Real estate for rookies

[Hottwheells]

Going on day 2 of owning a quad and already I've had a job offer from a real estate guy. I'm just wondering if there are any quick tips from members doing this sort of thing. Keeping in mind I'm a rookie flyer and very amateur photographer. I'm not looking for legal info, strictly camera/quad settings. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Btw, this quad is f'ing unreal and a blast to fly. My only concern is that it's too easy and confidence comes too quickly, I can see myself getting into a mess.

 

[Youngbill]

Practice on your own house first.....LOTS[emoji2]. And don't listen to all the responses your going to get about it not being legal [emoji6]

 

[TacAir42]

Going on day 2 of owning a quad and already I've had a job offer from a real estate guy. I'm just wondering if there are any quick tips from members doing this sort of thing. Keeping in mind I'm a rookie flyer and very amateur photographer. I'm not looking for legal info, strictly camera/quad settings. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Btw, this quad is f'ing unreal and a blast to fly. My only concern is that it's too easy and confidence comes too quickly, I can see myself getting into a mess.

Hmm maybe you are jumping the shark here. Get an air Hogg and fly it until you don't crash anymore or else we may see you here in a day or two telling us all about how your phantom crashed. Fly safe. Read the manual.

 

[Meta4]

Going on day 2 of owning a quad ... . My only concern is that it's too easy and confidence comes too quickly, I can see myself getting into a mess.

You've spotted one of the factors that contributes to a lot of early crashes.
The Phantom only takes 5 mins to learn to fly - but it takes a lot of practice to be proficient.
This leads some new flyers to take risks and get into difficult situations without realising the potential.

To become proficient, you need to understand all the things that could go wrong and how to ensure that they don't ... or if they do, how to then handle the situation.
Flying close to trees and buildings is probably the cause of most early crashed.
RE photography often requires flying close to trees and/or buildings.

I'd be hesitant to recommend taking on pro jobs with no real flying experience.
Are you a competent photographer .. do you know what you want to show in an image and how to do it?
To do real estate flying, you have to understand photography AND flying.

 

[envisionabove]

Going on day 2 of owning a quad and already I've had a job offer from a real estate guy. I'm just wondering if there are any quick tips from members doing this sort of thing. Keeping in mind I'm a rookie flyer and very amateur photographer. I'm not looking for legal info, strictly camera/quad settings. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Btw, this quad is f'ing unreal and a blast to fly. My only concern is that it's too easy and confidence comes too quickly, I can see myself getting into a mess.

JUST DO THIS AND DON'T GET COCKY!

Use beginner mode!
Fly during the Golden Hour!
Make sure you are over 30 meters from the house trees and anything else that may be in the way.
Fly straight at the target going from low to high then come the same path back to a safe area for a nice MP3.

Don't be afraid of landing and positioning the bird to get an other angle. This is the safest thing to do to keep your investment, the Home owner could care less about a loss to you. Most crashes are from pilots trying to maneuver to the next shot in the air, and hit a tree and forget the correct stick movement. Just land and do it again your making $ not practicing. Think of it as hitting a golf ball towards the hole simple low to high. The other Simple shot is just position the bird in a nice area take off straight up and then land makes for a nice edit.

Straight in and out you don't need super fancy moves to get a desired result.

By using beginner mode you will get a smoother flight, and a safety barrier from crashing into things.
Edit and your done. Don't spend a ton of time, get a few shots to show off the house and yard.

These simple shots are enough to please the home owner, all they had before was handheld cameras. and the video should not be long very short and to the point.
Add some photos from the regular Camera in dangerous areas and fade them into your final edit.

Nothing worse than watching a 3 or 4 minuet video use the rule of 8, don't try and make a movie of it and mark your time from leaving the house to the final edit. AND please don't let the Homeowner tell you how to fly. Landing and moving keeps you focused and gives you a break from the person distracting you.
Four angles of attack should be all you need to please a homeowner. The faster you are the more Money you make not the other way around.

Have a blast! I Hope this gave you some perspective.

If you get into a Mess let go the sticks and focus and land.

 

[Hottwheells]

Thanks for all the useful information, my primary use for this drone is for agricultural purposes on my farm.

I was going to do some real estate photos for an uncle who is a realtor with the plan to use the money for a few batteries. That plan might just have to be scrapped for now.

I am looking into getting fully licensed for future projects and a business idea I'd like to get off the ground.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Sammynels]

Thanks for all the useful information, my primary use for this drone is for agricultural purposes on my farm.

