Google Maps Street View. Are You Using It?
Google Street View Truck Camera
You have probably seen a Google vehicle on the streets of your city. Google has sent out one with a special camera mounted on it to every street of our country and even in places around the world. All this work just to give us a street view in any town, so we can enjoy the views and do tours of places from our living room couch. Google Maps street view has also become popular among buyers who are searching for real estate. While some have argued it’s a bad idea and even sued Google for infringement on their privacy, street view is here to stay, so we better learn to take advantage of it.
WHAT CAN STREET VIEW DO FOR YOU
First thing Real Estate agents used to do was drive their buyers around neighborhoods, showing homes. In my practice, there were several times when the house looked great on pictures but when we got there and the client saw the neighborhood, they didn’t want to go inside or even get out of the car. So, these days I often recommend Google Maps street view to our buyer. It’s so easy and will give you a quick idea of the house and your potential neighbors. You can see if there’s trash outside and if there are sidewalks in the neighborhood. Google provides 360 degree views horizontally and vertically, so you can even see how tall the trees are in your front yard.
Compare Google street view to our photo
For example, here’s a picture of a listing we have in St Petersburg, but pictures won’t tell you the whole story. Of course Google pictures are not of the same quality as professional photographer’s pictures, but when you see this Google maps street view you get a pretty good idea of the neighborhood and the house. So, next time you are shopping for a home, instead of burning gas, check out Google Maps street view. It may take you places you never wanted to go and keep you from places you thought you wanted to see.
VIDEO TOURS
Another tool we use to have the buyers get a better idea of the neighborhood is the neighborhood video reviews and home video tours. Visit our Video Channel for samples. We provide a video tour for every new listing regardless of the price. Every seller deserves the best marketing tool available to us today!
Tampa Bay Real Estate Blog by The HOME Team of Charles Rutenberg, Inc.
Today I stopped by Bubbie’s Brown Bag Cafe on Seminole Blvd and there was a Google photographer there taking photos of the inside of the cafe and the outside to post free of charge on their Google Place page. I guess they’ve got a lot of businesses to photograph. I just thought that the owners and patrons of those businesses were posting the photos. And I never gave a lot of thought to how they come up with the street view. Do you know how often they update the view? I see an experiment in the future.
Yes, I saw Google photographers downtown St Pete too, taking pictures of businesses.