Drone photography is a fast-rising trend now, but the technology is mainly used for travel, and it's also becoming popular in wedding photography in videos. Recently though, drone photography has broken into the real estate industry, specifically in the Bay Area.
San Jose Mercury News reports that real estate agents from San Jose Bay Area have begun using drone photography for real estate properties to attract more prospective buyers and to stand out from the competition. According to the report, drone photography is a growing trend in the real estate industry as a "new form of advertising for agents and sellers."
Curt Walton, who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is an aerial artist, videographer and cinematographer, is among those who does drone photography for real estate. The owner of a DJI Phantom 2 drone said that drone photography gives real estate agents and sellers an advantage as drones are capable of shooting cool photos and videos of houses that buyers can check out.
It is a known fact that virtual home tours are part of the real estate industry. However, with drone photography, prospective buyers can see so much more of the houses they're interested in, including the areal landscapes around the property. It also gives buyers an interesting bird's eye view of the property.
Darrell Monda, president of Campbell-based TourFactory Bay Area, said that the "drone establishes the lifestyle" of million-dollar homes. Tom McMahon, a spokesperson for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a trade group, supports such statement as he said that "real estate agents are seeing the value of having this eye in the sky, especially for high-end properties."
According to The Christian Science Monitor, drone photography is indeed becoming a trend in the real estate industry, specifically in California and New York. The report states that real estate photography in Silicon Valley make up 35 percent of all commercial drone use in New York, as cited by Dan Gettinger of Bard College's Center for the Study of the Drone.
However, with such growing real estate trend, various issues have to be addressed, such as the cost of getting an aerial photographer to shoot real estate properties. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy on commercial use of drones also has to be considered.
