Real Estate Photography

[AH-1G]

this was my second attempt doing a video so I chose to do this property, exterior only, fortunately it was practice. I prefer construction projects.

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[Levitated Media]

First and foremost, this whole new board is absolutely fantastic.

That being said, I'm new to the drone world. I got my Part 107 license and immediately swore off the RE market...then jobs weren't coming in and things just were stale so I began reconsidering but I wanted to take a different approach and I wanted to be the total package so I scooped up a Osmo handle and planned to do interiors as well.

Long story short, here we are January, 6 months after I started and I have yet to have one client. I've offered realtors one time free shoots (with limitation) in hopes to gain the ability to practice, not a bite. I figured the word free would make them come running but apparently not? So I guess my question is...what can I do to practice on the RE side of things, both interior and exterior and how can I get clients?

Personally, I'd love to work with housing developments and construction projects but I am unsure how to market myself to them?

 

[Linval Ebanks]

First and foremost, this whole new board is absolutely fantastic.

That being said, I'm new to the drone world. I got my Part 107 license and immediately swore off the RE market...then jobs weren't coming in and things just were stale so I began reconsidering but I wanted to take a different approach and I wanted to be the total package so I scooped up a Osmo handle and planned to do interiors as well.

Long story short, here we are January, 6 months after I started and I have yet to have one client. I've offered realtors one time free shoots (with limitation) in hopes to gain the ability to practice, not a bite. I figured the word free would make them come running but apparently not? So I guess my question is...what can I do to practice on the RE side of things, both interior and exterior and how can I get clients?

Personally, I'd love to work with housing developments and construction projects but I am unsure how to market myself to them?

I'v been an LLC now for about 10 months and only had one job that I did for a realtor and she loved it just aerial photos and interior shots. I'v tried the free thing myself and never got anyone to take the bate. Now I'm about to go to my first networking event and like I read somewhere on this forum that is a good way to start getting your Business name out there, but keep plugging at it, keep practicing and you never know that big contract could be right around the corner! Good luck

 

[Maddog]

First and foremost, this whole new board is absolutely fantastic.

That being said, I'm new to the drone world. I got my Part 107 license and immediately swore off the RE market...then jobs weren't coming in and things just were stale so I began reconsidering but I wanted to take a different approach and I wanted to be the total package so I scooped up a Osmo handle and planned to do interiors as well.

Long story short, here we are January, 6 months after I started and I have yet to have one client. I've offered realtors one time free shoots (with limitation) in hopes to gain the ability to practice, not a bite. I figured the word free would make them come running but apparently not? So I guess my question is...what can I do to practice on the RE side of things, both interior and exterior and how can I get clients?

Personally, I'd love to work with housing developments and construction projects but I am unsure how to market myself to them?

Personally, I would talk to real estate agents to see what they want. It's helpful if you know one, then they can introduce you to their office, etc. How bout the agent who sold you your house or a friends house?

 

[lrsn]

First and foremost, this whole new board is absolutely fantastic.

That being said, I'm new to the drone world. I got my Part 107 license and immediately swore off the RE market...then jobs weren't coming in and things just were stale so I began reconsidering but I wanted to take a different approach and I wanted to be the total package so I scooped up a Osmo handle and planned to do interiors as well.

Long story short, here we are January, 6 months after I started and I have yet to have one client. I've offered realtors one time free shoots (with limitation) in hopes to gain the ability to practice, not a bite. I figured the word free would make them come running but apparently not? So I guess my question is...what can I do to practice on the RE side of things, both interior and exterior and how can I get clients?

Personally, I'd love to work with housing developments and construction projects but I am unsure how to market myself to them?

What have you put together to show perspective clients. The phrase of "Actions, not words" comes in to play here" You need a portfolio that shows what you can do! Good luck!

 

[karaemurphy]

Speaking to what time said, I would get a handheld gimbal for the drone and do a video walk-through of the house. Charge some extra $$. Take the propellers off, obviously.

