Individual property photos are now available for almost every foreclosure property listed on RealtyTrac thanks to a wedding of the company's national foreclosure database with Microsoft Virtual Earth technology. Neighborhood-wide Virtual Earth photos have been available on RealtyTrac since September, but the new photos — dubbed "Rooftop Views" — feature zoomed in and cropped images centered on the subject property.

The Rooftop Views include up to four photos of each property, taken from multiple directions. Thumbnail versions of the photos are displayed on search results pages, and larger versions appear on each property's detail page. The photos allow users to get a good sense of a property's layout, condition and neighbors, all key factors in determining value.

RealtyTrac is the only online real estate site to provide such consistent and close-up photos of foreclosure properties nationwide. The new Rooftop Views represent a huge step forward in convenience for foreclosure buyers and investors, who in the past were forced to accept lack of property photos as an unfortunate fact of life.