A 360 drone tour is a virtual tour made with photos taken from the air and stitched into a sphere: the buyer opens a link, turns the view with a finger and sees the whole property, its surroundings and the location of each lot as if they were floating over the project.
In a land subdivision, where often there's only dirt and laid-out roads, it's the fastest way for someone who lives far away to understand where the project is and what's around it. In this guide I explain how it's captured, what it should include to help you sell and how to prepare the land so the result looks good.
What is a 360 drone tour?
It's a set of spherical panoramas (stored as equirectangular images), taken from the air and sometimes also from the ground, linked to one another. Each panorama is a 360-degree image: the user can look in any direction, including straight down.
What turns it into a sales tool are the elements added on top of the photos: the lot layout, labels for points of interest, jumps from one view to another and a button to request information.
How is it captured?
- The drone climbs and holds a fixed point. A high, central point is chosen, from where the whole project and its surroundings can be seen.
- It takes rows of overlapping photos. The drone rotates in place and the camera changes tilt row by row, until it ends up looking straight down. Each photo shares a portion with the next one.
- The software stitches the photos into a sphere. Color and seams are corrected, and you get a navigable panorama.
- It's repeated at other points. Lower views over each section and, if useful, one at ground level at the entrance or the green area.
- The tour is assembled. The panoramas are linked, the lots are drawn and labels and buttons are added.
What should it include to sell lots?
- Lot layout the boundaries drawn over the panorama, with each code visible.
- Points of interest the main road, schools, health centers, the town or city center, with their names.
- Real distances how far it is to downtown or to the main road; it's the first thing a buyer asks.
- View from the lot a low panorama that shows what can be seen from the best-located lots.
- Contact button so the prospect can send a message without leaving the tour.
- Fast loading on phones most people will open it from WhatsApp, sometimes on mobile data.
How is it different from a drone video?
| Format | What it's for | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Drone video | Creating emotion and reach on social media and ads. | The buyer sees what the editor chose, in the order it was edited. |
| Still aerial photos | Covers, flyers and ads. | They show a single angle. |
| 360 drone tour | Letting each person explore the land at their own pace and find lots. | Needs a connection and a link; doesn't replace video on social media. |
| Interactive masterplan | Choosing a specific lot and seeing its status and price. | Doesn't convey the feel of the place the way a panorama does. |
The usual approach is to combine them: the video attracts, the 360 tour explains the place and the interactive masterplan closes the choice of lot. If you want to see how that last piece works, read what an interactive masterplan is.
If you're unsure between the two, read interactive masterplan or 360 tour: which one your land subdivision needs.
How to prepare the land before the flight
Most tours that don't help sell fail before takeoff. This is what's worth having ready:
- Marked, clean roads. Even if they're dirt roads, they should be distinguishable from above.
- Visible corners or boundaries. Stakes, lime or tape at the main corners help draw the lots accurately.
- Brush cut along the front of the lots. The buyer judges the land by what they see in the photo.
- The subdivision plan on hand. To locate the capture points and check that the lots match what can be seen.
- A clear-sky day. Mid-morning usually gives good light to see boundaries; sunset works for mood shots.
When is it worth it and when isn't it?
It's worth it when:
- The land is large or has views that are part of its value.
- Many buyers live far away: another city or another country.
- The project is at an early stage and there's nothing built to show.
- Several lots are being sold at once and each buyer needs to find theirs.
It may not be a priority when the project has few lots, all the buyers are local and they visit the land easily. In that case, some good aerial photos and a short video may be enough at the start.
A point few people check: the connection to the inventory
A 360 tour shows the land, but it doesn't know on its own which lot was sold yesterday. If the tour's labels show statuses or prices, someone has to update them, or the tour has to read the inventory from the same system where the team records reservations. Ask about this before hiring: it's the difference between a sales tool and a pretty photo that goes out of date.
How we do it at Royaltor360
At Royaltor360 we do the drone capture on site, build the 360 tour and combine it with an interactive masterplan and a CRM to manage leads. We work with projects in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, the United States, Mexico and other countries. You can watch the 1-minute demo.