Are You Using Google Earth? : Real Estate Investing Tips and Strategies

For those of you who have never heard of this tool before, Google Earth is a program that uses satellite imagery software to create an aerial map of the entire world. It is truly amazing!

It can be used to scout out and research properties anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home.

We recently had a lead come in that looked interesting. I knew that the asking price was significantly higher that other homes in the area and it made me curious. I typed the property address into Google Earth and zoomed right in on the property. As I zoomed in closer, I realized that there was a dock in the backyard and that this house was on the water! I called the owner and asked, “What are you doing right now”? I was sitting on the back porch of this home negotiating with the owner within 30 minutes of the lead coming in.

As it turns out, the guy inherited the house and just wanted to get rid of it. He didn’t even owe a thing on this beautiful home that fell into his lap. I ended up buying this home for significantly less than what he was asking and got some owner-financing thrown in for good measure. We were able to turn this lead into an amazing deal that yielded us a couple hundred thousand dollars the day we closed on it!

Download Google Earth for free.

You can practice by Google Earthing your personal residence to see how the program works. You can even use this software now to look out into the universe and zoom in on stars and constellations or to take your own virtual tour of the Grand Canyon! Have fun with it, and I hope it helps your business like it did ours.

Category: Business Management Systems and Tools