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Web GIS Applications in Real Estate

Col. Ramesh Wahi, Sandeep Kuniel
ESRI India
8 Balaji Estate,
Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019


Introduction
The unprecedented population growth coupled with unplanned developmental activities has led to urbanization with sometimes-insufficient infrastructure facilities. This also has posed serious implications on the resources. The urbanization takes place either in radial direction around a well-established city or linearly along the highways. In most of the countries, urbanization is inevitable, so are its impacts. In order to minimize these impacts the urban infrastructure needs to be properly planned, designed, operated and maintained so that it provides optimal efficiency. Part of the problem with today’s urban structure is that it was built at a time when planning considerations were substantially different from what they are today. Consequently, in trying to retrofit existing system to achieve today’s urban performance objectives, is a major challenge for the survival of our cities. Real estate information management system is the essential part for a real estate enterprise and is very important for the decision-makers and managers. Site selection has been the most prominent and traditional area in real estate.

Usage of geographic information system
The incorporation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into businesses and organizations has allowed for wider use and access to a variety of spatial information. Inherently, organizations collect and process data. Over the last couple of decades the data flow in and between organizations has increased exponentially. As this data flow increased and continues to increase, ways of effectively managing and distributing that data needed to be devised. Various challenges need to be overcome by these data management tools and techniques. These include the automated and proper handling of large volumes of data, exchange of this information between and among various organizations and businesses, and user-friendly methods for visualization and interaction with the data. With the usage of Internet the access to the spatial data has increased exponentially.

Web enabled GIS professionals in every field have discovered the advantages of using maps for decision support. With easy-to-use Web browsers, GIS on the Internet provides a much more dynamic tool than a static map display. Web-enabled GIS lets you deliver interactive query capabilities such as
  • Searching for specific site locations
  • Displaying and viewing multiple data sets
  • Conducting queries for specialized analysis
  • Performing data commerce
  • Retrieving specialized data services
Geography is critically important to the commercial real estate market. A less than optimal business location can make or break a business no matter how good the service or product. Most corporate real estate executives are acutely aware of the value of GIS in siting restaurants, stores, warehouses, and corporate offices. Some of the more important factors to consider when locating a business are proximity to suitable customers, location of potential competitors, crime rates, transportation infrastructure, local labor pool characteristics, and environmental risk factors such as floodplains, toxic sites, and others

GIS allows the real estate practitioner to integrate a wide variety of data into one common format, a map. The presentation of a wide variety of data affecting the desirability and value of a property on one or two maps can give a far more accurate picture of the property's suitability as a first time residence, acquisition for a portfolio, or site for a retail outlet than any number of generalized market studies, photographs, and marketing text. Many realtors have discovered the value of showing available residential property on a map prior to actually showing the client the property, as the details are comprehensive, time saving and gives Macro as well as Micro level picture.

Since GIS applications can map recently sold properties based solely on their addresses, an appraiser can "see" all properties selling in a given area.

The value of property can be affected by such mitigating factors as crime rates, condition of surrounding neighborhoods, floodplain status, and proximity to nuisances such as known environmental hazard sites or noxious or noise pollution manufacturing facilities. A "mansion" next to a waste disposal site in a floodplain is worth far less than an identical mansion fronting a greenbelt!

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