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Comment by kul | Hacker News Reader

Mostly posting this because I want to see it, but drones to automate residential property inspections. I'm actually thinking about miniature drones that can do internal and external residential inspections. My startup is in property management and a lot of the work a human does could be done by a drone + healthy amount of machine learning on the images captured.

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The human element of home inspection is invaluable. That interaction between homeowner (or prospective) and a knowledgeable professional is critical. But drones as tools for that professional could be great.

I think he may have been referring to rental inspections, of the quarterly kind. A pretty standard checklist. "Is there mess, is there mould, is there damage, are there pets and is that allowed?"

For that we need CHAPPIE like humanoids. Which are either packed up on the roof w/ solar charging or in janitor closet.

And then you let a drone fly through a flat every quarter? I think the odds of destroying something in the process are higher than the saved costs.

On another note: Are quarterly rental inspections a thing in the US? Never heard of that, why should my landlord care if I tidy up my apartment?

They're standard practice in Aus, not sure about the US sorry. I agree though, I don't think it would be a flawless plan to use drones for it.

What, specifically, would the drone inspect? The only thing I can imagine a drone being useful for is inspecting the roof and chimney. And that's counting on the home inspector being too lazy too get on a ladder. In fact, most of them just use binoculars and call it a day. You really need a licensed professional who knows the local codes and is experienced enough to know what to look for. I don't see home inspections getting either fully or partially automated any time soon. The value-add just isn't there.

And give Realtors even less to do? /s

I think the biggest problem will be that drones can't open doors or cabinets. You'll still need someone there to look under the sink, go into the basement.

That sounds like pretty much what EagleView is doing: http://www.eagleview.com/

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