WASHINGTON, DC—In a way it seems obvious that it would be a crowdfunding company that would be among the first to incorporate the use of drones in its financial due diligence: A company based on a relatively new tech-based business model adopting tapping into a newer form of technology to further its mission. The storyline almost writes itself.
But as Ben Miller, co-founder of Fundrise tells it, his interest in drones came about because a friend, who had established his own company offering drones as a service, wanted to see if they could innovate in the real estate space. Miller agreed to a trial run -- and was astounded by the result.
"I didn't realize how much they could do," he tells GlobeSt.com. "The images they produce are a combination of real-time Google satellite and Street View. It gives you a much better sense of a property and the submarket when you survey it using a drone."
Fundrise used its first drone to survey an office property it was considering adding to its portfolio in Santa Monica, CA. It plans to use drones going forward on a regular basis, especially if multiple properties are involved, according to Miller.
Drones offer several advantages, he says. First, they are cheap -- that flight in Santa Monica cost about $400. They also save the company time and resources. If Fundrise hadn't used a drone for the survey someone from the local office would have had to fly across the country to conduct a similar survey.
Then there is the level of detail drones can provide, which is even richer than one could gather when actually walking the property, Miller said.
He also anticipates a marketing use for these videos. "We've done marketing videos before for investors but they don't match the detail that a drone can provide."
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