I was going to do some real estate photos for an uncle who is a realtor with the plan to use the money for a few batteries. That plan might just have to be scrapped for now.

I am looking into getting fully licensed for future projects and a business idea I'd like to get off the ground.

Thanks again for all the help!

Like everyone else....

 

[envisionabove]

Thought I would Chuck this into the thread, The easy real estate shoot...

 

[johan]

To build a bit on what has already been said.

Probably one of the biggest rookies mistakes I've seen is people forgetting to fully prep the scene they're shooting. If you're shooting the house from a UAV, you're getting a lot of square footage in that frame. All of that square footage has to be clean and photo-ready. No parked cars in the shot. No toys, no garden hoses, no junk or flotsam laying in the yard. All of the landscape in your frame has to look good. And also keep yourself out of the shot. I know all of that may sound obvious, but those are the things most rookies forget.

Also, go slooooowwwww. Phantoms get jerky when they go fast. Make all of your flying as slow and smooth as possible. No quick turns or abrupt altitude changes.

Next, you can't change the weather so you have to learn to wait for good shooting weather. Light and shadow is important. Overcast days make for dreary looking video which is great if you're trying to market the house to goth teenagers but otherwise not so good. Shooting in good light is what makes photos and video look good. I like shoot in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is low and the light nice and golden. Of course I don't shoot real estate and shooting at those times of day can also work against you when doing something like shooting real estate because while one side of the house is going to look gorgeous bathed in all golden light, the other side is going to be almost completely in shadow. High afternoon sun can work well also and will allow for shooting from more angles with less shadow, but you might end up needing a ND filter to get rid of prop jello. And lets not forget wind. Wind is your enemy when shooting video from a phantom. Remember when I said above about being slow and smooth. Flying in 20mph winds does not make for smooth video. The bottom line is you don't get to decide when the weather is good for shooting so you have to wait for the weather to decide on its own.

Editing. As has already been stated, keep it tight. Drone footage looks great. But when you see it used on professional productions, you'll notice that you almost never see a shot that lasts longer than four seconds. Even four seconds can be a bit on the long side. Its incredibly rare to find someone post a 'my first real estate shoot' video where the shots are less than 10 seconds. That is way too long. Don't make that mistake. Keep the shots at two to four seconds each max.

Oh and now a bit of flying. I've got a P2 and I've not yet flown or seen a P3 so I don't know if they've built in any kind of VRS protection. But before you get too deep into shooting for hire, you would do well to read as much as you can about VRS and it also wouldn't hurt to pick up a cheap sacrificial drone and learn how to get into and back out of VRS safely before you risk plopping your P3 hard into someone's glass sun room. Or do what I did and learn to fly when there's 2' of soft snow on the ground and just put into VRS a few times so you can see first hand how quickly it can happen and how quickly it can drop out of the sky like rock if you let it happen.

 

[mrinab]

As mentioned in an earlier answer to your question...... It is not legal !
As of right now any commercial use of a drone will require a 333 exemption from FAA and drone needs to be flown by a licensed pilot as well as other restrictions.
They are trying to change this but for now these are the rules and yes if you crash into somebody or something you will be 100% liable.....and that could get expensive.
On the other hand there is a lot of people that don't care about this and who is going to enforce it ?

 

[johan]

I am looking into getting fully licensed for future projects and a business idea I'd like to get off the ground.

Better go learn to fly real airplanes then. As of right now, no one without a pilot certificate can legally fly a drone for money. Looks like that's going to change in a year or two but as of right now, that's how it is.

As for getting legal just shoot some real estate here and there? Ah I'm not sure how I feel about it anymore. I used to be a big proponent of doing everything by the book. But the FAA is being completely irrational in what they require right now and the simple fact is for every single operator who is following the letter of the law and doing it 100% legal, there's probably another ten who aren't the least bit legal.

So when the outlaws out number the law abiders by ten to one and no one is dying or getting hurt as a result? Well lets just say I have a much more difficult time being a stickler for getting 100% legal when the big picture of it all is considered.

...and now I will be completely slammed and shunned by the forum legal sticklers in 3.... 2.... 1....

 

[Magic Carpet]

How long do you think reputable Real Estate Company's are going to use bootleg drone operators when they realize the personal liability they are exposing themselves to?? The word is already going out, use an unlicensed drone operation and they damage property or hurt someone you are going to be sued.

