Earlier this year my friend invited me out to a party which was held at a restaurant in the Lakeview neighborhood here in Chicago. While I knew the general area of where the restaurant was located, I was planning on driving and needed to get a better idea of where I could park my car. Sure I could've called the restaurant to get some general parking directions, but being the frugal person I am, I wanted to avoid any sort of parking garage or valet and stick to street parking.
To make a long story short, I decided to use Google's Street View tool to scope out the neighborhood where the restaurant was located. From that point on, I was in love with this Google mapping tool - and there's been no turning back since. I now use Street View for all my mapping searches. So you can image my excitement when Homescape.com launched this very convenient application on our own property search page this week.
How Google Street View works
With Street View, a user gets a 360-degree panoramic view of the street. It works by clicking and dragging an icon of a man along a Google Map. The icon activates a pop-up panoramic photograph that allows you to pan, zoom and "walk" down a street and view its surroundings. If you're searching for a home, this tool really comes in handy if you want to see what the surrounding homes or neighborhood looks like. When a Homescape user searches for listings in an area where Street View is available, a textual indication will display below the thumbnail map on the property details page. After selecting the map or driving-direction option on the page, the user can then click on the "Street View" button above the map and navigate around the street using the controls.
Currently, Street View is only available in 69 cities in the U.S. and does not include every single street within a city. While some of the photographs that Google uses may appear a little grainy due to poor weather conditions and certain streets look poorly lit, overall, the quality of most Street View images show an area very clearly. Some people may view this Web application as being invasive to one's privacy, but I truly believe it is an important tool for buyers trying to gage which community or neighborhood matches their lifestyle and interests. With about 84 percent of home buyers starting their search on the Internet, the more information users have, the better equipped they'll be at narrowing their searches and eventually closing a deal on their dream home.
Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.
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