How Drones Can Help Drive Interest in Today's Real Estate World

As with so many of the unique challenges in the COVID-19 real estate world, technology is helping to bridge the gaps and allow buyers to fall in love with homes from a distance. Aerial drones filled a valuable niche in real estate marketing even before the pandemic, but their use has only grown more prominent during the last year. With creative use of drone footage, you can help buyers fall in love and help sellers show off their properties from a whole new perspective.

Why Drones Truly Took Off in Real Estate in 2020

The challenges posed by COVID-19 and precautions in place to prevent its spread have impacted every part of life, including real estate. Many markets have restrictions currently in place that make touring homes and neighborhoods in person impractical. And while there are some more "open" communities around the country, many real estate clients won't be comfortable making tours in person. Virtual tours and online research have taken an even more important role in buying a new home than ever before, with drones providing valuable footage that simply can't be obtained in any other way.

How Buyers Are Adapting to Shopping in the COVID-19 Era

The good news is that even with all of the unique challenges we have faced recently, buyers are still very interested in purchasing homes and sellers still want to find the right buyer for their properties. Today, buyers rely on virtual tours for learning about the homes and neighborhoods that pique their interest. They are looking for detailed footage that really helps them fall in love with a home and neighborhood. This includes all of the photos/video that you're already used to gathering from ground level, but a view from above can really help tie the whole package together. That's where aerial drones enter the picture.

Normal Home Footage Is Great, But It Has Some Key Limitations

With a high-quality smartphone equipped with the right apps and accessories, you can capture great footage of a home from ground level. Drones don't replace that footage, but perspective and scale are also limited when capturing footage from the ground. You can show off individual rooms or provide an impression of how the home looks from the curb, but there's no way to get a holistic view of the property from the ground. So by all means keep creating those great, detailed virtual tours with your phone, but don't forget to include a view from above.

Drones Provide a Unique Perspective That Can't Be Captured Any Other Way

When you're trying to capture everything that a property has to offer, there's simply no substitute for the unique perspective that drone footage provides. It shows how the whole property fits together, and how it has been maintained. If the home is situated in an area with beautiful, natural views, aerial footage can perfectly show off that natural landscape around the home. If it's in a more densely populated, urban community, then a view from above shows how the home fits into the neighborhood.

Helping Buyers Fall in Love with Neighborhoods Is More Important than Ever

Savvy buyers know that they're shopping for a neighborhood just as much as they're shopping for a home, and that hasn't changed in the COVID-19 era. Of course, how buyers connect with those neighborhoods has changed a great deal. Traveling to visit a potential new neighborhood is challenging, and in many markets the buyer won't be able to see much even if they did make a trip. But they still want to get a feel for the neighborhood, find how close key services will be located, see what they'll do for fun, and discover how their potential new home is situated within the larger community. Drones and aerial views can help put that all in perspective.

How Drones Can Help Capture the Essence of Each Neighborhood

While virtual tours work great for homes, they are much more difficult to pull off when you're trying to showcase an entire neighborhood. Even if you get great footage of a few local businesses and attractions, it's hard to show how everything is connected within the neighborhood. An aerial view of the community provides a completely different perspective, allowing buyers to see how they'll move through the neighborhood, imagine what their daily routine would be like, and discover what they'll do for fun. For a home located in a rural area or deep in nature, an aerial view will highlight the privacy of the space and the natural beauty of the surrounding area.

Drone Footage Is as Valuable for Sellers as It Is for Buyers

We have talked plenty about how drone footage can help buyers fall in love with homes and communities, but the other side of that coin is just as important. When you're selling a property for a client, you want them to know that you're doing everything possible to market their home and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 era. Providing drone footage – in addition to new standbys like virtual tours – shows sellers that you will leave no stone unturned when it comes to marketing their home. A commitment to using the best marketing tools available is great for helping sellers find buyers, and for earning referrals from satisfied sellers once the deal is closed.

Getting Started with Drones Is Easier than You Might Think

Becoming an expert with drone photography/video takes practice and time, but it's not too difficult to get started. Just remember that before you film with a drone, especially in public, you'll want to check out local regulations for drone use. The first thing you will need is a drone, and there are entry level models with basic cameras, often available for less than $100, that are great for practicing. More advanced models – which you'll eventually want for capturing pro-quality footage – start at around $500 and rise from there. If you wish to use your own camera, you can also purchase a drone capable of carrying cameras of any size. Once you have the equipment, it's just a matter of practicing, reviewing your footage, and getting comfortable with the process.

When challenges arise, the most adaptable industries discover new ways to get things done. The real estate world has adapted in so many ways to COVID-19, and many of those adaptations will continue to provide value even when things return to normal. Drone footage is an excellent way to show off your listings/ markets now, and should remain a valuable tool well into the future.

To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.