12 Reasons Why Every Real Estate Agent Needs A Drone

I am a local real estate broker in Florida and can tell you there are many reasons why investing in a drone will help to grow your real estate business.

Below I will cover many of these reasons and also some things you need to know before making a purchase.

Drone Uses For Real Estate

There are so many uses a drone can be used in a real estate setting. Hiring someone each time to fly for footage and still pictures will get extremely expensive.

Your own creativity is the only limit on how you can use a drone to promote your real estate business.

Drone For Blogs / Community Pages

As mentioned in our article in Building Your Real Estate Website, I talk about the importance of SEO.

By adding video to these pages it will have two positive effects. Number one is it will drive more traffic to those pages simply because it is on YouTube so as long as you optimize it with the appropriate keywords, tags, etc.

Secondly, Google loves video interaction on your site and will rank you higher if you are providing the user (of your site) a great experience.

Think about what traditional community pages or blogs have on their websites? Just search around. Look at national companies but also take a look at what your current competition is doing.

I bet many of your competitors have a lot of pages and content. But many do not go the extra step with videos.

Videos Tell The Story

If you were buying something especially from afar and never have been there before, wouldn’t you want to get a “feel for the land.”

If these videos are on your pages, potential buyers are looking at you as a real source providing valuable information and insight. Odds are if their experiences on your website were great, then you may get the call asking for your help finding them their next property.

They will likely bookmark your site and go back to it as well. I mean the average buyer really doesn’t come out and say I know the community I want to live in. They usually have several.

He or she who provides the better and more in-depth experience will win.

** And if you are not camera shy that is a big plus! You can set up with you speaking for 5 seconds, pan over to driving into the community, then to a drone shot, walk around the pool and then back to you for another 15 seconds.

People will begin to get to know you and your personality and will want to work with you.

Drones Equal More Listings

We bring the Drone with us every time on our listing appointments. We literally take it out and set it up on the table when we are presenting. We use it directly into our marketing presentation stating many real estate agents do not reinvest into their business and tools like the drone.

Many times, prospective sellers, have never seen a drone up close. And many times, they ask to see it fly. We usually even use that in our closing stating if they list with us today, we will give them a chance to fly it.

Out Of Area Sellers

Southwest Florida has many absentee owners. These are people who do not reside here on a full-time basis. So we have multiple drone listing presentation videos that we have created an email to the prospective sellers.

We talk about marketing statistics and how much more traffic/exposure they can anticipate on their property by hiring us and our resources/tools.

It’s great because you make this video one time and use it over and over. We often will play one of these videos on our IPAD when we are face to face.

Drone Every Listing

I think every listing needs a drone shot. Why not? There are so many indirect benefits like website traffic that it makes sense. I really don’t care if it is a less expensive price either.

More importantly, you will make your seller happy when you have some awesome pictures and a video link that they can preview and share.

More Listings

By going above and beyond, sellers will notice and will tell other friends and neighbors. This is great because they are promoting you.

I mean, what did it really cost you time wise? 10 minutes of flying the drone and maybe another 10 minutes editing, setting up the video for YouTube and embedding onto your site…

Have you ever been on MLS looking at another agent’s listing with a total of 4 bullshit poor quality photos and an even worse property description? Don’t be this agent. Go above and beyond and you will be rewarded.

Invest in your business. You may want to consider a still camera as well to get all the shots yourself.

Curiosity Cash Flow

When we are shooting communities, area attractions, listings, etc; We will always try to find an area where there is at least a couple of people or more.

Everyone is fascinated with drones these days. So this becomes an easy opportunity to break the ice and possibly find other clientele. You may want to even get more attention from these A-Frame Drone Signs.

This happened the other day to us. We didn’t have a listing in the community. We were building another community page and were flying the drone.

A man approached us asking what we were doing. At first, I thought he was going to be pissed off (occasionally you can get this). However, we explained we are getting just good shots for prospective buyers for the community.

Short story, we may have a listing!! I immediately stopped operation and landed the drone to show him it land and up close. But further to engage in conversation. I can always, boot back up and get it in the air.

