Patent ID: 8219558

Claim:
A method of determining the rental value of real estate property, comprising: registering a user, using an inventory system; providing an inventory software program associated with an inventory system, to a mobile device associated with the user, wherein some or all of the inventory software program is at least in part: preinstalled on the mobile device of the user, transmitted to the mobile device of the user, or, preinstalled on the mobile device and transmitted to the mobile device of the user; partly causing an image capture instruction to be presented to the user on the mobile device; receiving at the inventory system: an image wherein the image is taken using the user's mobile device, a camera lens direction of the mobile device at substantially the same time the image was taken by the user using the user's mobile device, and, a geographic location of the user's mobile device wherein the geographic location is determined at least in part using a GPS (Global Position Satellite) location information and corresponds to at least in part the geographic location of the mobile device at substantially the same time the image was taken by the user using the user's mobile device, storing in computer readable memory the image received from the user's mobile device, the camera lens direction associated with the image, and the geographic location associated with the image; determining an address of a property in the image based at least in part on the geographic location information, or the geographic location information and the camera lens direction; storing in computer readable memory the determined property address; accessing a first real estate data store using at least in part, the said property address to determine if a first property at the said property address is currently listed for rent; if the first property is currently listed for rent: then retrieving an associated rental value from the first real estate data store or from a second real estate data store using said property address, else retrieving the associated rental value from the first real estate data store or from the second real estate data store using at least in part the said property address to determine at least one comparable property; and, providing a user interface via which the determined rental value of the first property can be viewed by the user.