Four Free Ways To View Local Orlando Real Estate From Afar

Regal Palms Clubhouse

Trying to find the perfect vacation rental investment from thousands of miles away can often become a very frustrating task. Homes might look great in the pictures online but what does the surrounding area look like?  If you’re not utilizing at least one of these five free mapping tools listed here than you you may be in for a huge surprise when you arrive here in Orlando for your property inspection trip.

1. Bing Birds Eye View: Birds Eye View from Bing is one of my favorite free mapping tools on the market. It’s so easy to use and gives an very clear picture of not only the home but also the surrounding area. It also offers an ariel/satellite view which is similar to what google has.

2. Google Street View: Some pretty funny stuff has been caught on Google street view but we’ll save that for the What the Flock section. Google street view is great for just about anything but above all it’s amazing for researching real estate.  It’s the second best thing to actually being able to walk or drive the streets your self.  Google street view offers you a 360* view of the street.  This is great if you want to see what your future neighbor’s houses look like or what your walk to the clubhouse will be like.

Route From Universal Studios to Disney World

3. Map Quest:

Compared to Bing and Google, Mapquest seems to be the awkward kid at school but even the awkward kids are good at something and mapquest is still my number one choice for driving directions and route planning.  Mapquest even has the 360* and ariel view options. What’s great about Mapquest is you can map the route with an ariel view and also add tons of cool options to your route like gas stations, traffic reports and much more. Mapquest is a very useful program for checking the distance and route from your potential vacation home to Disney or other popular destinations.

Regal Palms Google Earth View

4. Google Earth:

Google Earth deserves it’s very own post but I’m throwing the short version in because it’s THAT important to know about and utilize in your property searches.  Google earth integrates street view, ariel view and so much more.  You can view the sun exposure at any hour of the day, see what your neighborhood looked like 3 years ago and if you’re an astronomy nerd like me you’ll love that you can even view the night sky from the house that your researching.  How cool is that? Google earth is  free to download and will become your best friend when trying to purchase and research a home from thousands of miles away.

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