InnoVia Mapping with Microsoft Virtual Earth

All mapping functions in InnoVia have been converted to use Microsoft’s Virtual Earth mapping program. This exciting improvement will give the InnoVia user new tools and features while searching for and viewing MLS listings on a map.

There are several locations in InnoVia that use mapping software. This document will address these areas of InnoVia where Virtual Earth has been incorporated, including:

• Map-Based Search

• Map Results button

• View Map option from Use Checked

• Map links from listing displays

• Map Comps button

• Manually Geo-Coding listings

Map-Based Search

The Map-Based Search allows you to search a user-defined area on the map for listings. There will no longer be a separate search to run a map-based search. The Virtual Earth maps are now incorporated into the property type search pages.  Simply access the appropriate property type search page from the Search menu, and there will be a Map-Based Search button in the upper right corner.

This will load a map on the top of the search form. To minimize the map, click “Hide Map” in the lower right corner, below the map.

If using a map when searching, the results will come up on a map by default. If not using a map, the results will come up in the default InnoVia display, just as they always have (unless another display is selected).

Using the Map

Above the map are a series of buttons, allowing several functions.

Use the zoom buttons to zoom in or out. Double-clicking on the map will also zoom in a level on the point that you clicked. If your mouse has a scroll wheel in the middle, you can also use it to zoom in and out.

Road - Shows generic map with street names           Aerial - Shows satellite images

Both – Shows a hybrid map with satellite images and street names

Draw a Polygon          **NOTE: Scroll to the top of the page before drawing.

With the polygon, you can draw just about any shape you need. Simply click once on each corner of the area you are outlining (no dragging). In order to confirm the area you are searching, you’ll need to cross back over the first line that you drew. The area will turn to a shaded green color once it’s confirmed.

Draw a Circle                      **NOTE: Scroll to the top of the page before drawing.

To draw a circle, CLICK and DRAG from your center point in any direction. A distance indicator will pop up on the screen, as you drag your mouse, to gauge the distance of the radius of your circle (the distance between the center point and the edge)

Draw a Rectangle                 **NOTE: Scroll to the top of the page before drawing.

To draw a rectangle, simply CLICK and DRAG in any direction from a starting point. Release the mouse click, and the rectangle will form based on the first point you click, and distance that you drag the pointer.

Find an Address

Use this option to locate a particular address on the map around which you would like to conduct a search, for example: a customer’s current address, an office, a school, etc.

Clear the Selection Area - This will clear out any area that you have drawn on the map.

 Save as Your Default Map - Use this option to save an area of the map as your default area. Once saved, the map will always open to that exact area from your search pages. This will be your default area on all property type search pages, and until you set a new default map.

 Restore Your Default Map - Use this option to restore your map back to the default area that you had previously saved. The map WILL retain any shapes that you have drawn in other areas. This button does not clear the map, it simply moves it back to your saved default map.

Running the Search

Once you have defined the area on the map to search, simply scroll down and enter any other necessary criteria on the search page. There is no need to choose a display type, the results will open in a default Map Display. Click Search on the left and the matches found box will open as usual. There will not be a Printer-Friendly option, the map results will all load by default, and there is no limit to the number of listings you can bring up in a Map-Based search.

Search Results

Your search results will come up on a map, each listing assigned a number. Below the map, a photo oneliner will also be included for each listing, including that same item number. Hovering your mouse pointer over any listing will automatically open a window, giving some basic listing info, and a link to zoom in on that listing. The oneliner below the map also contains the select check box, giving you all the functionality of the Use Checked function (emailing, printing, CMA’s, slide show, etc.).

There will also be a small window on the map results giving the option to zoom in or out, to toggle between the road view, aerial view, or both. Depending on the area, you may also have the option to view the map in 2 dimensions or in 3D, as well as a “Birds Eye View”

3D - Click the 3D button. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard, and click and drag in different directions to pan the map in 3 dimensions.

Bird’s Eye View - Click the Bird’s Eye View button. This will give a more detailed picture at an angle, and you can select to view the area from all 4 directions, North, South, East, or West. Click and drag to move the map. You must be in 2D mode to use the Bird’s Eye View option.

NOTE: Bird's Eye View may not be available in your area, depending on what Microsoft has available in its mapping database. You may still see the button, but it could be disabled.

Mapping Regular Search Results (without a map-based search)

If you run a normal property type search and do not draw an area on the map to search, you can still plot your results on a Virtual Earth map.

At the bottom of the group of buttons on the left side of the page, is the Map Results button.

The Map Results button can be used in 2 ways:

1. To initiate your search. Use this method if you would like to immediately see your search results on a map, but you are not including the map as part of your criteria (map-based search). In this case, you would use the Map Results button instead of the Search button.

2. To map all of the search results for a search you have already run. Use this method if you have already ran a regular search, without using the map as criteria. Simply click Map Results, and all of your search results will be mapped. Whether you had clicked Printer-Friendly or Continue, the Map Results button will always map all of your results, not just those on the current page. To map only selected listings, see below.                                    

If you’d like to only map a selected number of listings from your search results, simply check those listings off, click Use Checked, and select the View Map option. Click Show Selection at the bottom, and InnoVia will plot only those listing that you have checked on a map.

Map Links from Listing Displays

Standard InnoVia displays such as the Oneliner, Photo Oneliner, Full Display, and Customer Display, which contain links to Maps, have been updated to Virtual Earth maps as well. This includes the Address link on the onliners and customer displays, and the map button at the top of the Full Display.

Map Comps Button

Located at the top of the Full Display is the Map Comps button. Clicking this button allows you to map out closed comparable listings around the listing that you are currently looking at.

Choose a sell price range, sell date range, and radius around the subject property, and click OK.

   Note: 100 listing maximum on the map. The area searched will be outlined with a circle, and the subject property will be marked with a green marker labeled with a “T”

Manually Geo-coding Your Listings

When a listing is uploaded into InnoVia, it is plotted on the map, using Virtual Earth’s mapping database. If, for any reason, your listing is plotted in the incorrect location, you can easily update it on the map, so everyone else in the MLS will see it in the correct location.

First you will need to pull your listing up on any map. There are a several different ways to do this, just use the easiest one, based on where you are at in InnoVia.

• From the My InnoVia Home Page, click on your listings from the My Inventory or Firm Inventory sections. Click on either the address link or the red map button.

• Access a property type search page and search for the listing using either the map-based search, or any other criteria, such as the MLS number. It’s ok if there are other listings on the map results page as well.

• Use the Quick Lookup tool on the home page to search for the listing by MLS number, and click on the address link from the oneliner.

Once you are viewing your listing on a map, follow these steps.

1. Hover your pointer over the property you would like to geo-code. As long as it’s one of your listings, there will be a link to “Change Location”, click this link

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2.  A new window will open with buttons to update your listing on the map. Any other listings on the map will temporarily disappear.  If necessary, move the map to the area where the property should be located (click and drag to move the map).

3. Click the Change button under the map.

4. Click on the desired location for the property.

5. Click on the Save button when you are satisfied with the new location. If you need to revert back to the previous location, click Undo.

Once you save it, click Close, and the listing will show in the new location for anyone else viewing it on the MLS, and if applicable, the rest of your search results will reload on the map.

Prospecting Considerations

The Map-Based Search option can now also be used in conjunction with InnoVia’s prospecting function. When saving your prospect’s in InnoVia, simply draw a figure on the map as part of your search criteria, and InnoVia will only search for listings within the defined area, giving more control over exactly where a customer might be looking to buy property.

See InnoVia’s help system for more information on setting up prospects for automatic notifications.