Read Property Aerial Images Before a Site Visit

Begin with the street address, map position and orientation. Compare the apparent building arrangement with the offering materials and other property records available to you. A search pin may land near an entrance or at the center of a street segment; it should not be treated as an outline of the property being offered.

For a site with several buildings or adjacent parcels, give each observed structure a temporary label and note how that label corresponds to the seller's description. Keep unclear relationships open. This small orientation step prevents photographs, inspection notes and questions about neighboring improvements from being attached to the wrong building.

Google explains that its Earth imagery is collected over time and is not live. An aerial view may combine photographs from different dates; a date or date range may be displayed, and date information can be absent. Its detailed 3D imagery does not have a single displayed collection date. These limitations were reviewed in Google's official guidance on September 24, 2026.

Record the provider, link, image mode, displayed capture date or range and your review date. If the capture date is unavailable, write unknown. Opening a map today does not make the underlying photograph current, and changing from a flat image to a 3D view does not establish that both represent the same day.

Look for the arrangement of buildings, open areas, apparent driveways, parking areas and the relationship to surrounding streets. Use tentative labels where resolution or obstruction limits the view. Trees, shadows and structures may conceal features that matter to an inspection. An apparent route through the site should become an access question rather than a verified access right.

Separate visible geometry from condition and entitlement. A roof outline does not establish remaining roof life. A paved area does not establish the legal parking count. An image does not prove a unit count, an approved use, a boundary or the ability to add development. Record those as matters requiring appropriate documents, examination or professional review.

Use four columns: location, visible observation, question and verification method. For example, an apparent rear paved strip might prompt a question about vehicle access; the verification could include an on-site walk and relevant property documents. A small detached structure might prompt a request to identify its use and records. Neither observation requires guessing the answer beforehand.

Prioritize questions that affect the visit itself, such as which areas require arranged access or where different buildings can be identified. Bring the dated view as an orientation aid and connect ground photographs to the same labels. Note when a feature is different from the image instead of overwriting the original observation.

If historical images are available, compare documented dates and equivalent viewpoints. A visible change can support a question about when work occurred, but it does not establish the contractor, scope, permit status or reason for the change. Preserve gaps between images; work may have occurred at any point within an unobserved interval.

The final review should distinguish what the image showed, what the visit confirmed and what remains unresolved. Ask for current owner-authorized ground or aerial photography when it would answer a material question. The value of remote imagery is better preparation and clearer follow-up, not a substitute for inspecting the actual property.

• Google Earth Help: how imagery is collected and dated
• Google Earth: finding imagery dates and coordinates