so ive been flying for about two years now mostly just for fun, got my part 107 last spring and kind of just let it sit there. a buddy of mine has been doing real estate shoots on weekends and he says hes making decent money but i honestly dont know if id have the patience to deal with clients and all that.

my main question is like... is there actually demand for this stuff or is the market totally saturated at this point. i keep seeing people say its flooded but then i also see job posts on indeed for drone operators that pay pretty well. feels like mixed signals everywhere i look. i have a mini 4 pro and an air 3 so gear-wise im probably okay for most basic jobs, just not sure if the business side of it is worth figuring out.

anyone gone from hobbyist to doing actual paid gigs and found it worth it? or did the fun kind of go out of it once money was involved

honest answer is it depends a lot on what kind of work you're going after. real estate is pretty saturated in most metros yeah, but stuff like construction progress docs, cell tower inspection, agriculture — that's where the actual money is and there's way less competition because most people dont want to deal with the learning curve or the specialized equipment. i spent like a year grinding real estate shoots for like $150 a pop before i pivoted to doing volumetric surveys for a quarry company and night and day difference in pay. the part 107 gets you in the door but clients in those industries want to see you know what youre talking about beyond just flying a pretty video.

the fun thing honestly i think it kind of comes back after a while. the first few months of paid work felt like a grind but once you get a regular client or two it feels more like just a skill you have that happens to pay you, not some weird side hustle thing

i asked basically this same question like 8 months ago lol. ended up just trying it — posted on a local facebook group offering real estate photos for cheap just to get a few jobs under my belt and it kind of snowballed from there. not making crazy money or anything but its been a few hundred bucks a month which pays for new gear so cant complain. the client stuff is annoying sometimes ngl but its manageable