Buyers Are Using Google Street Views to Preview Madeline Island Homes

Many prospective buyers may not realize that they can get a street view of Madeline Island homes for sale (or many property listings across the United States) simply by using Google Maps with Street View.

You'll need to create a Gmail account, of course. And you can set up Google Maps once you've done that. Not all properties will have street views available. But it makes sense to search Google Street View before you drive three or four hours to look at properties in a vacation destination area like ours.

Here's what I found when I did a Street View search for one of our listings at 2865 North Shore Road, LaPointe WI:

The street view photo wasn't taken in HD and it certainly isn't all that sharp or detailed, but it gives the viewer a very good idea of the street view of this home. And it gave prospective buyers (who had already viewed a virtual tour of the home's interior) enough information to satisfy their curiosity about what the lot and yard looked like, which led to their submitting an offer.

Google Maps and Google Earth also offer satellite and aerial views of some properties. From a consumer standpoint, I find these street views more valuable as a marketing tool.

A street view of your home for sale probably won't sell the property on its own, but it's another piece of the puzzle that may lead to finding your buyer.