Absolutely LOVE GPS!!

My colleagues and friends swear by it.

There is one area here that is not on the typical grid...it's very confusing. I constantly got lost before GPS.

I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard good things. It is on my list of gadgets to purchase.

I don't tend to get lost, but I love my GPS!  It's invaluable when I have a map to the address but the map is sitting back on my desk 20 miles away.  Also, I don't have to drive while looking at a map or pull over to look at it - the GPS simply gives me directions orally. 

And, yesterday, on Mother's Day, when we knew where we were going in another city but not how to get there, the GPS in my daughter's car was invaluable.  It knew exactly where the Dallas Arboretum was and the best way for us to get there from 200 miles away.  Then it told us where the nearest used bookstore was, when asked, and how to get there.  Then how to get home from there. 

One does have to apply common sense when using it, and I've been known to get into arguments with mine on occasion, but one has to use common sense with maps, too, and they have to be replaced, they can't just have new information downloaded into them.

I am born and raised in the area I work, so I know the roads better than 'Jill' on my Garmin GPS.  But she's very handy when I'm working with folks who want to know commute times so I can show them how far each house is from their new job location.  They never believe me when I tell them '20 minutes' since everything seems to be 20 minutes from town, but they believe Jill!

Oh yes, I GPS! They are wonderful tools. My GPS has allowed me to expand my business to other areas much more quickly. Though, I am very familiar with practically all of Maryland and I know Washington D.C like the back of my hand, the GPS allows me to map out day trips and showings with pin point accuracy and with the high cost of gasoline, the more direct, the better.

Mike, I'm with you.  I got a nice system and tested it out before using it.  I'm so glad that I did.  It would have taken me into a field instead of the neigborhood a half mile down the road.  I just don't trust them.  I also find that I learn the area better when I take the time to study a map ahead of time.  I also like pulling out a big map when my clients ask me where the heck are we?  It's easier to judge the distance on a paper map.

Mike - I would like to have a GPS. I hear that Garmin is one of the best - if you decide to get one. For now, I go to my local Google Maps and do my road work before I leave out. If you get one, let me know how it works for you in Wake County.

I bought a GPS program for my lap top. So fare so good.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Dallas is a big city and I work in so many different areas that I could never keep up with. Even then, I couldn't possibly know every street in my own small suburb.

But, the best part has come in handy on roadtrips, looking to find a local hotel, a bank, etc... what would I ever do without modern convenience

I love my GPS -- her name is "GG" and we do have arguments from time to time and I usually win -- I simply turn her off if she insists I'm not taking the correct streets -- then turn her back on when I need her.  I work all over San Antonio and can't possibly know every street of every subdivision (although some clients think I should).  "GG" is a wonderful travel mate -- please no one tell her though, she'll be impossible to live with.  I do provide maps/directions to each property in the  Daily Showing Booklet I put together for my Buyers.

I work in a huge area and always use my gps.  It saves time and keeps me on schedule.  We have fun programing it to get actual mileage and time to work, school and DIA.

The customers love it so much, I think I've sold as many GPSs as houses!

kk 

I do not GPS but I do use Microsoft Maps and Streets - it allows me to organize my tour so that I save, time and gas.  I do not believe in putting a specific home first or last if they like a home I think is a great value I would rather go back to it then arange by any other method than the quickest and shortest route.

Now I do GPS out in the woods, hunting, fishing, hikking and so on but that is a hand held unit

Survey says....  Go GPS.

Hmmm, I can see the light, but my inner Luddite tendencies are in bloom..

Thanks for all your thoughts, AR colleagues!

My clients love seeing my GPS. I will turn it on with out of state clients they feel better with it so they know where they are. It is not about me know where I am. The younger generation loves technology. It is not nesscary for me, although I use it so I do not have to pay so much attention as to what direction is next for the next home and I can keep the conversation flowing with the home buying process.

I love my GPS.  I don't need it in my home town, however it is valuable when I am showing property in other cities in Orange County.  It came built in my BMW when I purchased it two years ago.  No more Thomas Guides for me.

Susan, yes, the younger generation loves the technology.  When I first got mine, I didn't think to tell my clients I had "GG" and they would show up with their GPS to use in my car -- one client brought his laptop with GPS loaded on it!  He was able to leave his laptop in it's case in the backseat of my car.  Many times I don't enter the address we're going to (because I already know where I'm going) but I turn it on to help me and my clients keep track of where we are.  "GG" sure helps me navigate some of the more difficult subdivisions (those with lots of cul-de-sac streets). 

My only negative is that I can't use the screen to enter my addresses anymore.  I was told I used my fingernails instead of the "pad" of my finger to enter the numbers & letters and I shouldn't have done that.  I now use the remote control to enter the addresses.  Took awhile to get used to using it but now I'm pretty fast with it and many times, my clients want to play with it and they just take over entering the addresses.

No GPS for me. I have a sixth sense anout getting around. But after reading these comments, I see that there are good reasons to go for it! Thanks for the post!

Ginger

oops, I wasn't signed in and now I can't edit my typo! Anyway It was good getting the feedback on GPS ias a valuable tool for the clients,

Gotta say, I'm just about sold.

Thanks to all for the input, particularly the strong advocates.

Having sold real estate for 23 years here in So. NH I can find all the shortcuts. I ventured out this weekend in an area I am not too familiar with and my buyers had a portable GPS Garmin C330. It was awesome. I want one and researching them now. That's why I am here. 

What I really liked about it was that I could talk to the buyers and not fumble around with maps and paperwork with directions on it. 

I am sold on one and just need to choose which one.

Did you buy one yet? 

Jay,

Nope.  Haven't bought one yet.

Too busy driving around the block looking for a parking space...

I've got to have my GPS.  There's still a few new roads that it hasn't learned yet, but overall it does a good job.  I was even able to tell a client how far away a certain grocery store chain was from the house they were thinking about renting - her daughter works for that chain and she needed to know how far away the nearest store was.

My Garmin was stolen out of my car week before last -- yes my car was locked -- but the point is, I went out and bought a new one the next day.  I got the Garmin C550 -- I think it may be the newest one with bluetooth, haven't connected it to my phone yet -- but will sometime this week or weekend.  Lookiing forward to seeing how the bluetooth works with it.

I LOVE my GPS!  It is so awesome to be driving around a town that you are not familiar with, your peeps following you and you take all these shorts cuts..,they get out and say wow..you really know your way around!  Yeah right!  I get lost going around the block. But I just smile and say Thank you!   And now I dont have to think anymore..my GPS nick named BIB tells me where and when to turn so how can I go wrong? The best gift I ever received..even beats the diamonds!