 

[AerialEye]

That Pano is pretty cool. I would like to learn more about how you make them. What software? Is it still stitched together? Or video?
thanks

I used litchi pano mode for the shots (2 rows of 12 and one nadir) then make an account with okolo.com. Import all the shots and the the software does the rest.

 

[Ryan Fox]

I think point has still been missed... Great realtors don't shoot the home just for the home. They use the videos and great photos as a marketing piece for themselves.

My philosophy has been to my business based upon relationships and averages and not trying to get a car note on every shoot.

Especially when starting off, I really worked hard to please every client no matter the value of the home or what I was getting paid, now the word is out that if you want good work in the area, then call me.

Here are some lower value homes:

$239K - choppy flying because I was flying under the tree canopy most of the time or down a trail with a P4.

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$269K - Tight Neighborhood but they wanted it to stand out.

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Now, sure higher-end homes are an easier sell, but here are some fun facts to think about:

• I go against what an earlier poster said about targeting Top Producers...They already get listings. I like to go after the up and coming agents or those that are progressive and haven't hit their stride yet.
• If you do your job right, then you can create a market for yourself. "Well, if Realtor X is doing it, then I have to be doing it!"
• Real Estate is HOT right up until IT IS NOT! -- Meaning, be ready for the drop off. Seller's hate it when the house sits and doesn't get showings... If your photos and videos are all over your local social media sites (Facebook), then instead of pulling back good/smart agents are going to invest more in marketing when the drops happen.

If you want to see more projects, feel free to surf my YouTube: dpwarren Aerial Photography

Hi there, just found out about this forum. Lots of nice videos and shots!
I'm a software developer who works with drones. A little while ago I started a project for aerial video to smooth out that choppy flying or unsteady camerawork. It can give pretty dramatic results - I have a demo clip if you would like.

@WNC DRONE PROS I think it would give pretty good results for your videos earlier in this thread too, let me know if you'd like to know more about it.

 

[Keith Mitchell]

If you want to see more projects, feel free to surf my YouTube: dpwarren Aerial Photography[/QUOTE]

Hi dpwarren,
I really appreciate your positive outlook as I venture into this area. Your ideas are realistic and practical, and line up with some others I have researched who are doing this successfully.

My only question is minor - on the interiors, why do you only use still shots (albeit with very nice-paced panning and zooming)? Why not go ahead and do true interior walk-through video footage to give a more realistic, 3-dimensional, "like I'm walking it myself" kind of look?

 

[Fedguy]

My wife is a realestate sales person. So far...I work for free, as I partner up with her. It keeps me busy. One of the things that seems to help her sales is to take some close up pics of roofing and chimney. It also helps to show nice and clean gutters. I think buyers are more concerned about what they are getting for their buying dollar i.e. condition of the house. Realestate agents are obligated to reveal the good and bad about a property. I agree that as a drone pilot we don't have to reveal the bad....but we find that often people will ask for pictures of things they cannot see from the ground. It's all about pleasing the customer. Have a great day.

 

[EhmayWuntee]

Is there a rule among Realtors or maybe just a best practice that involves no editing of photos?

I spoke with one Realtor and she made it sound like you HAVE to keep the photo raw and as is from the camera, you cant even adjust the simple things like white balance and contrast a bit. I can for sure see things like, you can't photoshop out foundation cracks or other serious things, but I find it hard to believe that she understands it to mean you can't touch a thing, no post-processing.

Is this miss-information, something that may indeed be true in some markets, but not all, or actually 100% accurate?

 

[PatM]

We shoot for several different realtors, and we've never been asked to not do any work in post. It is understood that; as you point out, for this type of work, one mustn't Photoshop items to misrepresent how the property actually looks. Perhaps that realtor has had a bad experience with a photographer that didn't know what they were doing in post and has decided that she can do it better herself. You might speak with her and get her to clarify. As a photographer, the practice is usually the opposite, no work or alteration to the pictures after production are allowed as the rights to that work are held with the photographer, the end user is only paying to use them and cannot alter or use any part in any way for any another work.

