Mapping That Will Blow Your Mind- 4-13-2008

The mapping capabilities of the program are powerful and the most extensive on the market.  Using MapPoint 2006, you can map all of the properties in a city, draw a shape or polygon around the section of town that interests you and the program will select only those properties within the designated area- dropping unwanted properties from your search.  When you return to the Property section of RealHound®, only those properties located within the shape will be queried (selected) in the program.

Then click a button and fly around your property with a Bird’s eye view using a number of different internet mapping tools and, finally, get a street level view of your property without even leaving your office!

Next, generate and map a list of properties that are For Sale or Available For Lease and email the map to a Client so they can fly around the properties using the Bird’s eye view.  We Know… It’s truly amazing!

Automatically Geocode Your Properties!

Properties must be geocoded before several mapping functions in the program, such as the radius search, will work properly.  A geocode is just a fancy way of saying that the property has a Latitude and Longitude associated with its record.  You can tell if a property has a geocode by looking at the Tract section of the Details tab in the Property section of the program. 

There are currently three ways to geocode your properties.  Using Microsoft Map Point 2006, Yahoo Maps and by hand.  If you are using Map Point 2006 or Yahoo to automatically geocode the properties in your database, each property must have a valid mailing address.

MapPoint 2006 and Yahoo Maps:  Select the properties that you wish to geocode or select the ALL button.  Click the MAP/Aerial button at the top of the screen.  Select the radio button next to the geocode option that you wish to use and click the Start button.

Reminder:  You need to have Microsoft MapPoint 2006 installed on your computer to utilize some of the program’s mapping capabilities.  MapPoint 2006 was included in the higher-end MS Office Packages.  If you did not purchase MapPoint 2006 with your computer, please consider purchasing the program online from EBAY.com for about $75.  It is well worth the investment.

Geocode By Hand:  This is the least attractive option.  However, if you do not have a property address, you will have to manually enter the geocode for the property in the Detail tab.  Drive to the property with a GPS and record the latitude and longitude.

Radius Searches

The radius search feature requires a geocode on each property.  Properties without geocodes will not be queried and, subsequently, will not be displayed in your search results.

Select the Subject property that you wish to do a radius search around by displaying that property on the Property section Overview tab.  Click the Search button and select either the Multi-Unit, Commercial or Advanced tab.  At the top of the search window the current Subject property is listed.

For our example, we will use the easy Commercial search tab.

1) Enter any other search criteria (such as building square feet) that might be of interest.

2) Select the Show Properties radio button from the middle left-hand side on the window.

3) Select the New Search radio button on the middle of the window.

4) Enter the mile radius around the Subject property that you want to include in the search.

5) Click the Search button. 

The results of your search are displayed in the box below the Search button.  Click the Goto Properties button when you have the results that you want.

Draw on a Map to Search for Properties using MapPoint 2006

RealHound® lets you map properties in MapPoint 2006, draw a shape around those properties and have only those properties in the shape displayed in RealHound® when you close MapPoint 2006.  This feature is extremely useful if you wanted to query properties in a geographic location that is not readily definable using other search tools.  For example, if you wanted to lookup all of the properties that are between four streets this will be the easiest way to accomplish the task.

Let’s say that you wanted to query all buildings in Scottsdale, Arizona south of Indian School Road, north of the 202, between Hayden Street and Scottsdale Road. 

1) Search and select all of the buildings in Scottsdale from the List tab or the Search screen.

2) Press the Map/Aerial button

3) From the Mapping/Options window select the radio button next to Map and geocode my selected properties/contacts using Micosoft MapPoint

4) From the Mapping/Options window click the Start button.  RealHound® will send all of your selected properties to MapPoint 2006 and open a new window.

5) Maneuver and zoom the Property Map window to the geographic area that you are interested in.  Select the drawing tool that you prefer.

6) Draw a complete polygon around the properties that you want in your search.  Click the Remove Properties Not In Shape button.

7) Close the Property Map window by clicking on the red X on the upper right side of the screen.

8) The Property Map window will close and only those properties in the polygon will be selected in RealHound®.

Internet Mapping

There is a mapping arms race happening on the Internet these days and you are the direct beneficiary to the conflict.  Gone are the weak looking Mapquest maps and here are the days of full detailed aerials and street level views of your properties delivered right through your web browser.  The best part is that these powerful mapping tools don’t cost you a dime and they are integrated into RealHound®.

When you click the Map/Aerial button, all queried (selected) properties will get sent out to the Internet and mapped using the mapping service of your choice (Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and MapQuest)

Microsoft’s Virtual Earth™:  This option is produces very nice Road maps, Aerials and Bird’s eye views.  Properties are represented on the map as numbered red dots and a corresponding legend is created at the bottom of the web page.  You can send your map to a Client as an Html email and they will be able to view your mapped properties complete with Bird’s eye views!

1) Click the Map/Aerial button.  From the Mapping Options screen, select Map and show an Aerial of my selected properties with Microsoft Live Map radio button and click Start button.  A map will be created in your web browser.

2) You can select Road maps, Aerial or Bird’s eye views.

3) To send this Map to a Client click the Page button inside of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and select Send Page by E-mail… .  Select HTML and your email will open.  Enter your Client’s email address and send your email.

4) At the bottom of the page displayed in the browser window a legend with all of the mapped properties is displayed.  Use the scroll bar to view the property list.

5) To see a Bird’s Eye view of the property, select the See this location in bird’s eye view button.

6) Next, select the magnification- the large building icon represents a closer zoom, the small building icon represents a view from a greater distance.  You can also select the direction that you can view the building.

7) Microsoft’s Bird’s Eye view.

Google™ Maps: Not to be out done by their competition in Seattle, Google™ has Road Maps, Aerial and Street View mapping.  A property is represented on the map as a green arrow with a text box. Only one property can be mapped at a time.  You can send your map to a Client as an Html email and they will be able to view your mapped property complete with street views!

1) Select the property to be mapped in RealHound®.  Click the Map/Aerial  button and select From the Mapping Option window the radio button next to Map and Show an Aerial of my current property/contact using Google hybrid Maps. 

Next, click the Start button at the bottom of the window.  Your Internet browser will now display the mapped property.

2) On the displayed web page, choose the type of map you wish to view-- Street View, Traffic, Map, Satellite or Terrain.  Try the Street View if it is available in your area.

3) Click on the golden man to active the Street Viewer

4) To see the Street view in full screen mode click on the Full Screen Option.

Yahoo™ & MapQuest™: These features work in much the same way as the above.

Reminder: The type of Internet mapping services and quality of the maps offered by the mapping companies will vary by location.