Drones Fly Sky-high for Property Management

Drones can be used for property management in several, highly effective ways. For instance, they can be used for aerial inspections, property documentation, maintenance assessment, property sales, marketing, construction monitoring, mapping and more.

This article is going to focus on aerial drone property inspections.

Central to all Property Managers is the importance of maintenance and compliance inspections. That said, there are many maintenance tasks that embody inherent risks and require considerable time such as roof, drain and gutter analysis, balcony inspections and comprehensive property assessment. Consider that in a matter of hours, a drone can inspect hundreds of roofs, hardscape, landscape and water features!

The critical reasons for using a drone vs. manual approach include:

• Efficiency – Drones will document houses and community resources quickly with high resolution video and photographic documentation.
• Ease of inspecting inaccessible areas – Consider the challenges of water-side inspections at the rear of the property owner’s home. Drones are also a quick and easy tool for verifying that homeowners have completed work related to citations and fines.
• Reduced manpower requirement – In larger communities, a single drone pilot can document an entire single-family residential community or multiple high-rise apartment buildings in an afternoon.
• Documentation – Each drone flight will produce detailed photographs and video that will provide visual evidence of issues in exceptional detail. Also, advanced drone mapping software can create two and three-dimensional models that provide further documentary support.
• Safety – Drones will eliminate roof inspection-related ladders injuries and falls.

As a Property Manager, there are some aspects of aerial drone aspects that you will want to consider…

1. Not all drones are the same

Aerial drones are generally equipped with basic flight capability and cameras, but there is a significant difference when it comes to commercial quality equipment. While a hobby-quality drone typically has little or no collision avoidance capability, a commercial quality drone generally has collision avoidance cameras on all four sides, plus sensors above and below. Wind is always a consideration. While some drones weigh less than 1 pound, the commercial-rated drone are heavier and therefore able to safely handle wind and other adverse weather conditions.

2. Not all drone software is the same

While some drone pilots rely on manual controls, professional drone pilots most often use autonomous software that delivers precise inspection patterns. Generally, the patterns are defined by a series of “waypoints” that specify latitude, longitude and altitude. They are used to assure that the drone is operating with optimized efficiency and safety as it gathers the critical photographic imagery. By using autonomous software, subsequent comparative flights can reuse the exact pattern. This allows historical comparisons that embody a high degree of accuracy.

3. Not all drone Pilots are the same

First and foremost, there is a marked difference between a drone hobbyist and a commercial drone pilot. For all of the obvious reasons, professional Property Managers should only use an experienced, FAA-licensed drone pilot Today, commercial drone pilots must carry a current FAA Part 107 Drone Pilot license. The license is earned by completing a comprehensive examination that includes a demonstrated knowledge of laws and regulations, FAA air space restrictions, aviation weather, communications, aeronautical decision making and more.

Finally, be sure also to verify that the drone pilot or their company has liability insurance. For property management, a minimum $1,000,000 drone flight insurance policy is recommended.

4. Not all drone cameras are the same

As a Property Manager, you will you would want your photos and videos to be as detailed as possible. This is where a high-quality camera comes in. Video recording for professional use will be at resolution of 4K or better. This higher resolution supports more content and delivers crispier images. Similarly, for photographs, a 12-megapixel (MP) photograph is a standard for most professional drone cameras. Better Newer equipped commercial-quality drones often provide 20-MP photos for higher resolution..

Final thoughts -

With their high levels of efficiency, drones will change the way that property management inspection jobs are accomplished. To produce professional results, you’ll need an experienced and insured drone services company that provides a combination of FAA certified pilots, commercial-quality drone equipment and drone roof inspection software. The resulting aerial drone imagery will provide highly accurate, crystal-clear digital documentation to better manage maintenance issues and residential ordinance violations before they can become more serious problems.

The bottom line is that an aerial drone, when property operated, is a highly effective and safe tool that provides stunningly detailed video and photos for accomplishing the wide range of property inspection tasks.