One of the top challenges of selling houses is to communicate to the customer what their prospective house and community will be like to live in– sometimes before either exists. The housing development sector’s long-time solution to this is to construct model homes, tiny model neighborhoods, and to give statistical facts about the area, if it already exists. But, an under-utilized strategy is one we at Desert View are very familiar with– aerial photography.

Increasingly, you don’t just sell a customer on a house, you sell them on the community as a whole. Client’s common questions revolve around their community, and wanting to know more about it. What are the schools like nearby? Are there parks or naturalized areas? What’s the closest route to the shopping center? What are my neighbors going to be like?

You can tell a client that their neighborhood is made up of young families, with lots of green space, and has quick and logical routes to main roads, or, you can show them. Instead of relying on statistics, facts, and affirmations to the client, they can see exactly what you’re talking about, with a bird’s eye view of the neighborhood, or the neighborhood-to-be. It doesn’t just catch their attention, it also engages them.

Imagine a client with young children asks how close the park is or will be to their prospective home. You say, “just down the street.” But what does that mean to the client? Not much. When you have an aerial view of the community, you can point out the park to the client, and show him or her their route to their afternoon play-dates. Suddenly the customer can imagine themselves walking down the streets. They visualize the turns they would take to the park. And, they can see how large that park is.

No longer is the client hearing about what the neighborhood is like; instead they are imagining themselves living in it. They aren’t just sizing-up the community; they are turning inwards and reflecting on what they want their community experience to be. This is just one way that aerial photography develops a richer understanding of a community, and develops a deeper connection between the client and the community.

Further, when a potential customer is looking at the aerial photos of the neighborhood, the best features of the site, like the green-space, community hubs, and shops, will jump right out to them. And, including those kinds of spaces is a huge priority, according to the brilliant minds behind Johnson Development. Instead of looking at the community as a bland row of houses, the prospective client gets a sense of what amenities are available, and becomes familiar with their new home. Increasingly, the new neighborhood feels like a place they know, which builds comfort and confidence in their new choice of location.

Seeing the whole structure of a neighborhood is a key aspect of familiarizing the client with their potential community. Take a client on an in-person tour of an older community and they are quickly lost in the maze of unfamiliar streets. Yes, they’re following a GPS and arrive for the house tour, but what did they learn about the community on the way? Not much. They saw streets they didn’t know, and probably missed out on key parts of the neighborhood, either because they didn’t drive past them on their route, or because they were too focused on their route to focus on the landmarks.

How many times does the client have to drive through the neighborhood before they feel like they know it? Well, with aerial photography, the client becomes familiarized with the layout of the neighborhood much faster. You can draw their attention to the different routes to the school, and to the grocery store. You can mark out street names and other key features of the neighborhood. When the client sees them for him or herself, they’ll feel more familiar and more connected to the area.

Increasingly, that sense of community connection is exactly what home buyers are looking for. In particular, millennial prefer to live and eat in communal spaces. So, the visual communication that there are places to meet and spaces where community members will bump into one another is key to appealing to this new generation.

Although they have a reputation for being non-committal, Millennials are looking to buy houses, and those who can learn to successfully appeal to them now will find their success growing in the future. In a potential house and community Millennials wants multi-generational spaces and a sense of community. Read more about appealing to Millennials in the construction industry.

As a community is built, recent photos will give the client a sense of scale of the community. Also, with new technologies being developed, virtual and augmented reality will allow you to communicate your neighborhood’s best features to a client, as if it is already built.

When potential homeowners see what an attractive community you are building, they’ll become invested in your project. Families will see themselves not just living in one of your homes, but partaking in the life of the neighborhood you’re building. That connection leads to big investment in your company and its project, and translates to more sales.

Photographing entire neighborhoods and multi-family complexes requires a plane or helicopter for aerial views. This should be done by experienced professionals who are used to considering both the technical aspects of your project and the marketing value of the aerial photographs. At Desert View Aerial Photography we capture high quality aerial photographs that truly display the best of the community, drawing the client in and developing an authentic connection.