It’s more than just finding the right address.
Did you ever find yourself standing outside of a house that you loved online, but.. the yard is tiny, or it backed up to an airport? Or, it’s next to a gas station, bus stop, trailer park or swamp?
Google maps are usually current, and we can do a lot more than find an address. Real estate listings
describe the house, the photos show it’s best features. The info isn’t always 100%. Google maps fill in some of details that a listing feature sheet can’t cover. It’s my number ONE tip for buyers searching homes online. You can save a lot of time using a virtual drive by.
- Drill down to a close up aerial view of the house. You can see if the garage is attached, detached, what the yard looks like, how close to the neighbors, where the driveway is positioned.
- The map also shows not just that street, but where are the highways, and how close they are. Does the house back up to a major freeway? Do you think that traffic will become more or less while you are living there? Is it a one way, two way street? Is there street parking?
- Where are the parks or trails in the neighborhood? Churches, schools, shopping? Right on the map.
- If you use Feng Shui, the top of the map is always north, the bottom faces south. The direction of the front door is there at a glance. If you are a fan of evening sunsets, you’d want a west facing porch or living room. If you're in a cold climate, south facing driveways melt faster than north facing.
- The street view shows not only the house you are interested in, but also the neighbors. There are arrows that let you virtually walk the neighborhood.
- You can plan your daily commute to work, schools, wherever you need to be.
When you buy a home, it’s more than four walls. You get the neighborhood, the city, the streets and trafffic. A few extra minutes online will save your hours of wheel spinning. Get a bird's eye view of your new home before booking an appointment.
