Gone are the days of real estate agents doing all of the legwork with the buying and selling of real estate. Now the Internet is king, and real estate agents are playing a secondary role. Real estate agents, in order to stay relevant, must hop aboard the video marketing train! That means employing the use drones for their real estate listings. The advantages of drone videos when selling a home are quite vast.

According to the 2014 Google/NAR study, “The Digital House Hunt,” 92 percent of home buyers use the Internet to aid in the home buying process. In fact, the average home buyer spends three weeks researching real estate online before even enlisting professional help from an agent.

What is the moral of this story?

Home buyers are turning to the Internet before they turn to real estate agents, so you must have an online presence if you want to have your listings not only found, but stand out. A simple website and feeding listings to a local MLS is no longer enough. Video, particularly aerial videos produced by drones, is proving to be one of the most effective tools in cornering the online market.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

In 2012, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that 85 percent of buyers and sellers prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing, but only 15 percent of agents were actually using videos in their listings. What this means is that there is a huge untapped audience out there clamoring to see videos.

Becoming a video-savvy real estate agent will help you to gain a competitive edge in the real estate game.

A study released by Domain.com found that video increased listing inquiries by 403 percent! Inquiries are more qualitative than views, which means that listings with video generated four times the number of quality leads.

You’ve heard the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This idea could not be truer. According to Forrester Research, one minute of video is the equivalent of 1.8 million words. If you want buyers to remember you and sellers to list with you, aerial video is a sure fire bet.

According to MLS Statistics, homes with aerial images sold 68 percent faster than homes with standard images. Additionally, according to the NAR, homeowners say they are more likely to utilize an agent that uses video marketing to sell their home than one that does not.

Types of Videos Drones Can Produce for Real Estate Marketing

Drones, or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), provide a variety of detail for buyers, including:

• Aerial views of entire property and surrounding land
• What a walk through the neighborhood would look like
• Location of the home in relation community amenities
• Property boundaries, surveys, and plots

Using drones, real estate photographers can produce dramatic, sweeping shots of landscapes, and seamless fly-arounds of gorgeous home exteriors. It doesn’t end there. Imagine flying down over a property from 1,000 feet in the air highlighting all of the majestic qualities of a beautiful property.

You can then take that drone on a tour of the neighborhood, so that the prospective buyer can picture themselves on the daily drive to drop their children off at school, or the drive to the local grocery store. Nothing is better than providing a client with the feeling of virtually being home – which equals a sold property.

What Does It Cost to Produce a Marketing Video with a Drone

In years past, the cost of producing an aerial video was upwards of almost $10,000 and required the use of a helicopter or airplane. While that was achievable for extremely high end properties, it came with a too hefty price tag for most people. An average-priced property would not have even been a candidate for an aerial marketing video.

Drones have made it affordable to create marketing videos and aerial photos of even the most modestly priced homes. An average drone photographer, depending on location and scope of work, may charge anywhere from $350 – $1000 for a basic aerial video with still shots included. But here at DroneVideos.com, our videos start at just $250.  Considering that a video increases a property’s likelihood of sale, there is a definite cost benefit to this investment in video marketing.

Things to Remember About Using a Drone for Real Estate Marketing

Drones have the capability of shooting both stills and motion video. While it might seem like a great idea to buy a drone and take your own footage in order to save money in the long run (drone operation is a relatively easy task that can be done by most people) it is important to know the laws and regulations governing local drone use. Most real estate agents will employ a professional to do the job.

There are some things you should look for when shopping for a drone pilot to hire:

• FAA-Issued Commercial Drone License
• Liability Insurance
• Experience Shooting Real Estate
• Client References
• A Defined Price List

Also, once you’ve had your drone photography produced, ensure you receive views and impressions by posting your quality content on a variety of platforms. This can include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and even SnapChat. In the day and age of social media, it is a good idea to utilize all of the tools at your disposal so that your well-produced aerial drone video doesn’t go unnoticed on your listing web site. Here at DroneVideos.com we will provide you with all of the tools necessary to get your video out to the masses.

By posting on several platforms, you will ensure a click-through to your listing website. Let the social media do the work for you, and the video leave the lasting impression that gets remembered.

The Future of Drones in Real Estate is Bright

Aside from sweeping aerial videos of real estate listings, drones can also be used for a myriad of dull, but often necessary real estate related jobs, including:

• Property appraisals
• Home inspections
• Documenting damage from natural disasters
• Monitoring land erosion
• Documenting property lines
• Master planning for future visioning

Drones are also used to create 3D models of buildings and landscapes for purposes of land development. They may also be used to help real estate developers determine highest and best use of limited resources, and design homes to fit more naturally into different environments.

The sky is literally the limit when it comes to drones in real estate, which is why you should hire DroneVideos.com for your custom Drone Video. All of our Drone Operators are licensed, insured and have experience in producing high quality Drone Videos that convert to sales.

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