Many in the housing industry have been waiting to get the go-ahead to use drones, and that finally came this summer.
Back in May of 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration officials told Realtors they still couldn’t use drones during the When, Where and How can I Use My Drone session at the Realtors Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.
At that time the FAA was still working on the rules for the drones, however they did mention that Realtors could apply for a Section 333 waiver, which provided a limited-use permit to the applicant and came with many safety restrictions on use of the machine.
Well now, the rules are finalized. They were made official at the end of June. Here is a summary of the small unmanned aircraft rule from FAA.
Commercial drone operators are no longer required to hold a pilot’s license, according to an blog by Greg Mays for the National Association of Realtors.
The blog emphasizes the importance of the use of drones for real estate appraisers.
From the blog:
Here are some examples: pictures of a new roof system installed on an older improvement; large acreage tracts that the client wanted in order to know more about forestation and topography; proximity to surrounding properties or features such as rivers, lakes, commercial buildings, and power lines – just to name a few. This bird’s eye view can provide the client with a much better idea of the neighborhood surrounding a property and physical characteristics of the property itself. To coin a phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
