High-quality images and videos can make or break a property listing, influencing potential buyers and investors long before they set foot on the premises. For large commercial and residential real estate firms, as well as investment banks with geographically diverse portfolios, the challenge of maintaining a consistent and professional visual standard across multiple locations is daunting. The use of drone photography has become essential for capturing dynamic, aerial perspectives that showcase properties in their best light. However, sourcing reliable drone pilots, especially across various cities, presents a significant logistical hurdle. This blog explores the pain points these firms face and how Up Sonder’s nationwide network of drone pilots provides a seamless solution.
The real estate industry has witnessed a transformation in how properties are marketed. Drone photography has emerged as a critical tool, offering potential buyers and investors a comprehensive view of properties, including aerial shots that highlight the full scope of the land, its surroundings, and the architectural features of the buildings. Whether it’s a sprawling commercial complex or a high-end residential property, drone footage provides an immersive experience that standard photography simply cannot match.
For firms with extensive portfolios spread across the United States, the demand for consistent, high-quality drone footage is growing. Not only does it enhance the visual appeal of listings, but it also provides a competitive edge in a crowded market. However, this growing reliance on drone services also comes with its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to sourcing and managing drone pilots across multiple locations. Ensuring that each pilot delivers footage that meets the firm’s standards while also sticking to budget constraints can be a complex and time-consuming task.
When managing a single property, finding and vetting a qualified local drone pilot can already be a daunting task. Real estate firms must invest significant time and resources into researching potential pilots, verifying their credentials, and ensuring they have the experience necessary to capture high-quality footage. The challenge doesn’t end there—firms must also ensure that the pilots understand and adhere to specific branding and quality requirements, which can vary from one listing to another.
Once a suitable pilot is identified, scheduling the shoot introduces another layer of complexity. Real estate firms often face issues such as cancellations, weather-related delays, or other unforeseen changes that disrupt the original plan. These disruptions can force firms to shift their focus from core business activities to managing logistics, effectively turning them into a logistical hub rather than a real estate firm. This role reversal not only takes time away from other critical tasks but also adds stress and uncertainty to the process.
Even after successfully coordinating a shoot, there is no guarantee that the footage will meet the required standards. Poor-quality drone footage can severely impact the marketing of a property, leading to dissatisfied clients and potentially damaging the firm’s reputation. When the footage is subpar, firms are faced with the burden of arranging reshoots, which involves renegotiating schedules and fees with the pilot—a process that is both time-consuming and costly.
The impact of receiving poor-quality footage goes beyond just the inconvenience of reshoots. It can delay the entire marketing process, cause frustration for clients, and ultimately affect the sale or lease of the property. The added pressure of managing these issues further complicates the already challenging task of overseeing a large portfolio.
Up Sonder alleviates these pain points by offering a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of drone photography. From start to finish, Up Sonder manages the entire process, ensuring that all logistical issues are addressed efficiently. With a standardized shot list and thorough vetting of pilots, Up Sonder guarantees consistent quality across all locations. Additionally, if the footage doesn’t meet expectations, Up Sonder offers free reshoots, eliminating the risk and hassle for the client. This end-to-end service allows real estate firms to focus on their core business while ensuring that their properties are presented in the best possible light.
As challenging as it is to manage drone photography for a single property, these challenges multiply exponentially when real estate firms need to coordinate shoots across multiple locations. For firms with a geographically spread-out portfolio, the complexities of sourcing, managing, and ensuring quality control over drone footage can become overwhelming.
When scaling across multiple locations, the logistical demands grow significantly. Each property requires its own drone pilot, and each pilot must be researched, vetted, and managed individually. The time commitment for this process alone can be immense, particularly for firms handling dozens or even hundreds of properties across the United States. Coordinating shoot schedules across different time zones, dealing with a variety of local regulations, and ensuring that each pilot delivers consistent quality adds layers of complexity that can quickly become unmanageable.
One of the most significant pain points for large firms is the inconsistency in pricing when dealing with multiple drone pilots. Local pilots often have their own pricing structures, which can vary widely depending on the location, demand, and the complexity of the shoot. This variability makes it nearly impossible to maintain a predictable budget, especially when dealing with numerous properties in different markets. Firms can find themselves paying significantly more for the same service in one city compared to another, leading to unexpected costs that can strain budgets and reduce profitability.
