How to Best Use Google Maps for Your Real Estate Business

As a real estate agent, you live your daily life juggling multiple listings and dealing with several buyers at once. Even though you are seldom only selling one property, each buyer you deal with expects you to make them your top priority. This includes answering all of their questions and consistently producing high-quality listings that fit their needs. The last thing you want or need is to waste their time and yours by looking at options that are not the right fit.

Advantages of Using Google Maps for Real Estate

There are plenty of real estate-focused tools to help agents organize their listings and provide basic information to prospective buyers. However, there is a free tool that may be just as powerful as the rest. A secret weapon that some agents may not even think to tap into. This untapped gold mine is called Google Maps, and it has the power to change the way you sell real estate property forever.

Creating Your Own Listings Map

Google Maps allow a real estate agent the opportunity to create a map of all the houses they have on their listing. This allows prospective buyers to gain a detailed overview of what the agent represents in that area. This is better than just listing addresses on your website because the viewer can see where each property is instead of manually googling each address one at a time.

Google Maps also gives a buyer the chance to see what the house looks like. For example, if a buyer is looking for a house with a bay window or large porch, they can use the street view function to cross those who do not have that feature off their list. This will save any real estate agent a significant amount of time and energy when planning out which houses to show.

Building Your Personal Brand

Google Maps is an excellent way to build your personal brand as a real estate agent. Any real estate agent can talk about how much area they cover or the number of houses they represent, but those who can prove it will have a leg up on the competition. This is because Google Maps allows real estate professionals to show a virtual representation of their real estate listings.

When someone is looking for a home, they visit multiple real estate websites to figure out who they should go with as an agent. Imagine how impressed they will be when they land on your website and are able to interact with a map that lets them view every single house you represent. If someone is looking to buy a house in a specific radius, your map is able to show them the various listings you can show them. This might be the deciding factor in them choosing you over another real estate agent.

A Way to Counter Pandemic Restrictions

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way most industries do business. Real estate agents can no longer count on big open houses to attract multiple buyers at once. Furthermore, buyers who are at high risk for contracting the virus may be hesitant to visit a home that other people have been in. With Google Maps, you can at least provide a virtual tour of the outside of the property and film your own virtual tour of what it looks like on the inside.

Building a Personalized Map for Your Buyer

As a real estate agent, it is your job to identify the buyers' desired area and then represent them with a list of options to review. Google Maps' extensive icon library can be a massive help in helping your buyers understand the benefits of each house you are proposing. You can take a set location of a certain number of blocks and drop a pin on each house you want your buyer to take a look at. You can color-code these pins to designate different aspects of each house. For example, green pins can represent homes in their price range, while red can represent residences that are slightly more expensive. A yellow pin can represent a house with a pool, while a blue pin can be reserved for a house with a basement. It all depends on what your buyer is looking for.

Getting an Up-Close Look with Street View

Once you give a buyer access to this map, they can use the street view to begin checking out the house for themselves. This allows them to determine details, such as if they will like the color of the exterior or if it’s too close to their neighbors, as well as the house's overall proximity to the nearest busy street. This will allow the buyer to cross off any house they are not interested in and help you focus your time on homes they are likely to purchase.

Setting Up Your Showing Schedule

Once you have solidified the residences you will be showing, you can repurpose your Google map into an itinerary. Each pin will represent a house you are planning on showing on that particular day. The buyer can drive this route ahead of time and view the homes up close before the official show. After a long day of looking at multiple properties, your buyers can refer back to this map in case they have any questions about a specific property they saw.

For example, let's say you show a couple of ten houses in a two-day span. They may decide they have narrowed their choices down to just three homes. However, because they saw so many properties in a short amount of time they may forget which one was close to the train station and which had the extended backyard. The Google Maps link you provided allows them to re-visit each of the three houses and confirm the benefits of each one. This also helps avoid having to spend time answering questions about properties yourself.

Input from Family and Friends

Buying a home is a major decision and can be overwhelming for many people. Ideally, you would bring along someone whose opinion you respect to see the house before you buy it. However, this is not always possible. Even before COVID, would-be homeowners are unable to bring along family or friends because of where they work or due to conflicts in their schedule. Google Maps allows these family members and friends to see what the house and neighborhood look like thanks to the street view function.

