Technology has helped create a global marketplace and with it, increased competition from around the world. Builders and developers operating globally and seeking a competitive edge are turning to advanced aerial imagery to engage real estate consumers with visual elements to easily discover, search, explore, share and visualize business location data and locally relevant information. One such technology, Microsoft Virtual Earth, is a set of powerful, integrated online mapping and search services builders and developers are integrating with a website to offer a superior property-search tool.

"We are seeing only the tip of the iceberg where potential applications for mapping data are concerned," says Rob Blackwell of Active Web Solutions (AWS), a Microsoft-certified partner. "Increased demand for visual data, such as geo-information, has resulted in AWS creating a dedicated team to work with the Virtual Earth platform in developing solutions for industries as diverse as construction and travel and tourism."

Costa Mesa, California-based Digital Map Products, Inc. (DMP), a developer of high-performance Web GIS (geographic information system) software applications, created LandVision^TM, an all-in-one collaboration solution for land acquisition that combines mapping, access to detailed site and property information, customization and project management workflow with an elegant, easy to use web-based interface. DMP designed LandVision to provide an efficient and economical way to identify, qualify and acquire prime locations for development.

"LandVision offers a unique opportunity for builders and developers to dramatically scale the productivity of their land acquisition teams," said Walt Stender, CEO of Digital Map Products. "We have spent thousands of hours with leading professionals in these markets and have crafted an application that directly meets their requirements. In addition to the product's innovative functionality, our subscription business model offers immediate and substantial benefits that have proven successful in over 120 deployments throughout the nation."

Traditional methods for land acquisition relying on local market knowledge, local real estate brokers, drive-bys, isolated data sources and specially-trained staff dedicated to assembling data are becoming too time consuming and costly for builders. Using new, advanced technologies such as DMP's subscription services, builders can now arm themselves with interactive mapping tools that:

• Enhance and expedite land acquisition capabilities

• Facilitate team collaboration on acquisition strategies

• Reduce risks associated with land acquisition through early exposure to negative characteristics of property

• Improve margins by beating competitors and speculators to available land.

"LandVision's functionality is centered on the key components of the land acquisition process," added Stender. "Using LandVision, development professionals and acquisition teams can visually navigate through maps to explore terrain, analyze land opportunities using segmentation data sources such as demographics and sub-market boundaries, and search for properties that meet certain requirements such as parcel size, location, land use and value. Users can access their organizations' maps and data from where ever they have an internet connection including from the field with a wireless connection."

Another option for builders is TerraServer, founded in 1997 in Raleigh, North Carolina, with the simple purpose of finding a commercial market for satellite imagery and aerial photography. TerraServer promises the most up to date imagery available along with the best resolution on the market.

"We will continue to base the development of our product and website features on the feedback of our users. Our site is continually evolving to meet the demands of an industry that is growing in leaps and bounds," said Brian Randy Funk, COO of TerraServer. "The new TerraServer also brings in some features that are brand new including the ability for all users, both subscribers and non-subscribers, to zoom in to the full extent of the requested imagery. The free image viewer allows users to view all of the aerial photos, satellite images and USGS topo maps on TerraServer at full resolution before ever paying for any products."

Builders and developers across the globe, who are offering real estate consumers aerial imagery and a far greater way to enhance the online property search experience, are mapping their way to future success. Shouldn't you?

Published: September 17, 2007

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Peter L. Mosca is president and founder of BAK Communications, Inc. He has over 22 years of communications and media consulting experience, serving a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the CCIM Institute and the REALTOR Association on all three levels – national, state and local. He is the Spokesperson Trainer for the CCIM's Jay Levine Academy and trains hundreds of residential REALTORS nationwide to be effective industry spokespeople. He is consistently ranked as "excellent" by about 90% of those who attend his presentations. While his principal consulting focuses are public speaking and media relations development and content delivery and management, Peter is also the host of the Voice America Network's weekly radio program, "Income Property Investment Talk," a one-hour program that brings the powerhouses of commercial and residential real estate to property investors every Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. Peter is married 17 years to his wife Barbara. They have two children: Ashley, 15 and Kelli, 12. Hence, the name BAK Communications, Inc.