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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®




Map Mash Ups: The Other Mapping Revolution

BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK

While many real estate professionals are embracing GPS navigation systems as a tool with productive benefits, there’s another map-based revolution going on that can help you as well.

It’s happening online where innovative early adopters are incorporating map “mash-ups” into their Web sites. In its simplest form, a mash-up may merely attach price and basic listing data to houses on a map. But mash-ups can get much more sophisticated and interactive, linking a location to whatever you think a site visitor might want to know: school reports, comparable properties, crime stats, and neighborhood demographic profiles.

You can find links to a range of map mash-ups at the Google Maps Mania blog and even more real estate mash-ups here. Click through to a few and you’ll see the possibilities.

Tools to create mash-ups are available free from Google, Yahoo! Maps, and Microsoft’s Popfly. MapBuilder offers a mash-up building solution geared specifically to the needs of real estate professionals for a $19.95 monthly subscription.

Although such tools simplify the process, it takes time, effort, and forethought to create an effective mash-up. But it can become a useful service that customers will notice.



LINKS

Product Guide: Prospecting Map Tools


SLIDE SHOWS

Buyer's Guide: GPS and Navigation Tools