Hiring a drone photographer is not the same as hiring someone with a camera that flies. For a San Antonio or Comal County listing, you are hiring an operation: license, aircraft, insurance, and a set an agent can put on MLS without another editor.
Use this as the checklist. If a candidate cannot answer these in one conversation, keep looking.
1. License
Ask to see a current FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate. Listing photography is commercial work. The person in command of the flight needs that certificate whether they are paid that day or not.
A recreational flyer card is not enough. “I fly all the time” is not enough. If they cannot produce the certificate before the appointment is booked, do not book it.
The licensed pilot does not have to hold the remote, but they must see the aircraft with the naked eye and have unaided communication with whoever is flying. If the plan is “my assistant flies and I watch the feed,” that is not legal command.
2. Aircraft registration and Remote ID
Ask to see the registration for the aircraft they will bring to the address. Commercial drones in the U.S. must be registered, and current rules require Remote ID on the aircraft in most airspace you will actually use around San Antonio, New Braunfels, and the Hill Country.
You do not need to audit the serial number like an FAA inspector. You do need to know they can show paperwork the same day, not “I’ll email it later.”
3. Insurance
Ask whose name is on the liability policy and whether it covers this date and this address.
Coverage in the $1 million to $5 million range is normal for listing work. Match the limit to the property and the risk — a tight infill lot in Alamo Heights is a different exposure than acreage in Comal County.
Do not accept “I can buy hourly insurance in an app when I get there” as the whole answer. If the person buying that policy is not a licensed pilot, the coverage is often worthless when something hits a roof or a windshield.
4. Airspace, not just the backyard
San Antonio is not empty sky. Ask whether they check airspace before they confirm the slot — airports, corridors, stadiums, and temporary restrictions. A photographer who only looks at the weather app is guessing.
If the house sits under a restriction that makes a clean, legal flight unlikely, a good operator will say so before you pay. That is a reason to hire them, not a reason to shop for someone who will “just send it up.”
5. Shot list — what you should actually receive
Agree on the stills before anyone takes off. For most listings that justify aerial:
- One hero establishing frame (house, lot, light)
- One lower oblique of the rear or the best outdoor living
- One or two context frames (approach, creek, fairway, or neighborhood only if they help)
- Optional top-down if the lot or the roof line is the point
Two to five finished aerial stills is a complete set for a typical residential listing.
A folder of twenty near-duplicates is not better. Buyers still need interiors. Aerial should not swallow the gallery.
If video is part of the job, specify length and use: a 60–90 second horizontal film for the listing and the broker site. A vertical reel is extra unless you asked for it.
6. Ground and aerial as one set
The listing looks cheap when the aerial is one vendor and the interiors are another, shot on different days in different weather, graded differently. Prefer one operator who will shoot ground and air together, or at least deliver a set that matches.
If the lot does not need aerial, hire for ground and skip the aircraft. A weak overhead of a tight lot with bins in the drive will not help the price.
7. Turnaround
Ask for a delivery time in writing. Luxury listings in this market usually need stills before the listing goes live, not “sometime next week.” A working standard is edited stills within 24–48 hours and video on a stated date after that.
Ask how files arrive: a gallery you can download, named in order, large enough for MLS and a full-screen broker site, no watermark on the MLS set.
8. Prep and access
The photographer cannot invent an empty driveway. Send the seller a prep list (cars off the apron, cans away, pool clear if it is a feature). Confirm lockbox or a person with a key. If the aircraft cannot take off because a gate is locked or trash day is in the frame, that is a reschedule, not a miracle in Photoshop.
9. What you should not hire for
- “Just buzz the house for five minutes” with no shot list
- Unlicensed operators because they are cheaper
- Overlaying lot lines that look like a survey
- Twilight aerial on a house that does not light
- Indoor FPV through a furnished home unless that was scoped and the house can take it
10. How we work
Straughn Drone Services flies under Part 107, with the aircraft registered and liability matched to the job. We shoot San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Comal County. Travel farther is by project fit.
We will tell you if the address needs aerial, ground, or both. If the sky will not give you a clean frame, we will say that before the fee is spent.
Request a project review. Send the address, the list date, and whether you need stills, a short film, or both. You get a yes, a no, or a tighter scope — not a package name.