But this is the prime time to really engage and put a new stranger into our Sphere Of Influence.

Cost Effective

I purchased the DJI Mavic Pro. It is awesome! And fairly inexpensive. You can click this link for updated pricing which is around $800. But think about it. If you hired a person to drone 4-5 listings, you could own this puppy.

And do so many more things to benefit your real estate business. Now think what the cost would be if you hired someone to drone all the things we are talking about in this article. You could be spending thousands every month.

And this drone specifically will last a long time…

I’m An Amateur

I did thorough research on Drones before making a decision. I wanted a good price, compact, user-friendly and easy to fly. The Mavic Pro more than fits the bill.

This thing literally flies itself (check the video on this articles). And it will come back to the exact spot it took off with one simple touchscreen button. Your phone actually connects to the remote and teh screen / live view is on your phone screen.

It is very easy to fly as well. I was kind of nervous when I first bought it. I mean back then I paid like $1,200 for it. (Now way less). I was afraid I would crash it, land in water or it will just fly away.

I can tell you after about 20 minutes of using it, I got the hang of it really fast. It is extremely stable as well.

It also folds up. The four legs with the blades all fold into the machine and you can literally put it in a purchase, large pocket, briefcase, etc. I have a simple carrying case made to fit this exact drone.

The Shots

All of the shots are amazing. You will see some still pics and some videos throughout this site. They are all high-quality images.

Again, I think I will have this thing for a long time. What would I really need to upgrade? Yes when these things first came out, based on my research, they were very expensive, flew like shit and had poor quality shots unless you connected your GoPro to it.

Not this one…

Steve, What Is My View?

I got a call from a guy about six months back. He said Steve, I am looking at this vacant lot over here in Bonita Springs. (The back of the house faced west and it was two roads off of the Gulf of Mexico). I am trying to find out if I build, what my view will look like on the third floor. Do you think we can get into someone’s house nearby of a similar height to get an idea?

I replied… I’ve got a drone. I can meet you tomorrow and fly it up there. We can get still shots and video to give you a good idea.

This guy was pumped up. We still have yet to close him on something, but we are for sure his agents once we find the right piece.

Drone Flight Restrictions / Tips

There are some restrictions that you have to be aware of when you are flying your drone if you make the purchase. I’d say just use common sense for one thing and you will be ok.

Some common restrictions/tips:

Maintaining a visual at all times. Honestly when we fly big buildings that is very tough to do sometimes. The Mavic Pro is great, however, as you have real-time video screen so you can get a good idea of your location.
Keep clear of trees, power lines and anything else that will cause you to damage your drone.
Avoid really windy days. I’ve had this drone out where it was really windy. Even with high winds, its built-in stabilizer allowed me to get the necessary shots. It’s just a better experience with less wind.
Keep at certain heights. The “recommended” height is 400 feet. However, the Mavic Pro can hit 1,640 feet with a 4-mile range.
Fly during daylight hours. Probably best bet even though it has its built-in safety lights. We have gotten some incredible sunrise and Gulf of Mexico sunset shots. However, it was still light out. Bottom line, I don’t use it in the dark.
Stay away from humans or moving vehicles. Again common sense. The last thing you want to do is seriously hurt someone or cause a major accident.
Do not fly in flight paths. Out of everything, this is my biggest concern. So I am careful to figure out air space around me especially for smaller airports. If you do not know where your smaller airports are or flight paths, just call around.

Consider Teaming Up

I have seen some fantastic teams where one person heads the lead generation / SEO / Drone / Videos for their team. And the other is out there closing the deals.

Imagine the traffic that could go to your site if your team member was putting out 2 communities and 2 blog posts a day each with a video? Build it and they will come….

If you do not have a team, then put this into your schedule. Try to get at least 3-5 pages done a week with video / drone footage.

In Conclusion

I believe every real estate agent should have a drone to grow their business. It is a fairly inexpensive tool that will pay off in less than one closing.

As always, to your success! If you have found this article helpful, feel free to read all the other FREE Content or pass along to a fellow REALTOR.