The following post was written by Chris Grillo for DroneBase. Chris Grillo is a freelance writer and journalist who works with clients in tech and product development.
Marketing tools and methods of content creation have come a long way over the past decade. There have been huge leaps in technology, and the accessibility of camera outfitted drones has played no small part. The effects of drone aerial footage on the way business is done are especially felt in the real estate market.
For years, listing agents have been limited to still photography when advertising the homes they’ve been tasked with selling. While still images can convey the essential information like the state of the kitchen and bathrooms or the relative size of the living areas, they restrict the agent’s ability to showcase the home’s full effect, AND the buyer’s ability to accurately judge the home as one in which they are truly interested.
Moreover, the real estate market is riddled with hoops to jump through, not the least of which is the process by which home showings take place. Agents often act as gatekeepers of the product they hope to sell, and have to make themselves available 24/7, 365 in order to put their product in front of the eyes of potential consumers. In today's age of drone accessibility, why are we accepting these inconveniences and inadequacies as necessary evils to the real estate market?
Imagine you are a buyer searching your real estate website, when you come across a listing title that matches your home needs. Imagine now that along with that listing’s standard photographs is a link to aerial drone footage. The footage shows the property from overhead, as well as point of view shots that mimic walking the property and through the house itself.
Giving buyers a means to conceptualize the flow of the house and property, as well as a better vantage from which to view the entire property at once would illicit more certainty as buyers decide whether or not they want to move along with the next step. This saves time and resources for buyer and agent alike. As agents begin to set up meetings and showings, they know the people they are meeting with have a solid understanding of the nuances of the home and are thus more serious buyers.
In addition to the transparency aerial drone footage can provide, it can also be used as a tool to highlight particularly marketable aspects of a property, whether that be the potential feng shui or the view the landscape offers. This type of footage accompanied with a listing could also bolster the merit of a property that just doesn’t still photos just do not do justice.
This also allows agents to control the way in which these homes are listed by incentivizing sellers. For example, some studies show real estate agents with the top 25% of sales volume use drone footage in listings 3.5 times more than their competitors. Sharing this information may inspire some action on the part of the selling homeowner to spend a little bit of time and money on presenting a better product.
As stated earlier, providing the aerial footage in a listing would attract more serious buyers to a showing. As buyers consider whether or not they are ready to make an offer, and at what price, they may want a second look, or even a second opinion. Cue the aerial drone footage as an on demand, remote showing to be reviewed at any time.
Another innovative option is releasing this drone footage to only certain potential buyers based on criteria you have pinpointed, rather than sharing your best content with the whole market.
Perhaps you have not listed a home with drone footage or have only included a sneak peek. You received a number of inquiries, but only a small percentage of those inquiries set up a showing. As an agent, you can pinpoint this subgroup as the one you want to vet further by sharing exclusive, full tour footage of the entire home and property.
These are just a few examples of the endless marketing opportunities that aerial drone footage provides real estate agents. As the industry moves further down the road of innovation, it is only a matter of time before drone use becomes common place, a tool as standard as the lock box. That’s why now is the time to start selling with a drone’s eye view and position yourself at the top of the market in your region.