How a Michigan Real Estate Agent Soars Above Competition

“Get to the choppa” is a line out of an Arnold Schwarzengger movie, but Dylan Tent is earning the right to shout it out of his helicopter as he tries to hawk a home.

The Sotheby’s International Realty agent uses his passion as a helicopter pilot to help sell homes in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan, FOX 2 reported. His use of helicopters in videos and his sales tactics are earning him recognition.

Tent said his path towards working in real estate began when he took pictures of people’s homes from above and offered to sell them door-to-door. One of those homeowners said Tent could sell their home if he acquired a real estate license.

Tent quickly took off, turning 2,000 pictures taken above the Michigan skies into three separate sales. He hasn’t turned his engine off since, splitting his time between selling homes and giving helicopter tours of the Detroit metro.

There are certain advantages to being a real estate agent doubling as a helicopter pilot, according to Tent. He can fly over traffic and get to showings in half the time he would in a car. And his videos are also a viral marketing tool as he plunks down his chopper on the yards or lots of the homes he’s selling.

Not everyone is taken by Tent’s pitch, as he admitted his style is not everyone’s cup of tea. He also noted that other real estate agents have referred to some of his stunts — including one with exploding targets at a gun range — as being unprofessional.

Tent doesn’t seem inclined to disassociate his passion from his profession, though. He has 20 homes on the market, according to his page on the Sotheby’s International Realty website, the most expensive of which is listed for $7 million.

When Tent isn’t choppering across Michigan, he’s battling against compulsory real estate association membership. He is one of several Detroit plaintiffs to file a lawsuit in federal court to legally challenge mandatory membership requirements.

— Holden Walter-Warner