Apartment Drone Photography in Los Angeles
Aerial shots add what ground photos cannot: how far the unit actually sits from the beach, how the building sits in its lot, rooftop deck access, the parking footprint. Part 107 is required for any commercial drone work in California, and LAX class B airspace covers a chunk of the Westside, so LAANC pre-auth matters. Aerial stills from $245, stills + 4K b-roll from $385, full drone + listing bundle from $585. Same-week scheduling across LA County.
The aerial view, done legally
Drone photography for a rental listing is the set of aerial stills and short video clips that show what a tenant cannot see from the sidewalk: how the building actually sits in its lot, the layout of the parking, how close the unit is to the beach or the freeway, what the rooftop deck looks like in real life, and the scale of the property relative to its block. Ground photos sell the inside of the apartment. Aerial photos sell the location and the address. For Westside, beach-adjacent, and rooftop-amenity buildings, the aerial frame is often the single piece of media that drives the click.
The legal side matters and most landlords get it wrong. Any drone flown in connection with a paid listing or a commercial property in the United States is a commercial flight under 14 CFR Part 107, and the remote pilot must hold a current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Inside LA's controlled airspace — LAX class B, Santa Monica Airport (SMO) class D, Burbank (BUR) class C, Hawthorne (HHR) class D — pre-flight LAANC authorization is required before the drone leaves the ground. Most LA HOAs and property management companies require $1M aviation liability coverage in writing before they grant roof or lot access. A hobbyist with a Mavic does not satisfy any of these.
What we don't do: we don't fly over crowds, we don't fly over private property without the owner's permission, we don't fly beyond visual line of sight, and we don't fly above 400 feet above ground level. Those are bright-line Part 107 limits. Inside LAX class B the ceiling drops far lower than 400 ft and is set by the FAA UAS facility map for the specific grid square — sometimes the grid is locked at zero, meaning no flight without a separate Part 107 waiver. If the address won't clear LAANC, we tell you that before the booking confirms.
Every flight, by default
FAA Part 107 licensed pilot
Every flight is operated by an FAA Part 107 licensed remote pilot. Required by federal law for any commercial drone work in California.
$1M liability insurance per flight
$1M aviation liability coverage on every flight — the minimum most LA HOAs and property managers require before granting roof or lot access.
LAANC airspace authorization
Pre-flight LAANC authorization filed for any controlled airspace (LAX class B, SMO class D, BUR class C, HHR class D) where required.
4K aerial stills + b-roll
RAW + JPEG stills shot at 20MP, 4K 30fps b-roll for video tours. Smooth orbit, reveal, and pull-back moves over the building.
Color-graded delivery
Every still is color-corrected and tone-matched to the listing's ground photos. Skies cleaned, exposures balanced, no flat aerial-camera look.
KML / flight log on request
Flight path KML and pilot log delivered on request — useful for HOA records, insurance claims, or property management compliance files.
Drone photography pricing
Pilot, insurance, LAANC filing, and color-graded delivery — all included. No per-flight surcharges.
What flying in LA actually looks like
LAX class B covers most of the Westside
The LAX class B surface ring extends well past the airport fence — it covers Playa del Rey, Westchester, parts of Marina del Rey, parts of Inglewood, and parts of El Segundo. Inside the ring, every drone flight requires LAANC pre-authorization and the FAA UAS facility map sets the ceiling for each grid square. Some Westchester grids are locked at zero feet, which means LAANC denies the request and a separate Part 107 airspace waiver is needed before any flight is legal. We file LAANC the morning of the shoot. If the grid is locked, we tell you upfront.
Santa Monica and Burbank shrink the ceiling
Santa Monica Airport (SMO) class D and Burbank (BUR) class C both surround thick clusters of rental inventory — most of Sunset Park, Mar Vista, and east Santa Monica sit inside SMO airspace, and the Burbank/Glendale/North Hollywood corridor sits inside BUR. Inside class D and class C the LAANC-approved ceiling typically drops to 100-200 feet AGL, not the 400 feet you get in uncontrolled airspace. That changes the camera frame — wide pull-back orbit shots have to be planned around the lower ceiling.
