Commercial Drone Applications
How important is the use of aerial photography by way of drones in the Naples Real Estate market?
Drones are “streamlining the buying and selling process by providing more visual information at a reasonable cost. Any opportunity you have to further educate the buyer to the property they’re purchasing is a win-win for everybody,”
Bill Brown, president of the NAR
This was from Bill Brown, president of the National Association of Realtors in an article from CBS Moneywatch in March of this year.
The National Association or Realtors has gone as far as to set up a resource page for Realtors to help them navigate the ever changing world of FAA drone regulations.
As the summer Real Estate season moves in, more and more agents in the Naples area are turning to aerial drone photography to improve their listings and add more dynamic range to the views of properties for sale. In Real Estate Marketing, the goal is to get people to stop and look, take notice and spend more time once they come across your listing online. Aerial pictures tend to get more attention, as they can show more of the surrounding area. In Southwest Florida especially, they may show a great view of the beach in the background or a beautiful golf course. These types of highlights are what bring people to the area in the first place.
Drones can help more than you may think
Drones, technically called sUAS (small unmanned aircraft systems) can help Real Estate Agents show potential clients a variety of property details.
- Inclusive views of the property’s surrounding areas, including beaches and golf courses
- Shopping centers and nearby nature preserves
- Main roads & highways
- Updated landscaping of the property
- Area local improvement districts (LIDs) (think Bayshore or near Central downtown)
- Community pools, tennis courts and clubhouses
Drones can make aerial imaging more affordable than you think
In the past, many agents obtained aerial imaging via helicopters or airplanes. These methods could cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. These high costs would limit the number of properties that you could assign aerial photography to when creating marketing budgets. With the introduction of drone photography into the marketing game, aerial photographs are within reason for every listing.
What Regulations or Rules keep an agent from buying a drone and doing it themselves?
As mentioned above, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulated the use of sUAS (drones over .55 lbs and less than 55 lbs) for commercial use. Other factors to take into consideration when operating a drone commercially are:
- Airspace restrictions
- Must keep aircraft within sight (Line of sight)
- Must fly under 400′
- Must fly during the day
- Must not fly over people
- Must not fly over moving vehicles
These are just a few of the many considerations to take into account. Here is a link to the FAA’s Getting Started page with more information.
Drones are here for the long run
For the foreseeable future anyway, drones are here to stay. They are already in the sky above us being used for a variety of tasks. These tasks are only going to grow and expand. The use of drones for real estate photography will only increase as the FAA updates and changes its requirements to fly in certain air spaces, making it easier and even more affordable to gain access to the skies above the homes for sale.
The Naples, Marco Island, Bonita Springs and all of Southwest Florida landscapes are unique and have special features not found everywhere. Bringing the potential buyer’s view up above the property may be just the added perspective that brings them off the internet and into your office!