The revamped HAR consumer site debuted with a splash on Valentines Day — and Houston real estate will never be the same! Over the past week, a few site quirks have quietly been ironed out (tabbed browsing now works again, for example), but there are plenty still left to enjoy. Below is Swamplot’s handy guide to some of the freakiest new HAR features — sure to excite thousands of obsessive online Real Estate voyeurs:
Another week, another round of updates to Google Maps. Sure, there are some fun new capabilities — groups of people can now work together to add items to a single personalized map; thumbnail preview photos of Street View panoramas will now appear in the pop-up balloons for many commercial addresses on major streets. But for Houston, the most exciting new feature is the new Terrain view, which now reveals even to casual internet visitors the exciting topography that makes our local landscape so . . . Houston-like.
Imagine you’re a Houston newcomer scouting hilltop locations to site your dreamhouse, and want to see what views you might get from a promontory in say, Highland Heights. Simply type in a Highland Heights address into Google Maps — try 1042 Lucky St. 77088 from today’s Daily Demolition Report, for example. Sure, aerial views have been available for a while now, but what if you want to get an idea of the views from this location? Will there be a charming vista to the Cemetery Beautiful Cemetery a few blocks to the north?
With the new Terrain view, Google lets you see: At the top right of every Google map there’s now a button labeled “Terrain.” Click that and the map you’re viewing will show all the hills and level changes in the area — all of them!
Having trouble seeing those elevation differences? Hmmm . . . well, at least it makes those bayous and gullies stand out!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17YoMQLMdR4 400 330]
Real estate agents and other obsessive users of online maps will be interested to hear about a new feature introduced very recently to Google Maps, which allows you to “correct” the location indicated for a home address. As of a few days ago, the little balloons that appear above flagged locations on a map now include an “Edit” link. Clicking on that link (and signing in to Google, if you aren’t logged in already) allows you to drag a location marker to the exact front entrance of the property, and to have the corrected location appear to other users, too. You’ll need to have an account with Google to participate. The video above illustrates how it works.
Most users will probably want to adjust the marker for their own homes, and correct frustrating Google Map errors they’ve found in other locations. (The feature will likely eventually lead to a corrected map location for 14715 Quail Grove Ln. 77079, for example.)
Of course, the potential for mischief is obvious, but Google will be using a few techniques to prevent houses from sliding all over the map: First, address-marker moves of more than 200 feet won’t show up until they are approved by a moderator — and you can imagine moderators will not have very finely developed senses of humor. Google will also be relying on crowdsourcing — in this instance relying on the presumption that a plurality of online housemovers focusing on a particular address will be making changes that are actually helpful.
All of which means that if for some reason you really do want to move a house to a new location down the street, into a new neighborhood, or to another city entirely, the online world isn’t going to be so different from the offline one: You’ll need some help from friends.
Google has just added its Street View feature to Houston Google Maps. This means that you too can experience what it’s like to drive around parts of this city with a 360-degree camera mounted to the top of your Chevy Cobalt—all from the privacy of your own computer.
Google first rolled out Street View in May for the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami. Several websites have sprung up to document interesting streetlife recorded by Google’s cameras.
For Houston, of course, Street View is much more exciting: at last, online photos of all your favorite strip centers, parking lots, and freeways. Occasionally a pedestrian gets in the way to mar a view, but most of the shots are much cleaner.