Another critical challenge is ensuring that the quality and style of the footage remain consistent across all locations. Different pilots may have varying levels of experience and different interpretations of the shot list, which can result in footage that doesn’t align with the firm’s branding or marketing objectives. The inconsistency in quality can diminish the overall impact of the property listings, leading to a less cohesive presentation of the firm’s portfolio.
Up Sonder: The Solution to Multi-Location Drone Needs
Up Sonder offers a seamless solution to these challenges by providing access to thousands of drone pilots in over 1,000 U.S. cities, all through a single platform. With Up Sonder, firms no longer need to spend countless hours sourcing and vetting pilots for each location. Up Sonder’s network is built on a foundation of standardized processes, including a quality shot list that ensures consistency across all shoots. This standardization extends to pricing as well, with Up Sonder offering the same rates regardless of location, allowing firms to maintain a predictable budget.
By handling all the logistical aspects, from scheduling to quality control, Up Sonder allows real estate firms to focus on their core business rather than getting bogged down in the complexities of managing drone pilots. The added benefit of free reshoots further ensures that firms receive the high-quality footage they need without the risk of additional costs or delays.
Up Sonder: The Nationwide Solution
For large commercial and residential real estate firms and investment banks with portfolios spanning the United States, the challenges of managing drone photography across multiple locations can be overwhelming. Up Sonder provides a robust, all-encompassing solution that simplifies this process by leveraging its extensive network of drone pilots, ensuring consistent quality, and offering predictable pricing.
A Vast Network of Qualified Drone Pilots
Up Sonder boasts a network of thousands of drone pilots across over 1,000 U.S. cities, making it one of the most extensive and reliable resources for real estate firms with geographically diverse portfolios. Each pilot in the network is thoroughly vetted, ensuring they meet Up Sonder’s high standards for quality and professionalism. This extensive network means that no matter where a property is located, Up Sonder can provide a qualified pilot who is familiar with the local area and regulations, and who can deliver footage that meets the firm’s specific requirements.
Consistency Through a Standardized Shot List
One of the biggest challenges in managing drone photography across multiple locations is maintaining consistency in the quality and style of the footage. Up Sonder addresses this challenge by implementing a standardized shot list that all pilots follow. This shot list ensures that each property is captured in a way that highlights its best features while maintaining a uniform style that aligns with the firm’s branding. The result is a cohesive and professional presentation of the firm’s portfolio, regardless of the number of locations involved.
Predictable Pricing, Nationwide
Budget unpredictability is a major pain point for firms that need to source drone pilots in different markets, where pricing can vary significantly. Up Sonder eliminates this issue by offering a standardized pricing model across all locations. Whether the property is in a major metropolitan area or a smaller market, the cost of drone services remains consistent. This approach allows firms to plan their budgets with confidence, knowing that they won’t encounter unexpected costs that could impact their bottom line.
End-to-End Management and Troubleshooting
Up Sonder’s services go beyond simply providing drone pilots. The platform offers comprehensive management of the entire process, from scheduling the shoot to handling any issues that may arise. Whether it’s a weather-related delay, a scheduling conflict, or a need for reshoots due to poor quality, Up Sonder takes care of all the details. This end-to-end management ensures that real estate firms can focus on their core business rather than getting bogged down in logistical challenges.
Additionally, Up Sonder offers free reshoots if the footage doesn’t meet the client’s quality expectations. This commitment to quality and customer satisfaction provides an extra layer of assurance for firms, knowing that they can rely on Up Sonder to deliver the results they need without additional costs or delays.
The benefits of partnering with Up Sonder for drone photography are clear. For large real estate firms and investment banks with portfolios spread across the country, Up Sonder provides a streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective solution that addresses all the pain points associated with sourcing and managing drone pilots.