LA County beach park no-fly rules
Most state-managed beach parks in LA County prohibit drone takeoff and landing without a permit issued by California State Parks — that includes Will Rogers, Dockweiler, and most of the Santa Monica state beach frontage. The airspace itself may be legal under Part 107, but the ground you launch from is not. For oceanfront buildings we launch from the building's own lot or roof rather than the beach, which keeps the flight legal end-to-end.
Bundles that actually save the listing
Apartment photography
Ground-level interior and exterior listing photos. Pair with drone for the full Zillow + Redfin listing kit.
Rental listing media
Photos, drone, video walkthrough, and floor plan in a single shoot — built for paid leasing ads.
Make ready
Get the unit rent-ready first — clean, paint, rekey — then shoot the drone the same week the listing goes live.
Marina del Rey coverage
Marina-adjacent buildings sit inside LAX class B. See how we handle airspace and water-frontage shoots.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Any drone flown in connection with a paid listing, a commercial property, or any business activity in the United States falls under 14 CFR Part 107, and the remote pilot must hold a current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Hobbyist rules do not apply once money is involved — even if you own the building. Hiring a non-Part 107 pilot exposes the property owner to FAA civil penalties (currently up to $32,666 per violation) and typically voids any aviation insurance the pilot claims to carry. Every TurnOver LA aerial shoot is flown by a Part 107 certified pilot.
On-site time is usually 30-45 minutes for a standard apartment building — that includes pre-flight checks, LAANC authorization confirmation if the site sits inside controlled airspace, the actual flight, and a battery swap. Aerial Stills delivers in 24-48 hours. Aerial Pack (stills + b-roll) delivers in 2-3 business days because the video gets color graded and stabilized. Multi-building portfolios are scheduled across multiple flight days when the buildings are spread across LA.
LAX is class B controlled airspace and the surface ring covers a large chunk of the Westside — Playa del Rey, Westchester, Inglewood near the airport, parts of El Segundo. Inside that ring drones must obtain LAANC authorization (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) before takeoff, and the FAA UAS facility map sets the maximum allowed altitude — sometimes 0 feet, meaning no flights at all without a separate Part 107 waiver. We file LAANC the morning of the shoot. If LAANC denies the request for your specific grid square, we tell you upfront before booking confirms.
Sustained winds above 20 mph at altitude, gusts above 25 mph, rain, dense marine layer fog, and visibility under 3 statute miles all ground a Part 107 commercial flight. LA gets steady afternoon onshore wind from May through September that pushes coastal sites to morning-only shoots. June Gloom marine layer can sit on the coast until 11am. We monitor METAR for the closest airport (KSMO for Westside, KVNY for the Valley, KLAX for South Bay) and if conditions go marginal we reschedule at no charge.
Yes. Every flight carries $1M aviation liability coverage, which is the floor most LA HOAs, property management companies, and commercial building owners require before granting roof access or lot access. Certificates of insurance can be issued naming the building owner or HOA as additionally insured for the day of the shoot — text the legal entity name to 310-774-0099 and we forward the COI before the pilot arrives on site.
Yes. The Aerial Pack ($385) bundles 5-10 stills with 30 seconds of color-graded 4K b-roll — orbit shot, reveal pull-up from the front entrance, and a top-down move over the lot. The b-roll is delivered as a standalone clip you can drop into a Zillow video tour, an Instagram reel, or a paid leasing ad. For longer cinematic packages — full property walk-through, neighborhood context montage, or HOA marketing video — text us with the run time you need and we quote accordingly.
Aerial Stills $245, Aerial Pack $385 (stills + b-roll), Aerial + Listing Bundle $585 (drone plus ground photos in a single shoot), and multi-building portfolios are custom quoted. Independent Part 107 freelancers in LA typically charge $300-$600 for stills alone, and adding video usually pushes a freelance shoot to $700-$1,200. Our pricing is flat because we share pilots across many turnover jobs in the same neighborhood — the routing economics let us price below the LA freelance market without cutting safety or insurance.
Ready to put the building in the air?
Text the building address and the date you want the listing live. Dispatch checks LAANC for the grid, confirms the pilot, and quotes back inside 15 minutes.
chatText 310-774-0099