General Information

Street Addresses: The Details Matter

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Over the past few weeks, we have been updating all of our systems to make sure our addresses are USPS standardized mailing addresses.

Address StandardizationDid you know that the simple omission of “Street” or “Court” can cause Google to map a completely different location?  If you omit St., Ct., Rd., Ter., etc., Google has to figure out the address you are trying to map with the other information you have provided.  (Like the city, state or zip code.)

Let’s take our mailing address for example:
6900 College Blvd., Suite 990
Overland Park, KS  66211

If you leave out “Blvd”, you are left with 6900 College.  Google will look at the city, state and zip to determine what the valid street types are in that geographic area.  There might be a 6900 College Lane.  Or 6900 College Road.  Both of these might also exist in Overland Park, KS 66211 and be completely different locations!  So Google will have to do its best to pick the right address to map for you, and it won’t always get that decision right.

If you want to verify an address, you can try this free service at SmartyStreets.com.

This “standardized address” concept also applies to street numbers.  If the address is 1000 W. 112th St., you wouldn’t want to use 1000 W. 112 St.  Surprisingly, leaving off the “th” can really make a difference.

How Does This Affect Home Rental Services?

Address StandardizationThere are so many places where we use addresses, including systems that put those addresses on maps.

Here are a few of the ways having standardized addresses really helps!

  • When we advertise a home for lease on our website.  We know that where it shows on a Google map is correct.
  • When we send a vendor to do work at a home we manage.  They need to map it to find it, and giving them a valid address helps them get to the right house.
  • We have direct links to maps from AppFolio, the web based system we use to manage hundreds of homes.  Now, we can trust the maps that AppFolio generates.
  • We may physically mail information to the homes we manage.  This will reduce undeliverable mail.

Are valid street addresses an important part of your job?  Let us know in the comments below!