By centralizing the sourcing, scheduling, and management of drone pilots under one platform, Up Sonder significantly reduces the time and effort required to coordinate shoots across multiple locations. Firms no longer need to deal with the complexities of managing relationships with different pilots or negotiating varying rates and schedules. Instead, they can rely on Up Sonder to handle everything, freeing up their time to focus on other critical aspects of their business.
With Up Sonder’s standardized shot list and rigorous vetting of pilots, firms can be confident that the quality of the footage will be consistent across all properties. This consistency is crucial for maintaining a professional and cohesive brand image, especially when marketing a large portfolio of properties.
Up Sonder’s standardized pricing model eliminates the unpredictability that often comes with sourcing drone pilots in different markets. Firms can plan their budgets more effectively, knowing that the cost of drone services will be the same regardless of the location. This predictability not only helps in managing costs but also in forecasting expenses more accurately.
The end-to-end management provided by Up Sonder ensures that firms don’t have to worry about the logistical challenges that often accompany drone photography. Whether it’s handling weather delays, rescheduling shoots, or managing reshoots, Up Sonder’s team is there to support the firm every step of the way. This level of service allows firms to focus on what they do best—selling and managing properties—while leaving the technical and logistical details to the experts.
When it comes to large commercial and residential real estate firms, few names carry as much weight as CBRE and Marcus & Millichap. These industry giants manage vast portfolios that span across the United States, requiring a consistent and reliable approach to marketing their properties. Both CBRE and Marcus & Millichap have recognized the value that Up Sonder brings to their operations, entrusting the platform to provide high-quality drone footage for their nationwide listings.
CBRE, as the largest commercial real estate services and investment firm in the world, deals with a diverse array of properties, each with its unique characteristics and requirements. Maintaining a consistent marketing approach across such a wide range of properties, located in various markets, is no small feat. By partnering with Up Sonder, CBRE has been able to streamline the process of acquiring drone footage for their listings, regardless of location.
Up Sonder’s extensive network of vetted drone pilots ensures that CBRE can secure high-quality footage that meets their exacting standards, no matter where the property is located. This partnership allows CBRE to maintain the consistency and quality that their brand is known for, without the logistical headaches typically associated with coordinating shoots across multiple cities.
Marcus & Millichap, a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm, also relies on Up Sonder to manage its drone photography needs. With a portfolio that includes a wide range of property types—from office buildings and retail centers to multifamily housing and industrial sites—Marcus & Millichap requires a solution that can adapt to the unique demands of each listing.
Up Sonder’s standardized shot list and commitment to quality have made it the go-to provider for Marcus & Millichap. The firm benefits from Up Sonder’s predictable pricing model, which helps them maintain a consistent budget across all markets. Moreover, the peace of mind that comes with knowing Up Sonder will handle all logistical details—including reshoots if necessary—allows Marcus & Millichap to focus on delivering exceptional service to their clients.
The trust that CBRE and Marcus & Millichap place in Up Sonder speaks volumes about the platform’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality drone footage nationwide. These partnerships highlight how Up Sonder’s services are not just a convenience, but a critical component of successful real estate marketing strategies. By providing a reliable, streamlined solution for drone photography, Up Sonder enables these industry leaders to maintain their competitive edge and continue setting the standard in commercial real estate.
Sourcing and managing drone pilots for a nationwide portfolio of properties is a complex and time-consuming task, fraught with logistical challenges, budget unpredictability, and the risk of inconsistent quality. For large commercial and residential real estate firms, as well as investment banks, these challenges can distract from their core business and lead to delays and increased costs.
UpSonder.com offers a comprehensive solution that addresses all of these pain points. With a vast network of qualified drone pilots in over 1,000 U.S. cities, a standardized shot list that ensures consistent quality, and a predictable pricing model, Up Sonder simplifies the process of obtaining high-quality drone footage across multiple locations. By managing all logistical aspects and offering free reshoots if needed, Up Sonder allows firms to focus on what they do best—managing and selling properties—while ensuring that their marketing materials are of the highest quality.
For firms looking to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and enhance the presentation of their portfolios, partnering with Up Sonder is the smart choice. Don’t let the challenges of sourcing drone pilots hold you back—let Up Sonder handle the logistics, so you can focus on growing your business.