Tag Archives: Google Street View

Is your safety being compromized by Zillow?

Real estate agents who blog have been all abuzz today regarding a new I-Phone app from Zillow. The app allows someone driving through a neighborhood to gain detailed info on each home they are near … whether it is for sale or not. Some agents think this is a pretty cool app.

The home’s info is coming from public auditor’s site, so it’s available via a computer anyway. However, having it on an I-Phone really makes the info more immediate. Zillow will be promoting it as a benefit to buyers to learn what a home most recently sold for, what price the home is listed for (if for sale) the number of bedrooms, interior photos if it is for sale, with a phone number to call for the listing agent or the seller if they’re selling it themselves. Of course, the grossly inaccurate Zestimate will be shown as well.

Last June I wrote about Google’s Street View where cars with cameras drove streets taking a driving tour of the neighborhood. Zillow is taking that a step further with even more details on each home.

While this might be handy for legitimate buyers, I wonder if we, as regular homeowners, aren’t losing too much of our privacy. As we know, these things tend to be quickly picked up by “unsavory” characters.

How do you feel about having someone with an I-Phone sitting in a car outside your home pulling up the details of your home? What if your home is for sale … do you want them to be able to see your room arrangement, furniture, electronics, or where the kids’ rooms are?

This scares me. Does it bother you as well?

Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

Pay a gas tax or have the gov’t track your GPS?

Every quarter the Delaware County Engineer (Chris Bauserman), sends out a newsletter to residents. It’s handy to read up on the planned improvements.

  • Construction on the Orange Rd bridge (between Rt 315 and Rt 23) will begin this fall and projected to be open to traffic next summer. Then work will begin on a roundabout on Rt 315 to connect the rerouted Orange Rd with Carriage Rd.
  • Construction of the remaining half mile of Sawmill Parkway to Hyatts Rd will begin this fall as well. It will be open to traffic August 2009.

Those are the usual type of updates that are discussed. However, there was another article that was a little more disturbing. The article discussed gas taxes and highway user fees. Now many of us have heard of funding problems with the Highway Trust Fund and the lack of money available for our aging national infrastructure. That came to the forefront when the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.

Apparently discussions are being held on ways to fund future construction and maintenance of the nation’s highways. Raising the gas taxes is, of course, one means. Another is something the Engineer referred to as a “direct user fee“. Here’s what the article said:

… implementation of more “direct” user fees, such as installing GPS receivers in vehicles and charging per mile driven, and “congestion pricing” with higher fees charged at peak travel times and locations. The “direct” fee concept has been successfully tested in the state of Oregon on a small scale.

If consumers switch more to hybrid cars that use electricity rather than gas, or if people reduce their driving, then it stands to reason that fewer funds will be generated from gas tax money even if the taxes are increased.

What bothers me about the GPS method is that the government will be tracking it. I don’t lead a secret life and am not ashamed to have anyone know where I drive, but I just don’t care for yet another invasion into my life. Good grief, it’s bad enough that Google is taking photos of our streets for the world … and the bad guys … to see. I just don’t think the government needs to know how many times I stop at DQ for a mocha moulatte. GEEZ!!!

What are YOUR thoughts on this?

Copyright © 2008. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.