Not only will every real estate agent be familiar with the ‘location, location, location’ adage, but we imagine nearly every one of them will also agree with it. The home itself is one thing, but where it stands and all that’s around it is just as much – if not more – of the equation. As always, we’re very happy to discuss tips and strategies for real estate agents in Canada. Here’s one that’s not only super effective, but also involves some good old fashioned fun as well!
Realtors in generations past would take plenty of photos of a listed home’s nearby features and the neighbourhood as a whole, but they wouldn’t have the time or inclination to take shots beyond say a half-kilometre beyond the property. And all of those photos were taken from eye-level, unless of course you had one that was inclined to climb trees!
Enter the Drones
All of this has now changed with the introduction and increasingly common use of drones these days. Many models have an integrated video camera that can be remotely activated from the controls and uploading the video to your smartphone, notebook, tablet, or desktop is easy. The appeal this will have with both real estate agents and selling homeowners (including FSBOs) is easy to understand. Now you’ll have photos and videos of the home from the standard perspective AND a really appealing and informative view of the large neighbourhood and even the city or town itself.
Cameras that feature a wide-angle lens with panorama view option are preferable, as is 1080p video resolution for obvious reasons. Choose a sunny day and get your drone up high and video rolling! Flying drones is surprisingly easy, and it’s been reported that the average user is ‘fully proficient’ with operation of the drone within 30 minutes. It’s definitely not a difficult task, and the higher-end models are surprisingly stable in the air and easy to lift off / land.
A Surprisingly Versatile Marketing Tool
Video footage generated from a drone can also be utilized for more specific purposes, and shared in formats outside of the standard uploading method. For instance, drones are excellent for providing an up-close analysis of the condition of a home’s roof or chimney. And higher-end drones will allow you to stream live, either on their own or via your mobile internet device of choice.
The newest drones have built-in redundancy. If an operator lets go of the controls, it simply hovers in place. In addition, standard prices for high-quality drones are expected to drop to as little as $500, though drones with higher-end features, including gyro-stabilized platforms, which help steady the video images, will still run in the vicinity of $1,000 to $1,200. The smaller gyro-stabilized drones, with the rotors shut off, can also be handheld and walked inside a home to provide steadier images during a video walk-through.
Have you already got on board with drones as part of your marketing efforts, or are you considering purchasing one and doing so? We’d love to hear about your experiences with them, and – as always – the more listings you have to try out your new toy video recording them from on high, the better. So sign up with Real Estate Leads right here and get a big online boost to your lead generation efforts today!
