Valuation Review - Know your surroundings
From an interview I did with Mike Holzheimer of Valuation Review
An appraiser should always have to be aware of their surroundings and what obstacles are around them. The most unfortunate part of that experience, Certified General Appraiser Scott Anderson said, was it was early on in his drone experience, and he had the “get it done tomorrow” attitude about insurance. It was an expensive lesson to learn, he said.
“When flying a drone, you are going to want specific insurance to cover your operations. You can check with your business insurance provider, but it will likely require a special rider or getting the insurance from a company that caters to drone pilots,” Anderson said. “At the very least, every pilot needs to be flying with liability insurance in case your mistake damages someone else or their property. And unless you are willing to self-insure and shell out $1,000 to $2,000 for a new drone, you better be getting hull insurance on the drone as well.”
The weather conditions can be the most frustrating factor when operating a drone, as wet, snowy and windy conditions are not recipes for success when it comes to using drones. Anderson said he finds himself checking the forecast first when he schedules inspections. Rain and snow are definitive no-fly days. Weather delays affecting turn times on those appraisals can be equally as frustrating.
“Drones are essentially flying computer cases,” Anderson said. “If you get them wet, you will ruin it quickly. Wind can be tricky. As you fly more, you figure out what your wind limits are. Drones have specified wind limits, but those limits are likely higher than what new pilots are comfortable with. However, I’m still impressed how stable drones keep their cameras even in a stiff wind. The unit itself can be bucking all over the place, but the picture on the screen looks as if it is sitting on a tripod.
“If the weather or other circumstances prohibit drone flights, then I skip the flight. The drone usage is entirely up to my discretion,” he added. “I’m not going to jeopardize an appraisal assignment due to bad weather. I’ll just go without the extra images on that job.”
One might think drone usage would increase the overall workload as far as appraisal assignments, but not in Anderson’s case.
“It really hasn’t,” he admitted. “Once you get comfortable flying the drone, you can get it up and down very quickly. This past Tuesday I had two inspections. Time in the air was about 6 minutes each inspection. Post-processing for drone images is no longer than any other pictures.
“Now if you want to branch out into other services beyond just appraisal photos, that’s a whole different story,” Anderson added.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
