How We Use Drones to Elevate Real Estate Listings and More
Drones and their quality and abilities have grown in popularity over the past several years. With our DJI Mini 3 Pro, we’ve found that its vast abilities help us get great property shots, horizontal and vertical video, and more for real estate listings. Read on to see how we use our drones and more!
When we started in real estate photography and media we knew getting a drone was mandatory.
We work in an area where there may be property with large trees and a drone can help highlight the property with a bird’s eye view, or in downtown Sacramento we can show a building's proximity to landmarks and the highway.
We’re going to share with you why and how we use our drones, but first, we want to talk about some very important legal drone stuff. We promise it won’t be long and boring, so keep on reading!
Ariel view of home for sale taken with a DJI Mini 3 Pro Drone
Drones and the Fine Print
Did you know that to fly a drone commercially you need to be licensed?
After undergoing a very detailed and thorough education course on drone legalities and responsible flying, we applied for and received our FAA Part 107 Certification.
This means we are legally able to fly in certain areas, at a certain distance, and we have the highest quality drone!
When a realtor asks us to include drone photos and videos for their listing, we first check to ensure that we can legally fly the drones in the area of the property as well as check for any other restrictions. Failing to be thorough means we could be heavily fined and our clients could lose trust in us!
So, if you are a realtor, and want to elevate your listings with drone photos and videos, choose your media company carefully and ask if they have the right certification!
Ok, enough of the fine print. Let’s talk about what we can do with our drones!
Vast property behind a home, showing off the area and trail, taken with our DJI Mini 3 Pro
Is Drone Footage Worth It?
In short, absolutely!
Diving into it, our drones have a huge bird’s eye view benefit.
Adding drone photos shows a more thorough and dynamic view of the property for sale, whether it be a home or a commercial building.
Here are some of those benefits:
Show off the property and/or streets surrounding the building or home
Give potential buyers a different perspective of the property, which could help them envision how they could make the space their own
Adding callouts to your drone photos can help show property lines, especially in more rural wooded areas
Drone videos can add a dramatic view to your Instagram Stories, Reels, TikToks, or website listing
Helps to highlight inaccessible areas of the home that cannot be seen from the ground, like new roofs, solar panels, and more
Drone video footage showing off a home’s proximity to a popular golf course and the beautiful California foothills!
What Should I Do With the Drone Media?
Besides having some cool photos for your listing, there are some additional media attributes we can do with drone footage.
Callouts are great when you have a building or home that is in a dense area, whether it be surrounded by forest or other buildings. These callouts show property lines and proximity, and by showing all the extra information to potential buyers you may get more offers right off the bat! Realtors can add these for a small fee to any drone photos we take.
Vertical videos are a great way to share your listing on social media, especially since most people are viewing information on their phones in vertical format.
Horizontal videos are also a huge bonus for your listing and are great for YouTube and the MLS listing. And, our drones are capable of getting both vertical and horizontal with the flip of a switch on the controller! This means in the end we can give our realtors both formats.
Including the drone photos on the marketing kit options through our portal is a great way to elevate your listing, too! Marketing kits are available for a small extra fee and provide realtors with readymade (yet still modifiable) listing media like flyers, social media templates, and more.
Callout added to this drone video to show potential buyers where the house stands among the beautiful trees and surrounding neighbors
Is There Anything Else Besides Real Estate Listings…?
The possibilities are endless with drones!
We love to incorporate special drone footage in other areas of our work, including branding and short-term rentals.
Here are some examples:
While shooting documentary content at a popular auto shop in Auburn, California, the owner said he wanted us to highlight where the shop is located. We took our drones up high to capture the commercial building and its proximity to Highway 49. But we didn’t stop there! Because they had large shop doors that were fully open, we had the room to fly the drone in and capture the techs working on cars from above!
One of our short-term rental clients wanted a special welcome video that would play in each suite as guests arrived. The video needed to highlight all the special spaces and amenities that were accessible around the building. What a special way to greet your guests!
Being creative and thinking outside the box is something that we excel at. Even if you aren’t in real estate or want to have drone photos/videos for other marketing needs, we’d love to work with you.
Guests Welcome video created with our DJI Mini 3 Pro drone and camera for the Amador Springs hotel
Ok, I Want Drone Media!
If you are a real estate agent and have a listing coming up that needs that extra pizzazz, contact us today!
We will talk about your needs for your next listing, get an idea of the area, and ensure we can legally capture the photos and videos you need!