Drones are almost everywhere these days. It’s hard to miss them in the news, and seeing them hanging over your neighbor’s compound wouldn’t catch you by surprise either. These remote-controlled couriers and cameras have had a major impact on many industries, commercial real estate being among them. If you are a landlord, real estate marketer or a commercial tenant, you need to familiarize yourself with drone technology and its impact on CRE.

While drones -- also known as unmanned aircraft systems or UAS-- are already revolutionizing the way that the commercial real estate brokerage world markets properties, their benefits extend to tenants and users as well. The ability to get a view of your property and its surroundings from above enables you to manage, maintain and optimize your portfolio in new and exciting ways.

As 2016 draws to a beginning, the rules on the use of drones or other unmanned aircraft (UAS) continue evolving. Unfortunately, some of the newest changes issued by the Federal Aviation Administration could make it harder to fly these craft as you work in and around commercial real estate properties.

Drones are already revolutionizing the commercial real estate industry. While much of the attention is getting paid to how drones for commercial real estate are enhancing how brokers list and market properties, the impact of drones may be even greater for the users and managers of those commercial properties.