Mini Google StreetView

I’ve created a way to capture images and automatically associate the desired images with the proper addresses for compliance review on the website. This will save significant time, liability, and money for the review process. It will also return photos of EVERY home EVERY drive.

So my questions are... A) Does this sound like an attractive idea to you? B) Do you have a suggested company/person I should contact in an effort to introduce this to the market?

Thank you for the feedback. The last google image of my home is from 2015 so that's not going to service much for the purposes of what I'm trying to accomplish here. My system allows for regular compliance reviews (typically biweekly). The photos are not for public consumption. Photos are already being taken of people's home every day for this same purpose so I don't see where the invasion of privacy is relevant.

It may be that my idea is not necessary or wanted, but you are literally the first person of over 200 that I've talked to about this with negative feedback since I started this over 2 years ago.

I really do appreciate the feedback. I'm definitely looking for the truth and all perspectives.

I think some conclusions are being drawn so far that just aren't factual. Maybe I didn't explain what I'm doing clear enough.

I'm not using Google images. My cameras take photos automatically from the street each drive. There's no easement violations at all. The purpose of what I'm doing is to reduce vehicles, collect photos of every house every drive for violation review on a computer, and reduce Management Company cost and liability. These photos aren't public and they aren't a privacy violation. I'm still sticking to the governing documents.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback.

I'm not using a drone. It's just cameras on a vehicle. The vehicle drives the streets. That's the only photo views that are returned for violation review. It's no different than what's taking place now except photos of every home are returned, instead of just those deemed to be in violation by the driver.

There's no distracted / stop & go activity by the driver.

Google has aerial and street views. Which do you offer?

I could see value in an imaging system that captures the location of our trees at ground level.

Aerial views show the crowns of the tallest trees - which misses a lot.
Street views show what you see when driving - not what's visible from an off-street perspective.

Have you reached out to some local MCs? What was their response?

I use the same technology. I use a Russian spy satellite, left over from the 2016 elections. The images are up to the minute, the only problem I have is getting the correct translation.

If you think this has a chance to be commercially viable then you should also take steps to protect yourself. Companies have been known to steal ideas and innovations before. If you're not ready to file for a patent, or if that's not even possible, at the very least you should consider getting a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Especially if you're "integrating" with someone else's system. The fine print regarding the use of an API, for instance, might grant them rights to your intellectual property that you don't want them to have.

I've had ideas about a similar solution for my community, but there are significant show-stoppers here. One is predictably cost. In a perfect world we'd have a security robot (sort of like this) roaming our 4,200 ft. of roads and taking still photos every few seconds. They'd be periodically reviewed, but we don't do "compliance reviews" of any sort. We're self-managed so even though our current bookkeeper uses TOPS (and the one before that Caliber), we don't use them to find or report violations. We also have a 4,000 ft. perimeter walking path that's surfaced with crushed shells and we'd need the thing to traverse that as well since many homes back up onto it and that's where we find many violations. But "many" is relative and only on the order of a dozen a year or so.

If we had something we'd definitely use it in-house. We only have 100 homes on about 25 acres so browsing through a set of a few hundred pictures twice a month wouldn't be onerous. The biggest "problem" we have is residents putting things outside in the back of their homes. We already have Rules against that, but it's hard enough to recruit people to walk around the property for anything when the weather is good, nevermind when a hurricane is 48 hours away. A quick tour with a camera mounted on wheels would be ideal in a case like that, but only if it could get around to the backs of the homes.

We also have a lot of common property and I also thought to perhaps buy or rent a 360 deg. camera to drive around the community and create a full panoramic photo array, a la Google Street View, that could be used as a virtual tour of the neighborhood. That could also be used by real estate professionals who could show prospective buyers a tour of the place from the convenience of their office. That kind of survey would only need to be done infrequently, though.

A management company would probably be able to make more efficiant use of it, especially if they deployed it in multiple associations.

I see TOPS allegedly has an API that others can use to push or pull data in and out of TOPS. I looked at that for the purpose of integrating some accounting data into a website we were considering. The effort never went too far as TOPS seemed to be extremely unfriendly to work with. They have a Partner Integration page on their website but the link at the bottom to their "TOPS Connect App Store" doesn't always work. When it does work all I've ever seen there is a smartphone app for managers.

Geno,

This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for when I posted this thread. I have a solution for all of those obstacles. I mentioned I had a few tricks up my sleeve that aren't easily copied. The common areas issue is one of them.

I appreciate the critical comments from others early in the thread and I love to hear the obstacles you described because it tells me there's people out there thinking of ways to do things more efficiently that will probably buy my Version 2 or 3 product. The problem for me is that I have Version 1, which is a proof of concept or minimally viable product. It does function and I am proud of it more than I can describe, but it needs more work and software is expensive and risky to contract. I need to find people willing to use my end product. At that point, I'll spend the additional money on it.

I've tried to contact several of these software companies. Caliber is the only one that gave me the time of day and API access. TOPS won't even call me back. Their chat personnel take 10-20 minutes to respond to a question and it's a short answer. I'm frustrated but determined.

Anyways, thank you thank you thank you. It's harder than I thought to find people to give real feedback like you did and go beyond the surface level with their preconceived attitudes on the subject.

