Spyk = Microsoft Virtual Earth + Real estate listings

Spyk is a (I can’t believe I’m going to use these terms) Web 2.0 mash-up of Google Maps Microsoft Virtual Earth and various real estate listing websites (using at least realestate.com.au and domain.com.au for Australian listings). Man, I wish this was around when I was looking for an apartment to rent in Perth. Seriously, my tips for finding a rental in Perth would have (almost) been reduced to a link to Spyk.

Check out this screengrab of my search for 2 bedroom apartments under $300:

Spyk

Man $250 for a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 carbay in Perth isn’t bad at all! (Maybe I should be looking at moving…)

Note: Don’t bother using the post code search (it only seems to work for US post codes), but you can search for Australian suburbs (“Perth” found “Perth, Western Australia” as an option).

Update: Correction! It’s using Microsoft Virtual Earth (not Google Maps). I think I’ve had Google Maps on the brain. (Thanks Steve!)

Via RealEstate2.0.

6 thoughts on “Spyk = Microsoft Virtual Earth + Real estate listings”

  1. Ur… yes….

    Okay, I’ve correct this in the post. 🙂

    I think that I have Google Earth in recent memory as I’ve been playing around with the API (trying it out for marking restaurant locations and bike paths).

    I noticed something weird with the “pins”; the location of the property is at the center of the pin graphic rather than at the tip of the pin. A minor annoyance… but irritating to perfectionists!

  2. Hey Nick,

    Glad you found the post useful (thanks for the trackback).

    I’d dare say there will be some browser compatibility issues as noted above by Steve.

    As an aside, I’d be interested to see what happens down that Adelaide Tce end of town with a slew of new unit developments near Riverside drive East Perth.

    Cheers,
    Jon

  3. “As an aside, I’d be interested to see what happens down that Adelaide Tce end of town with a slew of new unit developments near Riverside drive East Perth.”

    Pins on pins on pins I reckon. 😛

  4. Cheers for the review of Spyk.com, we’ve been looking at some of the issues you guys raised, and have put them on the todo list. Nick is right, at present we’d get a bit of “pins on pins” but we’re looking at ways of collaborating properties that share a single point whilst still keeping a simple interface.

    I personally use Firefox 2 and don’t seem to have any troubles at present; but I do believe we had issues with an earlier version.
    We’ve also done some improvements recently that you might want to checkout.

    Andrew
    Spyk Team

  5. Thanks Andrew (for the comment and the great website!)

    Just checked out the latest changes, and entering a postcode now works for me in Australia. (6000 takes me straight to Perth). Yay!

    One problem that still persists is that the Perth rental properties found via Spyk are often no longer available or not linked properly. For example, I often click on a pin, then click “Full Details”, then “Original Property Listing” only to come to a page that reads:

    Page Not Found!
    The page you requested does not exist, or is currently unavailable.

    on realestate.com.au.

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