Satellite image search tool

[Matt W.]

I don't know if this already exists, if not someone tech savvy please invent it! The idea is a computer program that searches satellite images for signs of neglected properties.  Signs like tarps on roofs, black/brown pools, and cars parked all over the yard.  The pool especially is a dead giveaway that a house is abandoned, in my experience. 

My county has very up to date aerial images. I think a computer could scan millions of images each day and spit out a list of potentially distressed properties. 

I'm not that knowledgable about programming, but this seems pretty doable.  If you've ever watched Silicon Valley, it's like Jin Yang's "Hotdog" app.

[Sarah Castellanos]

omg that's a great idea!!

[Taylor L.]

Careful, if you build this it could turn into something other than what you'd intended. Like it did for Jin Yang! But that only negatively impacted Dinesh...

I haven't seen anything like this but it is a good idea. The main counterpoint I can see is that the publicly available satellite imagery (like on Google) can be years out of date. So you may end up chasing down a lot of old problems that had already been fixed.

[Matt W.]

@Taylor L.

True, google maps is pretty outdated, but my county assessor website updates satellite images every year. I don’t know who they contract with to get up to date pictures. So it would be dependent on good images.

[Andrew Freed]

@Matt W. - I tend to use Google Earth (different than google maps) all the time along with the property assessors map to scout out local properties that have attributes that I like such as garages, parking, multis, etc. I like to have my properties in clusters for management purposes so I try to keep my purchases in very close proximity. This is how I develop some of my off market campaigns, my pinpointing properties that I would like to own locally. 

[Alisha Wilson]

In Florida most of the county property appraiser websites have free pictometry images over several years. In Miami Dade and Broward counties you can get images as far back as 2008. This is fantastic when investing in a state where hurricanes and severe weather wreak havoc on roofs.