Drones: 2015's Latest Addition to Property Management?

By Ashley Halligan, Property Management Software Guide, Austin, TX

Just a year ago, several California-based real estate agencies had already begun implementing aerial real estate photography via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) -- significantly reducing the cost of employing manned aircraft to capture high-end estate images. Furthermore, new technologies allow these UAVs -- or drones -- to capture high-resolution images that were before impossible.

In February 2012, however, a new bill -- the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act -- led to the LAPD cracking down on aerial photography operations -- but only temporarily. The new bill will actually pave a a freer path for both private and commercial use of drones. The bill has approved more than $60 billion in funds to the FAA and also requires that the FAA have its new laws loosening the airspace restrictions in place by September 2015.

Aside from aerial photography, what other ways are real estate and property management professionals considering the future impact of loosened restrictions?

David Record, CEO of Advanced Unmanned, brings up an interesting point about satellite imagery -- and its impact on property maintenance, for example.

"These UAVs allow the end-user to have imagery that is fresher and more relevant; thus the imagery itself becomes a party of the decision-making process," he says. "The expansion of accessible, relevant data allows property owners, planners, and other entities to make decisions from a desktop rather than having to travel on-site to acquire the same information."

In an article I recently wrote for Software Advice, I explored real estate professionals' opinions and some of the public apprehensions encompassing this hot topic. What else did they have to say?

Read the original story -- Drones: A Controversial Eye in the Sky for Property Managers.