How to Use Google Earth for Real Estate

Visiting properties has never been easier thanks to Google Earth.
Now all real estate investors have to do is click a mouse and a clear image of the property pops up on their computer screen.

Google describes it as "a globe that sits inside your computer."

Now you can type in any address and in most instances, get a view that's so good it's almost alarming. So instead of driving to the property you can look at it from the safety and convenience of your computer without the hassle, expense and time waste.

You can also look up road maps, crime statistics and get historic maps.

Talk about detail- a recent scan my own home revealed one of our cars parked in the driveway. I would even see my front door quite clearly.

This is a tool which has the potential to turn due diligence upside down. In fact, average users are reporting that although Google Earth does require quite a bit of RAM, it doesn't have the learning curve you'd expect. Most people are able to use it quickly, within five minutes or so. That's good news for investors who are not computer geeks.

All you have to do to gleam a fantastic close-up image of a property is to click on Fly To. Type in the address and hit the small magnifying glass on the right. Instantly you are carried from orbit all the way to the property's roof.

In fact, if you play with it a little you can adjust the views not only from the top but also from the sides as you pan out and in.

Not only can you see all the surrounding terrain, but you can move around the property and view it from different angles. Warning: Google Earth can be addictive and fun.

You may find yourself wandering the globe looking for interesting maps, places and people who happen to show up on the Google camera.

If that wasn't enough, Google has just acquired Image America which is already well known for selling low cost imagery to county appraisers and assessors. Images will be clearer than ever which is even better news for real estate investors.

That's because they use aerial imagery which is superior to satellite imaging since it can be done in near- real time acquisition. That means it's faster than the satellites which are located 17,000 miles above the earth. And it's more efficient that google's photographs taken from airplanes.

One of the biggest obstacles for an otherwise fantastic software would have been avoided; some blurry images.

Nothing is more irritating than to type in an address and get an image back that's so fuzzy your eyes strain. In the past, this failure has been explained away as perhaps cloudiness in the atmosphere.

Bad images don't come up often, but if it's that one property you really want to see, it can get maddening. Generally, however, most of the larger cities and towns have very good close-ups.

Google Earth definitely solves one of the biggest problems real estate investors have had in the past. Seeing properties up close. When you are located in another state or country this important tool helps make your due diligence a breeze.

To download Google Earth go to

http://google.earth-free.org

Recommended Google Earth Resources:

http://www.gearthblog.com

http://www.gearthhacks.com/

http://googleearthuser.blogspot.com/

For a quick start manual on how to use it go to

http://www.gearthblog.com/basics.html

By: Alice Stevens
Credit:www.superfeature.com

How to Revolutionize Your Retirement Thinking

As you think about your retirement life, acknowledge that "who you are" is much more important than "what you do". This one shift in your belief structure will enhance your chances of having a happier, healthier retirement.

Hate change? If so, you're in for a rude retirement awakening. Why? Because not since adolescence have you experienced as much change as you will in retirement. Retirement is all about change. Major change. Now before you run screaming from the room, consider this. Change can be a really good thing. And, if you're going to have the rocking retirement of your dreams, then you will need to embrace change even if you can't learn to love it.

You hear the word "retirement" and you imagine the room full of admiring colleagues, the gentle retelling of the famous time you messed up, the president's toast and, finally, the gold watch. Maybe retirement will be the end of your work life. If so, this is the biggest change you'll experience since birth. Your life will no longer be about "What do you do?" And, that's actually a gift. Retirement gives you the opportunity to grow into the best possible YOU. "Who you are" is so much more important than "what you do."

Of course, even if you do have the gold-watch experience, it may not be the end of work as you know it. A 2003 survey conducted for AARP found that many Americans between the ages of 50 and 70 plan to work far into what has traditionally been viewed as their "retirement years." Nearly half of all pre-retirees (45%) expect to continue working into their 70s or later. Of this group, 27% said they would work until they were in the 70s and 18% said "80 or older," "never stop work," or "as long as I am able to work."

But if you're done with work, you will need to fill all those hours with something. And the search for how you will spend your time is a change unto itself. Wilma was an executive secretary for over 40 years. She so dreaded the day she would stop working that she did no planning for the inevitable. Always attentive to her appearance, after retirement she devoted her life to resisting the aging process. She primped and shopped and beauty-parlored her days away. She tried Botox and had a face-lift. She was exploring a breast enhancement when her life radically changed. She was diagnosed with breast cancer!

Ironically, her excursion into cosmetic surgery led to early detection and she was back on her feet in no time. But she took life a lot more seriously and was soon the local coordinator for Y-ME, the national breast cancer organization. Her involvement with the group and other women with the disease became a passion that filled her life with purpose and meaning far beyond that of even her working years.

Another other major retirement change is location. If you're going to move from the four-bedroom house where you raised your children to an apartment in town, then everything is going to be different. Will you be relocating to a warmer climate or moving closer to the grandkids? Even more radical change. And if you're headed for a retirement community, the biggest change of all, because you'll no longer have the healthy advantage of being surrounded by people of all ages.

So how do you embrace change? Begin by changing your attitude from one of hostility to one of acceptance. Delight comes later. Consider your daily routine. If you always take the same route to the grocery store, go a different way. If you put both socks on before your shoes, try a sock, a shoe, a sock, a shoe. Add variety to your favorite activities. Try a new hiking trail or even a new restaurant. Learn to go with the flow. Everything is changing around you all the time. Stop fighting it.

If you really want a change, get a new relationship. If you're single, this might be the perfect time to seek a new mate. But if you're happily married or in partnership, you can still expand your circle of relationships by seeking out new friends. Take the initiative and make the call to the woman you really liked at the last garden club meeting. Or attend that interesting lecture at the club and see who else turns up. Go out of your way to say hello to someone you don't know.

And, by the way, if you're happily married, this retirement thing is going to change everything. There's more than enough truth to the old adage, "I married you for life, but not for lunch." Take a lot of time to talk over the future of your marriage once you're retired long before the golden-watch day arrives. Plan activities you'll do together or make a deal that you'll spend some days apart. But whatever you do, don't let that change sneak up on you.

If you're heading for retirement, remember what Bob Dylan said, "The times they are a changin'." But since there's not much you can do about it, you might as well put a smile on your face, open your arms wide, and welcome newness into your life.

To get started, consider the biggest change you expect in retirement and identify three action steps you can take to help you embrace that change instead of resisting it.

By: Lin Schreiber
Credit:www.superfeature.com