What the evidence shows
Search for this question and you will find big numbers: homes sell 68% faster, listings get 403% more inquiries. Nearly all come from drone companies and marketing blogs. We tried to trace them to an original study and could not. A reader comment on one RISMedia trade article asked where the 68% figure came from and could not find it. Other write-ups attribute it only to unnamed "MLS statistics." We do not repeat those numbers as fact.
The one academic study we could verify is by Seow Eng Ong, Woei Chyuan Wong, Davin Wang and Choon Peng Lai, published in 2022 in the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. It looked at home listings in Singapore from 2015 to 2018 and modeled the effect of 360 virtual tours and drone video on buyer arrival, chance of sale, price and time on market. It found that having virtual tours or drone video in a listing was associated with more buyer arrivals, a higher chance of a sale and a higher selling price. Virtual tours were also linked to longer time on market. The authors say it is the first paper to look at drone video.
That is real evidence, and it is also limited. It covers Singapore, not Massachusetts. It studied drone video, not stills. Homes in Singapore are mostly apartments, not houses on lots. And the study shows an association, not proof that a drone caused the price. We read the abstract on a research index, not the whole paper.
Redfin's article on listing photos (June 3, 2019) says aerial images help a home "stand out among your competitors, potentially leading to a faster sale." It gives no figure for aerial photos. The Redfin research that does have numbers is about professional photography in general, not drones.
We did not find a National Association of Realtors or Zillow study that measures drone photos and a sale. If you see a figure credited to NAR, ask for the report.
When drone shots matter
- Large lots and acreage. Street photos cannot show 1 acre or 5. An aerial shows the size, the shape and what surrounds the house.
- Waterfront. Frontage on a pond, river or the coast is hard to see from the driveway, and it is a large part of the value.
- Multi-family and investor properties. Aerials show parking, yard use, how the buildings sit and how much room there is for the next owner.
- Distance to what a buyer cares about. An aerial can show how close a house is to a park, a train line or the water. Say this as a fact of the site, and leave out any wording about who should live there.
- Out-of-town buyers and heirs. A buyer or a family who cannot visit easily gets a better sense of the site from the air. This helps with a probate or inherited sale; see selling an inherited home.
When they do not matter much
- A small city lot. A condo or a house on a tight lot in Malden, Medford, Everett or Revere shows little from above except rooftops.
- A home that needs work. Buyers will judge the interior and the condition first. Aerials do not fix that. See selling a house that needs work.
- Leaf-on views that hide the house. In summer a tree canopy can cover the roof and yard.
- A sale to an investor or a cash buyer. Buyers who plan to renovate care about condition and price. Compare routes with the cash offer vs listing tool.
Drone photos also do not replace good interior photos or accurate listing facts. They are one extra set of pictures.
Cost versus benefit
An aerial add-on to a photo shoot usually costs about $150 to $350 in Greater Boston, and a fuller package with edited video runs about $250 to $900 in our draft range (not a quote). See the cost guide.
Compare that with the other things sellers pay for before listing. Staging often costs far more, and we cover that in staging a house: cost and worth in Massachusetts. If a listing agent already includes aerials, ask for them. If you are paying for them, it is a small cost for a property where the land is part of the story, and an easy line to cut for a small lot.
Photos do not control how long a sale takes. Price, condition, timing and interest rates do far more. Our guide on how long it takes to sell a house in Massachusetts shows what usually drives the timeline.
If you decide to book a shoot
Ask for an FAA-certified Part 107 pilot with insurance, and check the airspace at your address first. Most towns north of Boston are in Logan's controlled airspace, so a pilot needs authorization before flying; see the Logan airspace guide and the Part 107 guide.
If you have signed a listing agreement, tell your agent first. Many already work with a photographer. You can read what a shoot includes on the real estate listings page.