Eagle Eye Drone Photography

Last Updated October 10, 2020 -- David Ashby

Aerial Photography Generates More New Clients

Research will vary drastically based on your location across the United States and across the world. Even within a general region such as the Northwest, we see data all over the place, and the results that you will get will most likely be more representative of the results seen by other agents within your MLS. If your MLS does not have a course on the benefits of aerial photography, then next time you see aerial photography on someone else’s listing, shoot them an email and ask them if they have seen an increase in new clients since implementing it, and if so, to what degree that increase has been. The fact of the matter is, across the board, the general consensus is that, Yes! Aerial photography gets you more new clients. This isn't a hard equation to work out either.

Aerial photography represents a step up in the polish of a listing. There is no doubt that a listing with professionally staged ground level photography looks more presentable than a house with images shot on an agent's cell phone. Not only does that listing look better (or not), but that also reflects heavily on your image as a realtor. If a prospective seller is looking for a realtor to list with, and they come to your website and see that you do not go the extra mile to present your clients' homes in a way that will get them more offers, sell their home the fastest, and help them negotiate effectively for the best price, then they are not going to select you to work with! This isn't news for any of us who have been in the real estate scene for long, so I won't preach to the choir too much, but my point is, image is key. Image IS more new clients. And aerial photography is an improved image for both you and your listings.

Last Updated October 10, 2020 -- David Ashby

Aerial Photography Leads to Additional Offers

If you are not currently operating on the assumption that perception is reality for home buyers, then I would invite you to consider the following. Buyers have certain criteria. This is nothing new. MLS allows any agent to have a single contact with a new client and set them up to receive every new home that enters the market that has at least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, on a half-acre lot, for under $350,000. We're all familiar with that. This means that once a buyer is working with a realtor (once they are past the stage of scouting things out on Realtor.com and are actually getting serious about making offers), they are only seeing houses that meet their criteria. This means they likely aren't deciding which one of 8 new houses that have entered the market to schedule a viewing for based on the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the size of the lot or even the price! They all meet their criteria or they wouldn't be on the short list being sent to them by their realtor! They are looking at 1 image - the first image on MLS, and deciding to click on that listing or not.

If you just read that last paragraph and think I am completely wrong, then please feel free to click off of this website and continue being successful however you find works best for you. I wish you the best successes, and I don't think the only way to get there is by drone photography. Lots of people have been making a lot of money long before drones were ever used for real estate photography. What I do know about is marketing. Funnels. Conversion rates. I studied business in college, and one of my favorite concepts was funnels and conversion rates. If you get 1,000 people who are emailed your listing, how many of them open the email? How many of them click on your listing to even look at the 1 page MLS sheet? How many of those people schedule a showing? How many of them write an offer? How many of those offers are accepted, and how many accepted offers does it take to sell a house, and get you a commission? These are not theoretical or philosophical questions. They are mathematical equations. A certain percent, or proportion, sometimes referred to as a CTR (click through rate) of any number of people at any point in the conversion process will lead to a certain number of people in the proceeding steps, on average, and you can thus calculate if a sale is statistically expected or not. I don't want to dive too deep on this, as it isn't super important for me to convince you that more people clicking on your listing is a good thing.

What I do want to attempt to drive home is this: There is a certain number of people who see your listing in search results, in that email of 8 new properties that meet their criteria, etc. That isn't something that you have a ton of effect over unless we're talking about advertising - and that's a different subject. We're just talking about organic results right now. Aerial photography increases the number of people who actually click through to your listing after seeing it. It's that simple. If you can increase that number, then you get more interested people viewing the property, and you get more offers - and with that can usually end up accepting a slighter higher offer than you otherwise would.

Last Updated October 10, 2020 -- David Ashby

Aerial Photography Drives Faster Sales

If you haven't already read my blog posts on either 'Aerial Photography Generates More New Clients' or 'Aerial Photography Leads to Additional Offers' then I strongly recommend that you do before continuing here, because a lot of the same concepts apply, and are the reason that aerial photography will help you reduce your time on market, and your time under contract. The facts are all the same. No matter what facet of real estate sales we are looking at, you need a qualified buyer to see your listing, view the house, and write an offer. As I recently covered in my other article, aerial photography will get you more offers on your listings. It isn't hard, then, to see how this would mean that it will be sooner that you will receive an offer that is acceptable to your sellers. In other words, more offers IS faster sales. There's more though. Aerial photography produces an image of luxury. This looks like a nice place to live. People will think your listing is "nicer" because of the quality of the photography, aerial or otherwise. This is one of the reasons professional photography of the interior and exterior of the home as shot from the ground is so important. From a phycological perspective then, we can conclude that better qualified buyers are going to be making offers on listings with better photography - better image. If you have good aerial photography creating a better image for a house you are selling, then these qualified buyers are going to be making offers on your listing.

It is just the natural flow of real estate sales that when you get a great buyer for a property that things move smother. With that, things move faster. They are usually ready to close faster, they usually want to get the home inspector in there, make sure things are good to go, and then get things moving. This can be a huge benefit for a contingent offer that your seller is wanting to make, but to stay on the point of this article, it means that the sale - from the day of listing the property on MLS to the day you pick up your check from the title company - is faster. Aerial photography makes sales happen faster because having a great listing makes sales happen faster, and aerial photography helps make a great listing.

With all that said, I want to put a disclaimer of sorts on all of this - on everything you will read or see on this website really. If the house isn't going to pass a home inspection, if it isn't a quality house that once the prospective buyer gets inside of they are going to love, then having a fancy, edited aerial photograph could help get more people to click on your listing, but it likely won’t lead to more showings, offers, or a faster sale. I mean don't get me wrong. I believe every property has a buyer that is perfect for it, and aerial photography might be what helps your listing jump out to that person no matter what condition the property is in and no matter if it will qualify for FHA, but aerial photography isn't some kind of magic bullet, and I don't want anyone thinking that I am claiming that it is. It just, according to the statistics, increases the number of eyeballs on your listings, and that's good.

Here's how I like to think about it. Aerial photography isn't going to get you $250,000 on a $200,000 home and it isn't going to make your phone ring off the hook until you have to hire an assistant to schedule your showings for you. What it can, and most likely will, do for you though is still important. If you have two listings in the same MLS, with the same number of beds and baths, same lot size, and a similar price, and your listing has beautiful aerial photography and the other doesn't; the buyer is going to be drawn in by that, they are going more likely to call you if they aren't already working with a realtor - two sides of a commission are always nice - or they are more likely to ask their realtor if they can see the home you have listed, and then, as is always the case with a showing, potentially write an offer. Aerial photography takes you one step higher. In one sense, that's all it does, but in another since, that's sometimes all it takes to be one position higher in search results, one call ahead of another house, and one offer closer to a successful sale.