There are many drone brands out there and it gets confusing very quickly for anyone new to the subject. If you find yourself searching Amazon for drones, most of what you will come across is not usable for quality image or video purposes. You will want to stay away from anything that’s not DJI, Parrot, or Autel for the purposes of amateur photography and video. I will be focusing on DJI for this article since it’s the most budget and user friendly brand. You get a LOT of features for the money with DJI.

The first thing we need to address is that anyone who uses a drone for commercial purposes in the United States is required by law to be FAA licensed. Ignore this at your own peril, but there are severe penalties to say the least. Please read our article, United States Drone Laws Effects on Realtors in 2024 for more details on this subject.

With that out of the way, we’ll dive into a few recommendations that are excellent choices for a properly FAA licensed Realtor to utilize for drone photographs or even video of real estate.

The DJI Neo is the cheapest option out there, (starting at $199). The base package is $199, but it is highly recommended to purchase a package with more batteries like this one for $289. This is controlled from your smart phone (or with an optional controller) and can sort of get the job done, but there are much better options out there for real estate photos. Think of this drone as more of an action drone that you can have follow you while hiking or biking, not something for high quality photographs.

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Not to be confused with the Mini 4 Pro, the Mini 4k is a great place to start for real estate photography/video. The Mini 4K starts at $299 and offers 4k video, 12MP images, and has up to 10 KM of transmission range. This is a GPS stabilized drone with easy “return to home” functionality so its unlikely you will lose it due to running out of battery or literally getting lost. Additionally it comes with a controller that you connect to a smart phone to display video and access more complex functionality. You will of course want a combo that comes with more batteries like this one for $449. If you’re just starting out and plan to use this exclusively for exterior photos and videos of houses or wooded lots, this is the drone for you.

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Now we’re getting into the pricey drones. The DJI Mini 4 Pro starts at $759 for a plain controller model with 1 battery, but if you’ve been reading this article, that’s not what’s recommended. This drone also has the option to come with the RC2 controller which has a screen on it so no need to involve your smart phone. The Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo with the RC2 controller for $1099 is what I highly recommend (and own).

This is an excellent drone for real estate and it has lots of features to take stunning video and photos in full sunlight or even at night. It has 360 degree obstacle avoidance which comes in handy when operating anywhere near trees. You can tilt the camera over a wide range of angles and even rotate it sideways for Instagram/TikTok style video. This is the drone you want if you know you’re going to be using it for years and may want to do a little more than just basic shots of houses.

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In summary, unless you are on an extreme budget, stay away from the DJI Neo for real estate work. It can be used to fly interiors, but I don’t believe its worth it.

This leaves 2 options: DJI Mini 4k for $449 and the DJI Mini 4 Pro for $1099.

If you’re not going to be using a drone too frequently, the Mini 4k will probably be what you need. You’ll have to connect your phone to the controller to take pictures, but it does work very well. You’ll have high quality pictures and video as long as you aren’t shooting at sunrise/sunset or at night, and you’ll have the GPS-guided return to home functionality to prevent losing it.

If you plan on using the drone frequently and want the safety of the collision avoidance, the really nice controller with the built in screen, and not having to tie up your smart phone using it as a viewport for the drone, go for the Mini 4 Pro. The controller will run for many hours on a single charge and has some programable buttons for functions which the others don’t have.

You may come across other inexpensive DJI drones in your search such as the Mini 2 and Mini 3 which have been phased out in favor of the Mini 4k for DJI’s budget photography/video drone offering. There are also much more expensive drones starting with the DJI Air 3 for $1549 and then getting into the Mavic 3 for $2499 which is really for enterprise applications with multiple cameras and many levels of optical zoom. These drones certainly have their uses, but they are a bit overkill for real estate purposes.

One last thing to consider is purchasing the DJI Care insurance which covers all kinds of accidents and even completely losing the drone. It is definitely worth it and they have very quick turn around times to get you a repaired/replaced drone. When you first activate your drone, you will be given the option to purchase it directly from DJI.

Good luck, stay safe, stay legal, and consider reading our article on drone laws.