Source: Don McCullough via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
A Seven G Media White Paper
What Real Estate Agents Need To Know About Drones
B
uilding a successful real estate practice requires a
fair bit of hustle, whether you are following up on
a potential listing or creating memorable marketing materials. In recent years, more and more real estate
professionals have been considering the use of aerial
drones to capture amazing, bird’s eye shots of a home and
property.
But what is a drone? According to an Oregon state legislative analysis, a “drone is basically an airplane or
helicopter without a pilot on board that is operated by
someone who may be many thousands of miles away, or
a few hundred feet away. A drone may be an “unmanned
aerial vehicle” licensed by the Federal Aviation Authority
(FAA), or a hobby craft purchased at a local store.”
But did you know it is illegal to use drones for commercial purposes, which the Federal Aviation Administration
includes as real estate marketing purposes. The FAA can,
and has, fined drone operators up to $10,000. And these
same drone operators – and their real estate agent clients
– can be held liable should something go wrong during a
flight, injuring a person or property.
The FAA estimates more than 10,000 drones are being
operated throughout the U.S., expects that number to triple
within the next 10 years. One of the reasons for the rapid
rise of drones is costs: a high-performance drone capable
of capturing great videos and pictures can be purchased
for less than $1,000, and many can be operated with your
smartphone.
Given the current FAA prohibition, the National Association of REALTORS® recommends its members not use
drones for any purpose related to selling property.
It is not all bad news. There are some exceptions and new
rules on the horizon. This Seven G Media Whitepaper provides an overview of what real estate agents need to know
about drones. This whitepaper is for general information
purposes.
With the rise of drones has also come a rise of issues such
as privacy, safety, and security being debated at the local,
state and federal levels. Fueling the demands for more
regulations for drones have been negative news headlines
that included a commercial plane having a near-miss with
a drone as it approached a landing at the Charlotte airport
in North Carolina; a drone that crashed into and injured a
woman at Seattle’s gay pride parade this past June; and a
drone that crashed into the White House.
No doubt you have seen drones being used in real estate.
More than a dozen Portland Metro Area businesses offer
video production services using drones, and countless
more real estate agents are probably dabbling in the practice on their own.
At least 20 states have enacted laws addressing the issue
of drones: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Copyright ©2015
www.sevengmedia.com
In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act was
signed into law, which compels the FAA to allow drones to
be used commercially for various purposes, including for
real estate. The FAA is currently developing the rules to
integrate drones into the national airspace, as required by
the 2012 law.
In February 2015, the FAA issued a proposed framework
for how they will regulate the use of drones. Those provisions included:
• Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs.
• The unmanned aircraft must remain within the visual line-of-sight of the operator or visual observer.
• Daylight- only operations (official sunrise to official sunset, local time)
Locally, the state of Oregon in 2013 enacted legislation
giving landowners basic drone exclusion rights within a
defined column of airspace above their property. The law
allowed property owners to bring claims against anyone
who flies a drone over their property a second time at a
height of less than 400 feet after being asked not to do so,
Property owners who prevail under Oregon’s drone trespass statute can recover damages for any injuries to persons or property caused by unwanted drones and can also
recover attorney fees in cases where the amount pleaded
was less than $10,000. On the flipside, the state has also
passed a law making it illegal to shoot a drone or otherwise interfere with its operation.
Source arbitragery via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
This includes requesting the UAS operator indemnify you
against any action, suits, damages, losses, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ and fees
and costs) arising from the UAS operation or the use of the
related UAS images.
Additional Resources:
Filing Section 333 Exemption: http://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/
section_333/how_to_file_a_petition/
List of approved exemptions: http://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/
section_333/333_authorizations/
National Association of Realtors® Resource Guide: http://www.realtor.org/
field-guides/field-guide-to-drones-and-real-estate
Proposed FAA Rules on Drone Use: http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/
rulemaking/media/021515_sUAS_Summary.pdf
Getting Your Aerial Drone Footage Today
While the FAA works on its rules, there is path for videographers or real estate agents to obtain an exemption to the
commercial ban on drones. This is called a Section 333
Waiver.
The NAR compiled a list of Section 333 Waiver holders.
Of those, seven were listed in Oregon and 11 were listed in
Washington.
Real estate agents considering hiring a business to shoot
aerial video or pictures with a drone should ask if the
business has the Section 333 Waiver. Also, agents should
ask any individual or company you are working with if
they are insured for the UAS operation. Additionally, you
should request to be named as an additional insured for
purposes related to the UAS operation.
About Seven G Media – Seven G Media is a content
marketing agency serving real estate agents and small
businesses throughout the Portland Metro Area. We
specialize in content strategy, creation, deployment
and management, specifically with web videos. We
place an emphasis on business storytelling.
Learn more at www.sevengmedia.com/realtors
503-810-7013
 [email protected]
Copyright ©2015
www.sevengmedia.com