We all love to shop.
And we all certainly love the convenience of online shopping and perusing around for the perfect product from the comfort of our own home, but have you ever shopped around with your own personal drone?
Recently a SoCal homeowner (who hasn’t listed their house in decades) was telling me a story about how they randomly got a phone call from an out of the country phone number- they reluctantly answered to be met with an international business person on the other side who opened the conversation by saying how much they LOVE their California home. With their thick European accent the international businessman started saying the landscaping on the homeowner’s property is so gorgeous, they continued to gush about how lovely the street was and how incredibly designed the pool is. The homeowner said “Wait, my house isn’t for sale, how did you see all of this?” The off-shore financier said “Oh we flew our drone over your property. Would you be interested in selling?”
In real estate we learn that when you buy a property you own all the earth under your house all the way down to the earth’s core and all the airspace above your property, all the way to outer space. A comforting thought but of course that comes with a plethora of conditions and restrictions. It is surprisingly legal to hover a drone over private property as long as it follows FAA regulations and preventative measures are very limited. You thought you were alone sunbathing nude by your pool? Think again.
In a market with such low inventory, buyers with the means are getting creative and are risking coming across as too forward as a way to acquire a desired, off-market property. In a post-privacy era I shouldn’t be so surprised by this but I don’t know, it all seems so Black Mirror-y.
On the same note, Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the Real Estate industry. Predictive analytics & market analysis, 3D Modeling, Smart Home devices, Property Management and even mortgage lending are all evolving with AI capabilities. Like online shopping, perhaps this will make our real estate endeavors more convenient, but I can’t help but wonder at what cost?
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Victoria Jesionek