ok so this might be a dumb question but here goes. im thinking about doing some real estate aerial photography on weekends, maybe 5 or 6 shoots a month, nothing crazy. a buddy of mine has been doing the same thing for like two years without the cert and says nobody ever says anything. i get that technically you need it for any commercial work but im trying to figure out if the 175 dollar test fee and all the study time is actually worth it for something this small scale.

not trying to be that guy who ignores the rules just genuinely trying to understand what the actual risk vs reward is here. like what happens if the faa does catch up with you, does that actually happen to small operators?

your buddy has been lucky, that's really all that is. the faa doesnt have inspectors driving around looking for random drones but complaints do happen, a neighbor calls the local airport, a realtor you worked for has a dispute with you and reports it out of spite, whatever. and when they do investigate unlicensed commercial ops the fines are not small, ive seen people get hit with 5 figures. the cert is 175 bucks and a few weeks of studying, it's honestly not that big of a deal compared to the downside

also worth mentioning that some real estate agencies and brokerages wont even hire you without seeing the cert number, especially the bigger ones. i started doing side shoots last year and two of my first potential clients asked for it upfront before we even talked about rates. so beyond the legal stuff theres a practical business reason to just get it done. the studying wasnt fun but sheppard air made it manageable, took me maybe 3 weeks studying an hour a night