Russell Volk : Are you using Google maps?

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Are you using Google maps?

By: Russell Volk
Thursday, February 15, 2007 8:27 PM

Hello everybody,

just wanted to know if any of you have done anything really cool with Google maps? Most agents are using maps to display the location of a specific listing, but you can do so much more.

I'm currently working on a neighborhood page where I'm displaying some information for a specific subdivision and I'm also displaying an outline of that subdivision, using a Google map. You can actually draw lines and other objects on the map.

This is still work in progress, but I thought I would bounce this idea off of you and perhaps come up with some ideas on how we can help our clients.

http://www.ephiladelphiarealestate.com/Huntingdon_Brook/page_1790497.html

I would appreciate any feedback/suggestions.

Thanks,

Russell Volk

http://www.ePhiladelphiaRealEstate.com

Comments

Member Since '03	Andrea McIntyre, ABR, GRI said: Hi Russell, You seem to have many good ideas. I think it looks great. Thank you for sharing with your fellow agents. Andrea McIntyre February 15, 2007 9:22 PM
Member Since '06	Russell Volk said: Thanks Andrea. My goal is to create a map of one of my areas, for example Southampton PA. That map would contain pins to all the subdivisions in that township (about 30). Once a user clicks on one of the pins, the information window would come up above that pin. The information window would contain information on that specific subdivision and a number of homes that are currently for sale in that subdivision. A user would be able to click on a link and see all the homes that are for sale in that subdivision. I think I'm just thinking out loud here, but that's something that I'll eventually shoot for. I would need to integrate a Custom IDX solution with Custom Google Maps. My head hurts just thinking about it, but I think it would be the first of that kind. Others are using Google maps to display listings, but to have a breakdown by subdivision is something different. Dare to be different! February 15, 2007 9:33 PM
Member Since '06	Lee Harrison said: Hi Russell, This is a great idea! I'm planning a series of city-based blogs covering market data info. How did you manage to outline neighborhoods in Google map? Thanks Lee February 15, 2007 11:45 PM
Member Since '06	Donna E. Hayes said: Russell- Great idea...but look at your maps carefully! Some of them are way off base - especially in growing areas. Good luck! Donna February 16, 2007 12:08 AM
Member Since '05	Jay & Francy Thompson REALTORS® said: I assume Russell used the Google Maps API (Application Program Interface). I haven't found the time to mess with it, but it's powerful stuff. Not easy to implement without some realtively good programming skills. Nice work Russell! There are begniing to be a lot of "Google Map Mashups" out there. This one is pretty cool: http://www.housingmaps.com/ And this one is my favorite. (Only in Seattle, for now) http://www.shackprices.com/map February 16, 2007 12:13 AM
Member Since '06	Russell Volk said: As Jay said, I did use Google Maps API. If any of you are interested, here are some relevant links: Google Maps API Documentation: http://www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/ Here's the tool that I used to create the outline: http://www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/polylineutility.html It is time consuming and when I thought that I would need to create this for about 80 of the subdivisions that I serve, I figured it would take me a long time. One thing to consider is, the more stuff you put on your map, the slower it will get and might turn some of the visitors away. So my advice, keep it simple. Nice links Jay. The first one is actually reading craigslist.org for homes for sale. Pretty cool stuff. Also, congrats on being the first winner for the contest. I guess now you can buy 25 cups of Starbucks coffee. ;) February 16, 2007 7:15 AM