so ive been doing real estate aerial work on weekends for about a year and a half now and honestly the money has been pretty decent, like not life changing but enough that im starting to wonder if i could actually do this full time. currently working a desk job that i hate so the bar isnt exactly high lol

my part 107 is current, i have a mavic 3 pro and an air 3 as backup, and ive built up maybe 15 or so regular real estate clients. the problem is real estate is so seasonal where i live (midwest) that i genuinely dont know how id fill the winter months. ive thought about reaching out to construction companies for progress documentation or maybe doing some roof inspections but i have no idea how to even price that stuff or if theres actually demand for it

has anyone made the jump to full time and lived to tell the tale? like what markets ended up being your bread and butter that you didnt expect going in

made the jump about three years ago and honestly the first six months were rough not gonna lie. real estate was my base too but yeah the seasonality thing is real. what saved me was getting into insurance inspections — there are a few platforms like Lovelandinnovations and some others that connect pilots with insurance companies who need roof and property documentation. the pay per job isnt amazing but the volume can be really steady and you can do a ton of them in a day once you get efficient. construction monitoring ended up being my other big one, found my first client just by cold emailing local general contractors which felt awkward but one of them actually responded and that turned into a recurring monthly contract

the jump is scary but if you already have clients and equipment youre honestly further along than i was when i quit

not full time yet but following this thread because im in basically the same situation. curious what you charge for real estate right now if you dont mind sharing, im trying to figure out if im underpricing myself