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You are here: Home / Albemarle / Using Google to Find your Triangles

Using Google to Find your Triangles

August 18, 2014 6 Comments

Downtown Mall at the Center

What’s your triangle?* The above is from a map on which I was drawing the Downtown Mall, Belmont and what is “walking distance” to Downtown and UVA for some clients.

I’ve found that many, if not most, of my clients have specific triangles – geofences of sorts – that guide their buying areas.

The top squiggle in the box is 29 North. The circle in the center circle is the City of Charlottesville. The two points of the triangle to the West represent home and school. Typically, my clients’ lives (and my life too, when I’m playing dad/husband and not Realtor) lead them to at least three points on a daily basis, and determining these points is often challenging at best to do from afar, or quickly.

– Which school will my kids attend?
– Will there be redistricting?
– At which grocery store will I shop?
– Wegmans? Whole Foods? Kroger?
– Which coffee shop?
– Which library?

Much of what I do is knowing how and when to guide and my clients to see the value of these data points, as well as help them know what’s around the corner. (Did you know there’s going to be a subdivision there?)

Enter Google:

Today, Google is tracking wherever your smartphone goes, and putting a neat red dot on a map to mark the occasion. You can find that map here. All you need to do is log in with the same account you use on your phone, and the record of everywhere you’ve been for the last day to month will erupt across your screen like chicken pox.

(I have location history turned off on my phone, otherwise I’d have used one of my own screenshots)

So … if you’re moving to Charlottesville, take my advice to rent before you buy – turn on google’s location history and use them to better understand your triangles. And once we’ve figured out the triangles and have a foundational understanding of the Charlottesville real estate market, we devise a path forward.


This is a map I drew a few weeks ago when explaining the Charlottesville area/submarkets to a client. 29 North is up top, the bottom line of the box with the accompanying squiggly line is Rio Road, the COty of Charlottesville is the large circle in the middle, Crozet is the Western circle …

* From last month’s Monthly Note.

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Filed Under: Albemarle, Charlottesville, General Real Estate Tagged With: Albemarle, Charlottesville

Comments

  1. JeffRiber says

    August 20, 2014 at 08:48

    Good post Jim! Thanks for sharing… I may swipe the idea (if you don’t mind) for a similar post in Jacksonville, FL…

    Reply
    • Jim Duncan says

      August 22, 2014 at 04:20

      Sounds good, Jeff. Thanks.

      Reply
  2. Simon Campbell says

    August 21, 2014 at 11:06

    I have to agree, great post. You are a great example of an agent who know their market. Knowing not only the needs and lifestyle of your clients and then creating a purchase neighborhood is a great example of going above and beyond. Thanks for the reminder.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. More Houses Coming to 29 North - RealCentralVA.com says:
    April 27, 2015 at 07:16

    […] Not knowing the context of the house you’re considering. There’s way more to a house than the four corners of the property. (what are your triangles?) […]

    Reply
  2. Prepping for Crozet's 2018 Real Estate Market - RealCrozetVA says:
    September 28, 2017 at 10:14

    […] story – it may look like a lot of houses sell every year, but when you start drilling down, determining your locational and life triangles, there may be fewer homes that come on the market in Crozet than you might think (or […]

    Reply
  3. Buyer Questions: New Developments in Charlottesville and Albemarle? - RealCentralVA.com says:
    October 2, 2017 at 09:03

    […] Triangles – what are your life’s important locational data points? […]

    Reply

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About Jim Duncan

I am a Realtor/Broker/Partner with Nest Realty in Charlottesville, Virginia. The goal of this site/blog remains unchanged in the nearly 10 years since its founding – to provide clear, coherent and unbiased analysis of the Charlottesville area real estate market.

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