Easily Explore Property In 3D!

Aerial Shots: Drone and Google Earth



Imagine yourself settling down into the hot tub on your deck with a cold one in your hand, ready to enjoy the long-range mountain sunset views! That is, unless the property you chose faces north. Or those views are blocked by the ridgeline on the other side of the valley.

Orientation and topography are important for every mountain property, whether it is a house in trendy West Asheville or 100+ acres in the countryside. South-facing orientation is preferred for increased sun exposure, especially in the winter when north-facing slopes can stay iced for months. Topography (‘Topo’) determines the best build sites, and whether the view from those sites would be blocked by neighboring properties.

The best tool I have found to look at topo is Google Earth; which can be installed here. After installing, select ‘Tools’ in the toolbar, click on ‘Options’, and find the Elevation Exaggeration feature. I typically set this on ‘2’; and then click OK.

Voila, the NC mountains are spread out in front of you in 3D! Use Shift and the arrow keys to shift the viewpoint up, down, and around; use Ctrl + Shift to zoom in and out flying around the mountains like you are in a helicopter. And now the real surprise: double-click on the ground to go to Google Earth’s Ground-Level View. Rotate 180 degrees and this will let you see what your view would be from any point on the ground!

Let’s use my recent listing of two lots in the Mountain Air community as an example. See images below for the 3D view compared with the actual drone footage:

View Shots: Drone and Google Earth



Google Earth uses KML and KMZ files to display properties. Some county GIS websites such as Transylvania County have an option to Export to KML. I use MapRight for all my maps which has a KML export feature. If you would like to check out a property, just let me know and I will share a link!

Want to know more strategies I use to investigate properties? Give me a call at 828-793-0464 to discuss. Look forward to crossing paths soon!

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