Trulia is a real estate listing service which believes that “…information about properties, local neighborhoods, agents and brokers should be made freely available to everyone”. When performing searches you get an integrated Google Maps map of the results, and they provide many useful tools such as heat maps on pricing. Yesterday they announced on their blog support for Google Earth in their search results. This means you can choose to view the results of your search as a collection of placemarks. For example, here’s a look at homes in Clear Lake, Texas 
. The placemarks have the basic information such as photo of the property, price, address, number of bedrooms, and of course a link to more information.
To realize the true value of using Google Earth for real estate, you need to check out the layers in Google Earth. The layers are often overlooked – I guess because there are so many of them. When you are looking to buy a house in a new location, you need to know things like where are the nearest schools, whether a grocery store is close by, what the drive is like to work, how far it is to the airport. As you explore the layers and use the GE ruler or driving directions, you can get answers to all of these questions and more. The data in these layers varies in quantity depending on what country you live in, but Google has been continually adding this information all over the world.
For other examples of real estate listing services for Google Earth read some of these stories:
- Earthpoint – Real Estate listings for Boise, Idaho
- Real Esate listings by Re/Max
- Earthbooker – 80,000 Hotels in Google Earth
- Real Estate Interest in GE Grows
- Real Estate Done Google Earth Style
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
Trulia has a very limited use of google earth. “Earth” means a bit more then “America” and the earth is full of real estate outside of America. North America that is of course.
Anyway I am still looking for a good international real estate listing with google earth that will list the location of this Italian old villa:
DolceVitaGuide.com
(on google earth it looks really nice cause one sees the lakes and green around it.
Will appreciate any suggestion of such listing on the internet.
And if there isn’t: now there’s a good idea for a young and energetic programmer who want’s to start his own start up….
There is an Australian website which draws info from the major real estate websites and presents the listings in Google Maps & Google Earth.
http://www.suburbview.com/
Just type a suburb in the top right corner eg Cronulla and you are presented with Google Map. You can then select to view these in GE.
If I were looking for real estate I would want it to be a network link so I would not have to keep getting the new info from the website.
i mentioned the same point too, i am interested in the technology incorporating UK property listings.. any ideas anyone?
We are looking to duplicate what TRULIA is doing with our website, But finding our version is slower than TRULIA. Im quite impressed in the research and development that TRULIA has committed. We need a larger IT Dept it seems
-Great Post
I do agree that Trulia has done some research and development when it comes to real estate industry. If this would happen then surely the whole real estate community would might follow what is Trulia doing right now and it could help clients in many ways.
WoW. Am I behind the times! I just heard about Google Earth yesterday. I’m only a few years behind… Thanks for pointing out the layers. It helped a bit. I’m still learning, however, and I haven’t found an advantage of using Google Earth over Google Maps. I tried a couple of address searches in both Plymouth and Minneapolis, MN. I can’t get down to the street view/house view. It looks nothing like your example for Clear Lake, Texas above. The first time I searched for an address in Plymouth, it took me to downtown Mpls!!
The real estate industry is using Google earth so much these days.
I read your blog when I was in Quebec. I bookmarked your site and read your post again when I reached CA after I purchased my new ed online computer. The site is excellent and looks the best in new!
jacksonville homes for sale, jacksonville fl homes
Yeah, Google left the real estate business. The MLS systems are just too regional, and I believe that Google thought that it would have a battle on its hands. In the long run…
I guess they just felt that it wasn’t in their best interests…
It sounds like you are gathering lots of different ideas in your Word doc. I do that on different sheets of paper in my notebook.