Google maps for property assessment

Having been on a recent trip to the southern US I was awestruck with the prices of property there. Being out of my element in a new city I simply wasn't comfortable with the idea of investing though. With proper preparation trips of this type can be quite rewarding and one of your best tools is often overlooked- Google Maps.

With a simple browse of an area in Google maps you can learn all of the following:

• How far away is the local hospital, school, police station, prison, garbage dump, shopping mall. All of these can increase or dramatically decrease your long term value.
  
  
• What is the wealth of the area- do you see cars in people's yards, do the roofs look old, are there pools, does your neighbour have a garbage dump running in his back yard?
  
  
• What is the zoning like? Are newer houses quite close together indicating you will likely be able to demo and build two houses on a lot in the near future.
  
  
• Is there any major road development occurring? How do you think things will develop based on how they are currently setup? Will a house be demolished and a new road collected to your quite street? Or maybe a street widening to turn your two lane into a four lane.
  
  
• Where are the major roads? Are they close to the house? Roads tend to get more busy rather than less over time leading to poor air quality, busy streets and an overall negative environment.
  
  
• What types of businesses are nearby? If you see dump trucks parked in back lots this is a bad sign. Greenhouses down the street means 24/7 lights and the constant sound of trucks.
  

Take it all in and Happy hunting!

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