Starting today our users can walk the neighborhoods…from the comfort of their very own couches.
We are excited to announce that we now have Google Maps Street View technology integrated on homes for sale, recently sold homes, and property records across the U.S. Now, house hunters can stand in front of a house, walk along the front of the property, stroll down the block, check out the neighbors and get the “true view” of a neighborhood, without ever getting in a car.
We’ve incorporated Street View onto Trulia in over 40 metropolitan areas in the U.S. where it’s available today, and we’ll roll it out on more of our 60+ million property pages as coverage expands.
So, let me take you on a faux Chicago house tour:
- Start off your neighborhood tour at this Lakeview, Chicago property with the For Sale sign on the front yard. This 3br/2ba home has no yard or buffer space with the neighboring homes, but it has a unique architectural element with the one-sided clerestory window (I had to look it up too).
- Hmmm…no garage or driveway, so we need to get more info about parking. Head North on Greenview. It’s a tree-lined, traffic-calmed street. Street parking doesn’t look too bad – plenty of spaces available.
- Children Crossing sign at the end of the block – turns out that Blaine Elementary is only a few blocks away (East on Grace)…and their test scores are an 8 out of 10. Not too shabby.
Lots of great information to have on hand before planning an open house visit.
Searching on Trulia now gives you the “true view” of an area so you can discover surprises lurking around the corner and save your trips for those homes that truly meet your expectations:
- This $600K San Francisco condo looks pretty nice. Want to make sure there is a Laundromat nearby? Turn 180° and you’ll see one right across the street!
- This condo in Cleveland, OH has “sweeping views of the lake - the beach – the yacht club – as your front yard.” Rotate 180° and you’ll see those sweeping views are interrupted by railroad tracks directly across the street.
- This Chicago Single Family Home looks like a gem, as long as you don’t mind cozying up with your neighbors.
With this launch we add another level of efficiency and transparency for consumers across the country. We hope you enjoy it!
Official press release here.
Popularity: 78% [?]
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April 8th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Ok, that is beyond cool. But do you expect a backlash from unhappy sellers?
April 8th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Wow! So that’s what @trulia was doing with the video camera last year as he trekked across the U.S!
Cool!
April 8th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Way cool! Staying in front of the pack.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I think I’m in love! What a ideal combination! This is such a useful tool for agents and consumers, and even for lookie-loos like me!
April 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
very cool. i like.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Hi Michelle,
We want to make the real estate search experience as efficient as possible for all parties involved. Adding more transparency to the process and enabling home buyers to learn more about neighborhoods of interest are important steps to fulfilling that mission. When home buyers are well-informed, and the property and neighborhood meet the expectations that have been set, we expect to see more efficient matching between home buyers and sellers, which benefits both parties.
Thanks to all for your comments so far! Look forward to getting further feedback from you on the changes to our site today.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Awesome, very impressive indeed.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Great job. I was just starting to tinker with embedded streetviews of my listings last week. I like how you were able to get a larger streetview then the version one normaly finds on Google.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:37 am
What a unique feature! This is a great tool for buyers and sellers to learn more about what is going on in the market.
April 9th, 2008 at 6:43 am
This is a very good feature to have on Trulia!
April 9th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Being one of Trulia’s loyal contributors from the inception as a Realtor with a technical management background; it is with great interest that I watched Trulia grow daily (literally).
I love the direction Trulia is going, with all it’s trials and errors and the eventual great stride. Trulia is not afraid of experimenting with a forward idea and then refine the process and outcome while doing so.
Looking at the backgroup of the Trulia management and employees, I know that Trulia is here for the long haul with an eye towards being #1 in the Real Estate experience offerings while having fun in the process.
Sylvia
April 9th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Hi KK! - Um, not quite
Hi Kathy! - Doing our best to provide the best user experience….
Hi NikNik! - I agree. I’m hooked on it already.
Hi Magnus! - Skol…
Hi Overland! - The integration is pretty seamless. It’s all about providing the best user experience.
Hi Jaimee! - I agree. Especially if they are relocating from across the country or from overseas. It’s almost as good as actually being there - minus the sounds and the smells
Thanks Virginia Beach Estate! We agree.
Hi Sylvia! - We’re glad to have you as one of our greatest contributors on Trulia Voices. I couldn’t agree with you more about the direction Trulia is heading down. We have a fantastic team that gets things done. We’re always looking to enhance your experience and welcome all feedback.
Thanks for being such a great supporter of Trulia. We feel the love and send you a big hug. Can you feel it?
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia
April 9th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I agree that this is a nice feature, but hardly revolutionary or that hard to pull off. It is a bit more convenient that what I do now when I search real estate listings - I copy and paste the address into Google maps and then go to street view. One web site offers the MS Live birds eye view already, which is very nice and has more coverage than street view.
Given widget technology, I would think every site could offer this relatively easily.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
This is only the second time I have seen StreetView used on a real estate website (the first on a national site). Trulia seems to be working hard to make a name for themselves, Zill-who?
April 10th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I love this! I moved to Atlanta a year ago and have many friends that have purchased homes and condos…now I can look them up and “see what they see”…glad to see that ya’ll are at the forefront of real estate technology.
Rudy - you did a great job speaking at REtechSouth!
April 10th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Did you guys have to pay for the Street View technology, or can anybody access street view from the developer API?
April 10th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Ultra-kewl. So Rudy when are you guys coming to Reno?
Diane
April 11th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Wow! This is where we are heading. I can see a great benefit for buyers for this service. Nelson and I incorporate new and emerging technology into all areas of our real estate practice. However, we never forget that real estate is still a high-touch, personal business. I must admit I am a bit uneasy where on one of the tours where I could see a parked car in the street and could read the license number. Privacy concerns really jumped out at me. I bet we will read a lot about this issue.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Help, I’m using the new street view but got lost, now I’m down in Mexico and can’t make it back to SF?
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Ok..this looks fantastic. But when I search in Trulia I don’t see where I can use this. How and when can I actually use it? Am I searching in the wrong place? I put in the city, state and what looking for…but no street view option is there.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:02 am
too cool.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Looks like they pulled it down yesterday for some reason. I don’t see a street view option on any of their examples anymore
May 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Angela- we did not have to pay any license fees for the Street View service. It’s accessible through the Google Maps API for free, subject to their Terms of Use.
Matt- hope you found your way back by now (head north).
Hapi- here is a list of cities where Street View coverage is currently available (current as of Apr 2008). Google has expanded their coverage quite a bit in the last year, so we should see more cities and updated imagery added over time.