Glenn

Put it whatever way you want and point as many fingers as you want, but you're in the vast minority so far. You might be right though. We'll see. And I would feel great if my HOA bought into it. Thanks for asking. Nobody said anybody was "put on blast" and if that's what you got from anything I've said you simply just didn't read or understand what I'm doing. I understand using the term "google street view" in the title was a mistake that may have inferred something that I'm not. I apologize for that, but I understand the hill you've planted your tree on here. I just think you don't have all the facts and should keep a more open mind.

...whatever that means. Look, I respect your opinion for what it is. Let's just say we disagree. I'm not angry about it. I just believe I should be given a chance to defend my product with facts is all I'm saying. I feel you jumped to conclusions and slandered this thread early. I'm going to address that since we are in a forum here.

Anyways, I'm not going to respond to you after I hit send here. You can have the last word. We both need to move on.

No sir. Photos on the same scheduled basis that currently exists, not daily. The system simply collects photos of all homes instead of just violations for review on a computer. The review is done for compliance, the same principle that exists now. This saves time for the management company. Time is money. This money could even be passed on as a discount to your HOA fees. I'm sorry you don't see the point. People complain about everything, but I'm prepared to handle objections.

Thanks

Uhm don't follow the logic on reducing HOA dues? It costs money to buy this "product/service". So there is still money coming out of the HOA's budget. Fines are NOT sources of income for a HOA nor Management company. So not much of a financial benefit to a HOA at all.

I have and can explain the profit potential to those that are interested. I don't understand the "get you off the phone comment." Yes, the reality is what it is. Pictures are taken every day to enforce HOA violations so I don't understand "Not so much" either.

Money is not coming out of the HOA's budget. Management companies are my target clients. I can SAVE them money. If they can service the HOA for less money they can A) pocket that money and/or B) charge less (i.e. less HOA dues).

Again, I didn't say anything about fines. That's no part of my business model at all and doesn't benefit me in any way, shape, or form.

I don't understand where you are coming up with this stuff.

You said yourself bi-weekly photos. Daily, twice a a week, whatever.

Haha. There's quite a bit of difference between daily & bi-weekly Steve. So yes, I did say it myself. Please google the definitions of those 2 words. They are about 13 apart (14-1).

I DID NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT say the income comes from fines. You are killing me!!!! This is crazy. The fact that you called me illogical is ridiculous.

I am getting sick of typing things that you can't comprehend, but I'll try one more time...

1) Yes, I'm taking pictures for the MC
2) NOOOOOOOOO, it has nothing do with fines. The MC charges a rate to do many things. Sometimes, one of those things is assessing violations. The cost to assess those violations is factored into the MC's charge.
3) If I can reduce the cost to assess violations (and I can) for the MC, they can A) reduce their charge (benefiting the HOA) and/or B) keep that extra profit (NOTTTTT profit from fines, but profit from reducing their cost)

So I AMMMMMMMMM "saving" people money!!!!

Pay attention to what I'm saying for just a few minutes before firing off these ridiculous accusations. It's literally not sane what you are saying.

So Richard would you pay for this? Would you see a cost savings for your MC in doing so? Just curious from someone who is "clueless" on such things... Care to share your opinion and pay for this?

Well, you asked for it.

I happen to use Caliber for my management software. There are some more extensive HOA software that cost much more, but it is something I wouldn't ever use. I have used three software packages and Caliber has by far been the much responsive.

I currently use something like this. I can use a tablet in the field to handle compliance issues and maintenance issue. I have a map where each lot is separated and I click on that lot to bring up the customer file. It will show the complete history of compliance and also any maintenance that may have been done at their unit. If I notice a violation, I will click the unit on the map, select the drop down box of the violation, a date and time is recorded and a picture is taken. I have 313 different letters for the different steps in the compliance process based on the rules and regulations of every individual association and the six steps of the process. Before I leave, the file is saved and the letters are generated before I even get back to the office. Through the software's web portal the Board can access all that information in real-time and stay on top of its progress.

I actually have mine go one step further and it links with a title company to access the property profile of that unit.

I know this went way over your head, but not all of us are clueless.

Did not go a bit over my head. I did a similar thing myself. Just not everything electronically. That being that our HOA wasn't big on Technology. It was best to do hard copies.

My point is that if someone presented me with this, I would take a hard pass. It doesn't provide cost savings, time saved, or provide much benefit to pass onto anyone.

If owning a business, this isn't something that would have me passing any savings onto my customer the HOA. I don't see that happening. not buying what is being pitched.

It doesn't provide cost savings, time saved, or provide much benefit to pass onto anyone.

You have no facts to back up that statement and I do have facts to the contrary. Take your hard pass, jump on someone else' thread and try to spin your yarn there. I'm officially taking a hard pass on you.

OMG. You don't read or understand anything. God bless you Melissa. I wish you well, but I'm done explaining what I've already explained.

I am big on technology. It allows me to complete a comprehensive escrow package anywhere in the world in 5 minutes. I don't even have to be in my office. Outside of onsite inspections and meetings, I could run my business anywhere in the world as long as I have some sort of internet connection.

I am afraid you wouldn't know cost saving if it...well...you get my point.