The intense roller coaster for the housing market over the past two years has had a direct impact on the home inspection trade. With fewer inspectors actively working, it’s important to utilize the newest techniques and technologies to provide better, safer, and most cost-effective inspections for your customer.
Much of drone use is for hobbyists, but that does not mean drone use cannot be applied across various industries to provide valuable services, including for home inspections. Drones are a tool for inspectors to fill many gaps in the quality and timeliness of their reporting. They are also cost-effective, safer, and have commercial use cases, as well as residential.
This blog series will focus on why drones are a good choice to enhance your home inspection business and how you can get started. Follow along month over month on our blog to learn about topics, such as:
Drones increase your inspection and reporting quality
Prior to drone technology, home inspectors have been limited in their ability to access certain areas, especially roofs. Be it because they are too high, too steep, or too wet, there are some roofs that can’t be inspected by climbing atop of it. And even if you could access some areas, the human eye doesn’t have the ability to see the shingles or other roof coverings at every angle. Drones can also gauge the thermal emissivity of a roof so you know if your roof is absorbing or reflecting heat and at what rate. This, along with sharper images and videos, amplifies the inspection experience for both the inspector and the customer.
Drones provide safer working conditions for inspectors
Home inspection, particularly when scaling roofs, can be a dangerous business. Falls–and injuries related to falls, such as heart attacks that lead to a fall–are one of the risks that inspectors take when they inspect everything atop of the roof on foot. And it doesn’t just happen on tall roofs; in fact, 40% of falls that end in death are from ten foot high or less. The good news is that falls and injuries during home inspections can be entirely avoided with drone use. This is better for you, your family and your business.
Drones deliver better customer satisfaction
It’s difficult for a home seller to have to explain that they can’t answer questions about their roof or the structure of their home due to inaccessibility issues. Drones give home inspectors the ability to provide a more thorough and robust report for their customers, leaving no stone unturned. This provides peace of mind for customers knowing that they are providing an accurate inspection to the insurance companies and their buyers. Having this level of inspection ability also helps appraisers to accurately price properties and can get customers more for their home than expected. Home buyers also have the perception that an inspector has looked at the entire roof when this is not necessarily the case when inspecting with a ladder. Using a drone however does allow you to inspect more of the roof and therefore you are meeting or even exceeding your client’s expectations.
Drones help meet demand for inspections
Right now, there is a downward trend in the number of home inspectors. Because of this, and because the housing market is unexpected since the COVID crisis hit, using drones gives one home inspector a sharp competitive advantage over others. Customers want an inspector who can provide a clear, accurate report in less time; drones unlock that ability. Drones also give inspectors the ability to create more bandwidth for themselves to inspect more homes in less time and in a safer manner.
Drones are a cost-efficient solution for home inspection businesses
When you can inspect more homes in less time, you’re making more money and saving yourself time and liability by not stepping on roofs yourself. With drones, you don’t need to rely on binoculars or invest in expensive equipment rentals to reach certain areas of larger structures. For the customer, drone inspections can be cost-effective, as well. They get a return on their investment more quickly and sometimes using a drone can identify a part of a structure that can be repaired less expensively than replacing, for example, an entire roof.
Getting Started with drone home inspections
If you’re already a home inspector, it will significantly benefit your business to apply drone technology to every inspection. If you’re considering entering the field, don’t move forward without discussing drone applications with a Drone Hangar expert. There are two chief aspects to getting started with drone technology–getting the right drone for your needs and connecting with experts who can guide you through the learning curves.
Drone Hangar provides end-to-end sales and service for all your drone needs. We can help you select the best drone for your use case, keep it running at an optimum level, teach and train you in drone piloting and provide advice for you and your home inspection business. Connect with a member of our team today to start the conversation that will revolutionize your home inspection business.