For all of the controversy over Apple Maps and Google Maps, one very simple fact has been forgotten. Regardless of which "big" map app you use, the iPad is an amazing mapping tool for commercial real estate applications. Whether you use a map-based commercial real estate app or you use a specialized mapping tool, the iPad can let you get better information faster while you're in the field. Here are the top five must have mapping applications for your iPad: 1. CoStar Go. The LoopNet commercial real estate app is an industry standard for accessing listing data, but LoopNet is actually owned by the leading commercial real estate industry information provider, CoStar. If you want map-based access to LoopNet listings as well as listings that CoStar has entered in their more complete separate database, the CoStar Go app is the way to go. The app is free, although it requires you to have access to the CoStar Suite of data services. In addition to listings for both for-purchase and for-lease spaces, CoStar Go also gives you access to the CoStar Comps database of sold properties and their Exchange and Tenant databases of space, tenant and leasing data. It's all available on your iPad, and it's all displayable on a map.
2. Scout GPS. Part of being in commercial real estate is getting from point A to point B quickly. With the amount of time that you spend on the road, getting stuck in traffic isn't an option. Scout GPS is a mapping and navigation application that takes advantage of live traffic data from people like you. Like Waze, which is a free alternative, it uses crowdsourced data to give you routes that take traffic conditions into account.
3. Planimeter. Sometimes, you need to know how big a building is or the acreage of a given parcel. If that property is on a satellite map and you can see its borders, the Planimeter commercial real estate app will let you measure it. All that you have to do is draw a box around its perimeter, and the software will give you a measurement. Planimeter even supports irregularly shaped properties, so you aren't limited to measuring boxes.
4. ArcGIS ArcPad. When you're doing site selection in the field, having access to GIS data is crucial. The free ArcGIS application plugs into ESRI's industry standard system for providing geographic information. Other applications plug into its framework to give you even more property data. If you aren't a user of the ArcGIS system, other GIS tools have iPad applications as well. Some alternative options include ICMTGIS, GISRoam, and Garafa GIS Pro.
5. MagicPlan. Every other commercial real estate app here is concerned with mapping external space. However, most tenants are interested in internal space. MagicPlan helps you build your own maps of internal space - namely floor plans - by using your iPad's camera to mark the corners of rooms and build accurate maps that take dimensions into account. If you need to get quick measurements of space in the field when the owner doesn't have floor plans or blueprints available, it's indispensable.
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