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Sign into your account[FAA UPDATE] The Dream of Using Drones for Real Estate is Becoming A Reality
July 30 2015
So, you want to use a drone for real estate purposes. Your competitor is doing it and their videos are coming out in 4K high definition footage and are being posted across their social media channels and websites. So why can't you do the same? Well, you can, but the answer is a bit more complicated than that. Let's take an in-depth look at this topic so you can have a better understanding of what's going on in the world of drones.
Commercial drone use is currently banned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States. However, the FAA does allow the use of drones for recreation. The FAA specifically defines hobby or recreational use as "Taking photographs with a model aircraft for personal use." On the other hand, they define commercial use as "A Realtor using a model aircraft to photograph a property that he is trying to sell and using the photos in the property's real estate listing." That's pretty black and white. So is your competitor who's posting aerial footage of his newest property breaking the law? If they don't have an exemption from the FAA, then yes, they are.
They might be breaking the law, but the FAA isn't running around writing citations for every real estate company using a drone to film a property. They just don't have the resources for that. Your competition might be breaking FAA regulations, but a lot of companies are, and those companies could face heavy consequences, including large fines. If you want to use drones to take videos or pictures of your properties, then you'll need to be granted permission by obtaining an FAA Section 333 Exemption.
The FAA isn't sitting around denying businesses the Section 333 Exemption either. They're actually approving a surprising number of exemptions due to pressure coming from all types of businesses, not just real estate companies. As of July 2015, the FAA has officially approved 840+ exemptions, allowing companies to use drones for commercial use. The process isn't quick, as you can expect when working with a government agency like the FAA, but it has been sped up a lot since last year. Currently, it only takes two to three months to be approved.