PropertyMaps.com Adds Another Online Real Estate Search Tool: Google Street View™

Business Wire, April 24, 2008

Now Users Can Take Virtual 'Strolls' Through Local Neighborhoods

SARASOTA, Fla. -- PropertyMaps.com today announced the addition of a new online real estate search tool: Google Street View[TM]. Now, users can take virtual 'strolls' through local neighborhoods when looking at homes listed for sale in the MLS.

"Providing a panoramic view of the entire neighborhood, as well as the property, gives our users a unique perspective on the home buying experience," said Chris Latko, PropertyMaps Chief Technology Officer. "This new functionality goes beyond what some of our competitors have started by allowing the users to not only see a panoramic view of the property, but to actually stroll around the neighborhood using 360-degree 'Street Views'."

PropertyMaps.com is a user-friendly, one-stop-shop Web site that allows consumers to quickly search the actual Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases used by Realtors[R] nationwide by using popular mapping tools such as Google Maps, Google Earth, and Microsoft Virtual Earth. PropertyMaps currently has 1.3 million listings and expects to reach 2.2 million by the end of June.

At PropertyMaps.com, visitors can also see the exact lot size for any property listed in the Digital Map Products database, which currently covers more than 500 U.S. counties. The service is expected to grow to encompass 1,000 counties and more than 100 million parcels.

"We're extremely excited to incorporate Google Street View[TM] into PropertyMaps.com. Due to the excellent work by Google and their API, adding Street View was not only relatively simple but it makes for an insightful tool for the users. We like to live on the bleeding edge of mapping technologies in order to empower users with the most information and the best possible visual experience," said Latko. "Street View is an ideal way to visualize the first person perspective from a desired property, and then actually 'walk around' to get a true feel for the environment."

About PropertyMaps.com: Using popular mapping tools such as Google Maps, Google Earth, and Microsoft Virtual Earth, PropertyMaps.com enables people to quickly search and easily visualize millions of real estate listings by plotting their locations and local market data free of charge. PropertyMaps.com is the first Internet site to provide map-based access to the authentic Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases that are used by Realtors[R] nationwide. PropertyMaps also delivers the content wirelessly to Internet-enabled phones, PDAs, GPS-enabled and other mobile devices.