Drone Footage of House For Sale: Do They Sell Faster?
If a picture is worth a thousand words, drone footage should be worth millions! Quality real estate photographs can help attract buyers to your listing. But, in recent years, drone footage can take your listing to the next level.
Drone footage of a house for sale can create a deeper, more emotional connection to your home. From our research (and insider knowledge!), we know videos can encourage buyers to set up a showing.
In some cases, it can even persuade buyers to make an offer without ever stepping foot inside your home – which is ideal when attracting interstate buyers.
Keep reading to learn more about drone footage of houses for sale, what the benefits are, and why you should consider using it for your house sale.
What is a Drone?
Drones are small aircrafts operated via a remote control. They have cameras mounted onto them so they can take still photographs and live videos from a bird’s eye view.
A drone can be used indoors (provided there is enough space) or outdoors to record footage of a property. They can create a live walkthrough video of the property that records what it’s like to walk inside the home.
Or they can be used outside and above the property to record any special features. For example, a professional drone pilot can fly a drone over our house for panoramic exterior views, or through the house to give a tour.
Benefits of Using Drone Footage of a House For Sale
Using a drone to take photos and videos of your property can greatly enhance your listing. Here are some of the top ways a drone can make your home more marketable.
1. Creates a Virtual Walkthrough
A drone can fly through the interior of your home, shooting a continuous video the entire time. This creates a virtual tour that can show buyers the layout of your home.
For a potential buyer looking at houses, this gives them a better idea of the layout of the property and how the rooms flow into one another. Plus, instead of seeing one room at a time, chopped up by photographs, buyers can see for themselves how it would feel to walk through your home.
2. Builds an Emotional Connection
A drone can be used throughout the property or in just one room, but spun slowly to show off a 360-degree view. To your buyers, this creates the illusion that they are in the room, turning their heads to look around.
When viewing this type of footage of a property, it can create an emotional bond that cannot be accomplished by still photography. That sense of connection can be the tipping point that turns a potential buyer into your home’s new owner.
3. Shows Off Exterior
Exterior photographs (especially if you’ve put some effort into upping your curb appeal) are especially enticing to buyers. Drone photography takes this further and enhances your marketing with sweeping exterior videos. Even shooting a video that circles your home gives buyers a better sense of the exterior “feel” of your home.
This is especially true with larger properties. It is almost impossible to capture the essence of a larger home with ground-level photographs or videos. For these reasons, drone footage of a house for sale is a game-changer. With its overhead views, you can show off extensive gardens, pathways, a pool or deck, and any other unique features.
4. Grabs Buyers’ Interest
There’s no doubt that drone footage is more interesting than a still photograph. For buyers who are looking at multiple listings, your drone footage is more likely to grab and hold their attention. It helps your home stand out compared to other listings in your area.
Plus, the longer a potential buyer spends on your listing, the more likely they are to explore it more closely. If they like what they see, they’re more likely to investigate further, book a showing, or (in the best-case scenario) make an offer.
5. Attracts a Larger Pool of Buyers
Using drones can also help you appeal to a larger pool of buyers, namely, those who are out of town. In a virtual world, buyers often have to purchase homes they’ve never been inside.
Your drone footage can help overcome their natural hesitations by creating a sense of familiarity. It helps out-of-town buyers feel as though they’ve actually walked around your house themselves.
Some out-of-town buyers will also make a quick trip to view the top homes on their list in person before making an offer. Your drone footage can create enough interest to help you secure a spot on that list.
Drawbacks of Using a Drone When Selling a Home
While drone footage can greatly increase the appeal of your listing, there are some drawbacks, too.
1. Hard to Keep Steady
Drones work best when they are flying around and taking videos. They are incredibly difficult to keep in one place. This makes it very challenging to take still photographs with drones, as they will often come out blurry.
Therefore, you’ll often need to hire a professional real estate photographer to capture images of the property as well as a drone photographer.
2. Not Ideal for Some Properties
A benefit of using a drone is that it shows off the size and curb appeal of your home. Unfortunately, the opposite is true if your home is smaller or needs exterior work. Drone footage shot from above will highlight any less-than-desirable features, such as neighbors that are too close or overgrown gardens.
How to Find a Drone Pilot
Shooting real estate footage is different from just flying a drone for fun. The footage needs to be good if you want to sell your house faster and reap the benefits of using a drone. Therefore, it’s important to work with a professional, experienced drone pilot.
Your realtor might have some local recommendations for drone pilots they’ve worked with in the past. If not, you can check with your local realtor organization to view a list of industry vendors.
If you decide to interview drone pilots, make sure you’re working with someone who has experience shooting real estate footage. Ask for links to their website or portfolio so you can see samples of their previous work.
Do You Need Drone Footage When Selling?
In summary, which is a more effective marketing tool for your listing, drone footage vs traditional real estate photos? In an ideal world, you’d incorporate a mix of both, using each where it’s most effective.
Professional real estate photographers can create stunning, well-lit photos at just the right angles to show off your home’s best features. While drone footage can be used to create walkthroughs and tours of the interior and exterior, showcasing the layout and making buyers feel as though they are inside your home.
Of course, it’s possible to sell your home without drone footage. But the many benefits of using a drone clearly outweigh the minor drawbacks, making it a great addition to your overall marketing strategy.
At the end of the day, you want your house to be the listing that buyers remember the most — and drone footage can help you achieve that goal.
Are you selling a property in Philadelphia or San Diego? We buy houses fast for cash at Brotherly Love Real Estate. If you’re wondering whether to sell now or wait and need advice, we can help. Give us a call today at (215) 769-9875.
We can help you decide when is best to sell your home and help you prepare for buying season as a seller.