I was recently asked if I would put together an offer for a neighborhood about 30 minutes from me. Of course, I could have driven up there. Not too big a deal.
Instead though, I checked out two sites.
- http://maps.live.com/
- http://maps.google.com/
I just typed in the address of the person I knew and I was able to look at the homes in their neighborhood from a street view. Pretty cool and handy.
I was able to put together the offer and ESTIMATE the average pricing. Of course, I made it clear that for final pricing, contact me at…
It’s not full-proof, but it saved me at least an hour of driving. Hope someone can use this too.
Those maps are handy when estimating in newer communities where most houses have close to the same number of windows.
But in older cities, the difference between one house to another may differ considerably in number of windows, window styles (casement to storms), etc. I find those map sites to be quite inaccurate in pointing to a the correct house address. I’ve put in ie: #25 Main Street but these on line maps are pointing at #33.
I mostly use the map sites to stake out knew potential communities.
I was able to use first site to get a birdseye view of a newer house so I could give a bid w/out the trip. I have tried it on a few others but the views aren’t always good enough to give an accurate bid. I’d say try it first but be ready to do an on site check.
Totally agree with you on this. Washington DC has so many nooks and crannies that these maps can not give an accurate estimate but I still do fine for the most part asking the right questions over phone and ALWAYS stating that the phone estimate is not written in stone, as their idea of a window and mine may not be the same.
These new techno things do work much better out in the burbs.