 

[BigAl07]

Is there a rule among Realtors or maybe just a best practice that involves no editing of photos?

I spoke with one Realtor and she made it sound like you HAVE to keep the photo raw and as is from the camera, you cant even adjust the simple things like white balance and contrast a bit. I can for sure see things like, you can't photoshop out foundation cracks or other serious things, but I find it hard to believe that she understands it to mean you can't touch a thing, no post-processing.

Is this miss-information, something that may indeed be true in some markets, but not all, or actually 100% accurate?

While "adjusting white balance" is a bit of a stress in terms of "No editing" it is a moral obligation for us to not alter the picture as to change what the person would see if they go in person. Things that you can NOT do include (many more):

Fixing bad grass areas
Photoshopping damage on/around the structure
Removing items from the picture

If your picture doesn't look exactly like what the person would see if they were there in person then you're deceiving the client and that's going to get everyone in trouble should it come to light.

Several years ago we read about where one photographer (not aerial) was asked to "photoshop" some hedges and fence areas that just needed some TLC. Nothing major just fixing some gaps and a couple of places the fence needed some repair. When the client visited their property for the first time (after the sale) they immediately noticed these discrepancies and contacted the Realtor. Of course they claimed ignorance but in the end the Realtor had to pay out of pocket for the upgrades to make the property fit the picture and he lost (at least temporarily) his REA credentials.

 

[EhmayWuntee]

While "adjusting white balance" is a bit of a stress in terms of "No editing" it is a moral obligation for us to not alter the picture as to change what the person would see if they go in person. Things that you can NOT do include (many more):

Fixing bad grass areas
Photoshopping damage on/around the structure
Removing items from the picture

If your picture doesn't look exactly like what the person would see if they were there in person then you're deceiving the client and that's going to get everyone in trouble should it come to light.

Several years ago we read about where one photographer (not aerial) was asked to "photoshop" some hedges and fence areas that just needed some TLC. Nothing major just fixing some gaps and a couple of places the fence needed some repair. When the client visited their property for the first time (after the sale) they immediately noticed these discrepancies and contacted the Realtor. Of course they claimed ignorance but in the end the Realtor had to pay out of pocket for the upgrades to make the property fit the picture and he lost (at least temporarily) his REA credentials.

That makes sense and sums it up pretty well, thanks for sharing.

So now the only issue would be if actual damage occurred after the listing photos were taken. Either they need to believe you or you maybe need to update the photos as soon as possible. Then again your example is a bit more extreme since it sounds like they purchased the property solely based on photos and visited it after the sale to find the discrepancies.

 

[Murray WB]

There is a lot of useful stuff that could be shown via drone footage that would help the buyer, some of it's just as simple as showing a car/suv or mini van pulling into the driveway, how much room is there? Could you fit two in side by side or one after the other? Sometimes it's not easy to see that from estate agent pictures because they all seem to love their wide angle lenses that makes a shoe box look like a ball room. Right now, if I pull up the estate agent photo's of the house I currently live in, it would show a narrow driveway up to my house. What it wouldn't show is that there's space for parking 3 full size pickups to the left and room to turn them around in the driveway. So honestly, when I go to sell my house, I'd want to make sure that's something the potential buyers could see online.
I've seen some houses online that looked like they were surrounded by land, had a long private driveway on them and with that, I would make arrangements to go see the house. When I arrived however, it would turn out that the agent was very specific with the camera angles and you could knock on the front door from the main road. I think proper drone footage would help eliminate any false pretenses and be more informative for the buyer.

Very glad to be reading all of these ideas. I have been messing around with my drone and am so keen to offer a more out the box type of drone vid to real estate agents. Thanks so much.

 

[BigAl07]

That makes sense and sums it up pretty well, thanks for sharing.

So now the only issue would be if actual damage occurred after the listing photos were taken. Either they need to believe you or you maybe need to update the photos as soon as possible. Then again your example is a bit more extreme since it sounds like they purchased the property solely based on photos and visited it after the sale to find the discrepancies.