For example, let's say you are trying to sell a great house to the perfect fit for a family. You know it is the right call but the would-be buyers are having cold feet. When they share the location with their family or friends, they are able to provide compliments and positive feedback. Hearing someone you care about to say things like "the house looks beautiful, "look at that porch", or "It's great how close you are to a school" may be the motivation they need to push them off the fence and make the purchase.

Giving the Power to the Buyer

Without Google Maps, you would have to research each individual property and document how far it was from the nearest school. With Google Maps, all you need to do is share the map with the family and allow them to explore on their own. This gives them the power to decide which homes are worth looking at and which ones are too far away. The same exact thing can be done for buyers who need to be close to a train station for work or do not want to be too far away from the nearest grocery store or hospital.

Get Found on Local Search

Not only does Google Maps help you service your existing clients, but it helps you attract new ones as well. When you claim and verify your real estate business on Google Places for Business, you automatically appear on Google Maps. This way, when a buyer is beginning their search for a new real estate agent, you are one of the first options that will pop up in their area. Once listed, you can add photos, contact information, and hours of operation so people can easily contact you.

You can also leverage the Google Maps API to place your personalized Google Map right on your website's home page. This allows visitors to not only view the address you represent but also gain a better understanding of which ones fit their criteria. Including this type of function on your website is a great way to increase both traffic and ranking. Prospective clients are much more likely to visit a website that includes a map with images. Google will also boost your website's ranking in search results because you are leveraging their Maps feature and therefore providing an enhanced user experience.

How to Use Google Maps for Real Estate Listings

You may claim and enhance your Google My Firm page if you are a realtor who runs your own business or works for a brokerage. With the step-by-step procedure below, you'll have a GMB profile in less than two hours that will appear in a popup on both desktop and mobile results for your name and associated SEO phrases like "real estate agent near me." You'll also be included as a local result of these searches on Google Maps!

Examine the current status of your GMB profile.

See what comes up when you Google your name. The highlighted box will show if you have already a GMB profile. It's fine if you have an old profile that has become obsolete. Working off your present profile rather than developing a new one is significantly more crucial, since having two profiles would confuse both existing and potential clients.

Create or Claim Your GMB Account

Look for a link that reads "Own this business?" if you already have a GMB profile. This phrasing is subject to change by Google, so it may not be those words exactly. You should go ” and open on that connection and complete your profile from there.

If you don't already have a Google My Business profile, you'll want to go to business.google.com and establish one. Whether you're beginning from scratch or updating an existing profile, it's critical to use an email address that isn't your personal one. Because this will most likely be a shared account with your staff, you should use an email address with which you are comfortable.

Follow Google's Instructions

Google will ask for basic contact information like your name, address, and phone number. Make sure to put the phrases "Real Estate Agent" or "Realtor" after your name to make your account as effectively as possible. As a result, the GMB algorithm will place you in front of individuals who are seeking your services.

Google will prompt you to select subcategories that identify and characterize your business at some time. Don't be inclined to select as many of those as you can think of; instead, choose those that are directly relevant to your company. "Real estate consultant" and "real estate agent" are two good examples.

Check Your Google+ Profile

Google will send a card to the location you entered on your GMB account once you've finished filling out your profile. This postcard is significant because it contains a unique verification number that will allow you to ultimately validate your company. Google may allow you to confirm through text, phone, email, or Google Search Console. Depending on Google's modifications, these choices might not be available. Expect to wait a few weeks for your company's information to be completely displayed and confirmed.

Improve Your Profile

While you wait for your GMB account to be completely approved, now is the ideal moment to supply Google with as much information about your company as possible so that you can show it to searchers in the best possible light. The service you provide (think "Home Valuation Support" or "Buyer's Consultation"), as well as office hours, are examples of crucial company information you might include. Ensure your office timings are current since this will boost searcher confidence in your GMB page.

Adding photographs and videos connected to your business is another wonderful method to enhance your profile and get trust. These photographs should not be stock photos and should be of excellent quality. The more photographs and videos you post of your work, the more likely people are to visit your website. Finally, if you're reclaiming a preexisting profile, it's conceivable that you've already received reviews. If that's the case, respond to every single review you get. This shows that you are approachable, that you value input, and that you should be constantly striving to improve.

Conclusion

Google Maps can truly be considered an untapped gold mine for real estate professionals because of the functions it offers and the value it provides. This is a tool that is free to use and easy to understand. It offers several features to make viewing homes pain-free for your buyer and to help you stay organized and provide a clear presentation of the various properties you're representing.

Frequently Asked Questions