Is property visuals the next trend in real estate marketing? The answer to that question is both yes and no. While the technologies behind drone photography and drone videography are trending, the media application for showcasing property may not always be appropriate for drone-induced optics. In this beginning-of-the-year blog for 2016 real estate trends, we explore the use of drones for showcasing real estate.

Large Properties and Properties with Panoramic Views

For large properties, say over an acre, a video produced by a drone would be beneficial. For specialized properties, say those with multiple pools, an aerial view that showcases those features would be beneficial. For the average home on the block, not so much. What drone photography and videography do is highlight features that cannot be captured easily using a traditional camera. That usually equates to higher altitude shots, such as showing a better shot of the view of a coast property. The downside to drone photography and videography is that now drones must be registered with the FCC. In terms of finding quality companies to shoot media for your properties, compliance usually translates into higher costs. The real question is do those higher costs equate to faster sales?

The Traditional Home

For regular, city lot sized properties, drone produced media do not add much value. If you want an aerial shot of a neighborhood, Google Maps or Google Earth has one that is accessible from your desktop PC or smart device and that you can also embed into a property’s web page. The benefit of traditional photography is that it presents media – photographs or video – from the eye level perspective of a potential buyer, especially from the inside of a home. That fact allows potential buyers to see the property as though they were walking through the place. The view from a drone is adjustable, but the applications of when and how to apply those to a standard property become moot because traditional photography already does a good job.

Mixed Media

There are properties that benefit from both traditional and drone-based media. A good example would be a split-level property on a terraced lot. These kind of units offer stronger possibilities to showcase the unique features of unique properties. A drone could highlight the view into the property from the same altitude as a second-story deck or show off the view from that same deck, but at the thousand foot mark. The same property could also benefit from traditional photography and videography to highlight special features inside the home or from around the yard.

Overall, real estate can benefit from drone technology. However, as an application to replace traditional photography or videography as the “next-big-thing” drone technology falls flat. It has a place in specialized location and for use with unique properties, but offers very little gain with the “traditional” property.

 

The technologies for manipulating both photographs and video also help to produce amazingly high-caliber media also help turn novice-grade media into works of art.