Listing real estate agents are notoriously stingy and unwilling to spend their own money on drone photography or anything else. Most are now taking their real estate photographs with their own cell phones.
My family has been in the home building and selling business for over 40 years, so I know a lot of realtors.
While some do work for home builders and have a marketing budget, most pay for these types of services out of their own pocket. Most don't use drone photography (they don't know how to use drones) and take mediocre photos/videos with their phones that are likely "good enough" to do the job.
That said, this type of service is likely more profitable in certain areas of the US, and it also probably depends on the price of the homes being sold. For example, if you look at the homes being sold where I live (on Zillow), you'll notice almost none of the homes that are less than around $1M have aerial shots.
Appreciate this advice. I have actually tried that approach already.
I made 55 calls to realtors here in Austin, Texas: 6 picked up, 4 hung up, and I had real conversations with 2. I asked both if they ever use paid drone footage - they said yes. So I still think the market is alive, just not easy to break into.
Sure, but this isn't quite the approach I had in mind. I'm actually suggesting a more hands-on strategy, where you physically visit listings that don't have aerial photos. And instead of showing up and pitching your services right away, just offer to shoot something for free. For example, take a few complimentary shots of the front of the home, and then maybe offer additional angles for a small fee. This gives them a free trial of your work with zero risk on their part.
The goal is to stand out and get your foot in the door by doing something different. Cold-calling random realtors might work at a very large scale, but it's likely not going to be as effective since phone sales are a heavily saturated tactic.
Between sales calls and scams, I probably get at least 10 calls a week myself. I don't answer any of those calls.
I get what @GadgetGuy is saying - it’s crowded and cheap - but I’m not giving up yet
Starting any business is going to be tough. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means most people will likely quit before they succeed.
There are realtors out there who are willing to pay for this kind of service if the price is fair, the quality is good, and it saves them time. You might have even greater success by offering a broader range of services, which could completely lift the burden off realtors trying to do everything themselves.
Just because someone handles something on their own doesn't mean they enjoy it or that they're doing it well. Plenty of people understand the value of spending money to save time.
