How to upgrade your real estate website using Google Maps APIs [2022 update]

Location, location, location. 

The most important part of a house is often not the floor plan or the amount of bedrooms, but its location. While renovations can fix a lot of issues, the house will always remain in the same place, so choosing the right neighborhood is priority number one. 

Because of this, having maps available on real estates sites has already become a must. However, simply seeing the house represented as a dot on a map, and being able to read the nearby street names, is not enough to make the sale.

In this blog post, we will explore how the integration of a few Google Maps APIs can give your potential customers all the information they need, and help them feel confident that they have found their new home. 

Google Maps Places API 

The Places API gives your web application access to Google’s global database with more than 200 million businesses and points of interest. This allows you to transform your website’s map from simply showing streets and green areas, to showing the area as a dynamic neighborhood with many possibilities. 

This gives a much better overview of the property’s surroundings, and it brings the area to life for the user. Instead of having to drive around the neighborhood themselves, the potential buyer is given all the contextual data they need right off the bat, making the decision making process much more convenient, simple, and less overwhelming. 

Google Maps Distance Matrix API

Similarly, the Distance Matrix API allows your website’s users to imagine their life at their potential new home. They will be able to measure the distance between the house and nearby points of interests such as schools, daycares, coffee shops, doctor’s offices and so forth. 

It also helps potential buyers figure out the time it will take them to get from the property to their place of work. With integrated real-time traffic updates, the users will be able to get a precise calculation of their commute in the morning rush hour. 

Google Maps Street View API  

As more and more of the house buying process is happening online, buyers want visuals on the website. While lots of beautiful pictures and virtual tours make it easier to get a feel for the property itself, the same cannot be said about the surrounding area. 

By incorporating the Google Maps Street View API, potential buyers will be able to get a feeling for the neighborhood without ever leaving the comfort of their own homes. They will be able to see the house from angles that may not have been covered in the photographs, and can even ‘time travel’ and see what the house or the street looked like several years ago.

At the same time, using Street View also helps build trust, as the user will be able to see the property for themselves and are able to make sure that pictures on the website are not edited. Thereby, allowing potential buyers to make more informed decisions as to which properties they are interested in pursuing.

If you want to know how Google Maps APIs can strengthen your users' experience, sign up for our webinar: