Commute Time Makes a Difference

Next to school ranking, one of the biggest factors people bring up to me when they’re looking to buy a home is their commute time to work – understandably so. Time is precious to us all, and nobody likes to sit in traffic.

As OB Jacobi, President of Windermere, explains in his recent blog at Windermere.com, “73 percent consider commute times a key factor when deciding where to live.” That’s why Windermere has just added a feature on its website that answers the question “How long will it take me to drive to and from work?” OB says, “You don’t have to guess at the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, year built, or school district, so why should your drive time be any different? It was this approach that led us to integrating actual drive time technology into Windermere.com.”

Called the INRIX Drive Time™ tool, this helpful resource goes beyond what you can learn from Google Maps or sites that simply provide distance to work in miles or travel times based on traveling the speed limit. Windermere’s new tool gives drive times based on real-traffic information sourced from actual drivers. OB explains, “It takes into account every traffic factor, including traffic congestion, road construction, accidents, holidays, weather, events, police activity, and historical traffic patterns. This information is updated every minute, then analyzed and compiled into a historical database that is updated every 90 days, ensuring home buyers have access to the most complete traffic data available.”

You really have to try it to see its accuracy. Go to Windermere.com, select a home you’d like to buy, and then find a picture of a little car in the box that says, “What’s the Drive Time to This Home?” on the house’s property detail page. Type in your work address, click the “Calculate” button, and immediately a graph showing drive times comes up, as well as a map that shows the route from which it was calculated.

Technology really does help make the home buying process easier.  A big thanks to Windermere for this new resource!