If you ask many real estate professionals what’s the key element of their business, they may say people, or properties or marketing.But if you take a minute and think deeper, you can see the real estate business in a whole new light.
Reginald G. Golledge, a professor of geography at University of Santa Barbara has some suggestions on how to think spatially.
For example, understand the characteristics of the word ”distance” and the accompanying terms such as proximity, similarity, crow-fly distance and over-the-road distance.
Comprehend orientation and direction. North, South, East and West are important properties.
Realize spatial geographic associations – some areas get snow and some areas are desert-like. And sometimes you can find both in one county.
Be aware of the spatial connection of highways and road.
Recognize landmarks.
And most importantly, develop map-reading skills.
Think of real estate in spatial terms. (That’s why a map-based real estate tool like SpatialMatch can be a powerful addition to your tool box).
Now think of real estate in spatial terms. A map-based real estate tool such as SpatialMatch can be a powerful addition to your tool box.
It contains an enormous amount of data about what occupies each space in a neighborhood. That could be a business, a school, a hospital, an airport.
Following the professors advice, it helps you illustrate how spaces relate to other spaces.
If you are looking at a house in Space A, you can see map out how all these other key spaces relate to it. Those key spaces could be an entrance ramp to an interstate for commuters, or it could be a hospital for nurses looking for a job or it could a school for a special needs children.
When you think spatially, you can see how all these geographic factors are inter-related and all inter-connected.
So a desk in a bedroom could have a connection with a community college. A garage has a connection with a highway which leads to a job in another town. A backyard might have a connection with a high school baseball field. Southern exposure could connect a gardener with a beautiful backyard.
A house doesn’t have to be large to be valuable. With your SpatialMatch tool, you can point out the large number of great connections that house has with local amenities.
Perhaps Space A does not have as many square feet as Space B. But with SpatialMatch you can point out how this is a rich location with its proximity to parks, the mall or the best schools.
You can add more. After asking a few questions, with SpatialMatch you can point out the more personal amenities – perhaps the buyer likes bookstores, or sushi restaurants or the movies. Keep pointing out these spaces on the map.
Now you are not only pointing out the interconnectedness of spaces, but you are moving that spatial information around cyberspace.
You are sharing spaces with other people. Showing them how to think spatially.
Thinking in spatial terms might be a little offbeat for the average real estate professional. But sometimes it is smart to step away from the “normal” view of a situation and look at it in a whole new light.
When you do that, many times, that light produces a new angle or idea.
As the professor points out – many famous people become famous because of their command of spaces – Michael Jordan on a basketball court, Michelle Kwan on a skating rink, Einstein on the universe.
Try it. The SpatialMath tool can help. To learn more and for a demonstration on how SpatialMatch can put the spatial world at your fingertips, click here.
