take a look into drone photography – and how it could boost your real estate sales – today.