 

[Hottwheells]

Ok, so I've been doing a lot of research since posting this question. I'm in Canada and this is the answer I've come up with. As long as I have liability coverage and operate in a safe manner, avoiding people and generally follow the rules, and having an aircraft that is below 2kg I should be exempt. Someone check this link and see if I'm just missing something.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents...hic_Permission_to_fly_a_UAV_Print_English.pdf

 

[Boebe]

Use the POI function. Works like a charm.

 

[envisionabove]

Please I operated a business in CA for 15 years with no LIC and No Insurance. I did lawyers doctors and the other well to do's. Never once had an issue.
Rule one no one around when flying...
Rule Two what happens in the air stays in the air.
Rule three make money! and don't under cut.

The agent cares about , the cost, and get it done. They are not liable... You are!
Now with no one around, what kind of damage could a small bird being flown safely cause? for goodness sake how many folks fly out of LOS I hit 3 Miles!!!!
I hit 500 feet!!!! Flying over people, flying in the City?? Over highways! Flying at Night! The list goes on.... No one freaks out? But Start making some money and every tom **** and harry comes out. Hmmmm I wonder are they doing something like many many many others are doing? Under the table work?

If you live in CA you can without a LIC do jobs for $500.00 labor and materials. Just show the person a one page letter from the contractors board and your safe. It's not like we are putting in electrical wires or pluming.

Sorry for ranting... if you got a 333 fine, but I tell you this many others are making money without 333's and doing a good job at it, it just takes getting to know your agents and the work flows in like water. Opps broke a windows 300.00 bucks to replace odds of it happening (ZIP if your smart )... did that job for free... Next job please

 

[envisionabove]

Use the POI function. Works like a charm.

Fantastic!

Wonderful shoot! Now if the folks next door all had crappy yards it would not be to good huh ( I ran into that issue twice )? That would be all you need for a job, and a few inside and out side shots the avarage is 5 to 6 photos get a good printer and a sub domain with the address of the shoot no one can google up for the video and delete when home sells and your RICH! beyond your wildest dreams.

PS: don't quit the day job right off wintertime things get real slow.

 

[envisionabove]

How long do you think reputable Real Estate Company's are going to use bootleg drone operators when they realize the personal liability they are exposing themselves to?? The word is already going out, use an unlicensed drone operation and they damage property or hurt someone you are going to be sued.

Great Point! but it's not really a Big Company your after it's the AGENT that pays for the extra's in 90% of the deals. The new found flippers are small groups of investors, those are the ones you want to hit up. Forget the companies too many are husband and wife teams. Mine are

 

[duse500]

Rule three make money! and don't under cut.

What would undercut be? I dont know of anyone else doing it so???
Lets say someone is asked by a Maintenance company to take pictures of a house so they know exactly where the deck furnisher goes when the season starts.
OK $10 a pic.
$10 a pic doesn't sound like much and I think it should have been more. BUT,,, at 3-5 pics a house ???? Did 3 Houses yesterday in under an hr for the guy ,some places were to hard to get a aerial shot so I just held the P3P. I now have 68 houses to do . Its an Island so I can do 4-5-6-7 houses from 1 location. Now they want a roof shot also ,(no problem,$10.)
Most of the people are gone but theres still some untill November .I know them all and they know me.Now they are wanting aerials of the house and I can either do sunrise with the ocean or sunset with the bay pics. I have no intentions of doing that for $10 a pic because they are picture frame and put on the wall shots. I just dont know what to charge on those

 

[Pulsar747n]

What would undercut be? I dont know of anyone else doing it so???
Lets say someone is asked by a Maintenance company to take pictures of a house so they know exactly where the deck furnisher goes when the season starts.
OK $10 a pic.
$10 a pic doesn't sound like much and I think it should have been more. BUT,,, at 3-5 pics a house ???? Did 3 Houses yesterday in under an hr for the guy ,some places were to hard to get a aerial shot so I just held the P3P. I now have 68 houses to do . Its an Island so I can do 4-5-6-7 houses from 1 location. Now they want a roof shot also ,(no problem,$10.)
Most of the people are gone but theres still some untill November .I know them all and they know me.Now they are wanting aerials of the house and I can either do sunrise with the ocean or sunset with the bay pics. I have no intentions of doing that for $10 a pic because they are picture frame and put on the wall shots. I just dont know what to charge on those

Sounds fair enough, but how would you go about a 10 minute movie?

 

[envisionabove]

From thinking about the job, time it takes, gas, materials, you need to be making a living wage. Normally around 50 and hour. I use to bid at 150.00 per hour....note it was not photography.

I turned work away as I was always booked 3 months in advance and they waited.