We've helped sell many listing "sight unseen" over the last couple of years. A large portion of this is because my area is a huge 2nd and 3rd home market. Lot's of people buy sight unseen merely from our images and videos.

 

[James Vaughn]

If you want to be paid by a RE agent, you have to understand where they are coming from and what they want.
As the photographer the agent hires, your job isn't to assist the buyer.
The photography (or video) is just the bait to attract the customers.
They don't want to show anything that might be thought of as a negative feature as that might cause a potential buyer to ignore the property and shop elsewhere.
If the location of the property relative to other features like a beach, shopping etc is a positive feature they may want to highlight that.
But the buyers themselves can work out how close the neighbours, highway, factory, high voltage powerline etc is when/if they inspect the property (or when they do their own research.
You can't expect an agent to give people reasons to ignore the property before they see it.

Excellent points!

 

[AerialZ]

This industry is tough to get into. Master your skills as best as possible then build your portfolio. Your eventual 'golden ticket' will be referrals amongst RE professionals throughout your area. If you think for one minute that they do not network or communicate with one-another for information because they're in competition, you're sadly mistaken. The ironic thing is i just returned from a 3 day Real Estate conference this afternoon where I've collected 16 very hot new Broker/Agent leads, all packed with listings. That's one heck of a return on my time and money invested. I've already done an informational presentation for this organization (not a sales pitch) in the past year. Do your homework. Locate your regional or statewide realtors association and become a vendor for their conventions. Provide them support information on this industry. Become their 'expert.' Create a beautiful display showcasing your imagery on prints or better-yet, bring a TV or large monitor and have your imagery dazzling your potential clients. Offer a tiered pricing structure that generates volume - i.e. discounts for 3 or more properties scheduled together (photo or video.) VOLUME is what is going to make this industry viable for you, not high prices per job. RE clients do not mind investing money in services that are proven with experienced contractors as long as they're properly being taken care of.

Here's my personal advice from my experiences...

1. Be ready to provide the best quality deliverable(s) you can. Don't cut corners. You have one chance when you're with a new client to impress them. If you do, you very well may have a referral source that no amount of marketing money can buy.
2. Excel at customer service! Treat your clients like VIP's. Get the job done when you say you're going to. I've knocked my competition out of the area on this fact alone. How do I know that? My Brokers and Agents have all told me. I just listened to more complaints after complaints over three days.
3. Use something like Dronebase (or whatever similar service type) to get yourself experience on the sticks. Have I ever used Dronebase-like services? No, but new operators need to focus on this before they focus on trying to run a photography/video business, especially if they have no background. Once you are producing professional quality deliverables, ditch those companies and go direct to brokers and agents. Services like Dronebase have their place and there is money to be made, but not in RE jobs (think insurance jobs after storms, etc.) And the bigger aspect is that your work has no exposure to the local Brokers and Agents who you want more than anything to lock-up! If you never reach the point of getting referrals in the RE industry, the industry will be dead to you.

 

[Meta4]

The biggest problem in RE is that every man and his dog has a drone now with more drones being sold each year .
With drone saturation, potential customers have no shortage of possible providers if they don't try the do-it-yourself solution.
With that many offering drone services, prices are only going to get lower.
Unless you can develop a very strong relationship with clients, it's not a great business for ongoing profit.
It's difficult but much better to find a specialised niche that you can service without the competition racing you to the bottom.

 

[James Vaughn]

The biggest problem in RE is that every man and his dog has a drone now with more drones being sold each year .
With drone saturation, potential customers have no shortage of possible providers if they don't try the do-it-yourself solution.
With that many offering drone services, prices are only going to get lower.
Unless you can develop a very strong relationship with clients, it's not a great business for ongoing profit.
It's difficult but much better to find a specialised niche that you can service without the competition racing you to the bottom.

I agree - DJI has flooded the market with good cheap sUAS’s and every realtor in America probably got a Mavic for Christmas but I think 2018 will be the year FAA drops the hammer on unregistered birds in the hands of unlicensed operators...
Stay tuned