How do I know how big my spot is?

Many prospective hosts do not know the exact size of their lot or the exact size of the spot on their lot. It can be hard to figure this out with some folks resorting to pacing their property or measuring it in other ways.

IMPORTANT: your spot size should only be the size of the actual area that will be accessible by your guests. If that area is smaller than the overall property, you should use the size of the actual spot that guests can use.

You can edit / update your spot size in the following way:

Go to your host account here
Select the spot you want to edit from the 'My Spots' option to the right
Go to the Spot Details tab
Size will be the first field on that tab

Good news! There is an easier way to do it. You can measure the area of your spot on Google Maps in just a few steps. We have reproduced a wikihow guide for this below.

1. Go to Google Maps. Open any web browser and go to the Google Maps website.

2. Identify a location. Enter the address of your spot.

3. Define the view. Zoom in so that your property is pretty clear and large on the screen. This will help with using the area tool. Pro top: we find it easier to use this for Sniffspot when you have switched to Satellite view - you can do this by clicking on the Earth image tile in the lower left hand corner (seen in these screenshots).

4. Initiate the distance measuring function. Right-click anywhere on the map, and a context menu will appear. Select “Measure distance” from here. A small black circle will appear on the map. This is your point.

5. Identify the first point. Since you’re measuring an area, you have to enclose it within a shape. Move the first point to the spot where you want to measure to position it in the first corner of the area.

6. Identify the second point. Click on another corner of the area you want to measure. A second point will be created there, and it will be connected to the first point via a line. You can drag these points to adjust them to the exact locations.

7. Identify the third point. Since you’re measuring an area, you need at least three corners or sides, forming a triangle. Click on the third corner of the area you want to measure. Another point will be created there, and it will be connected to the previous point via a line.

8. Identify more points. Continue clicking on the corners of the area you want to measure. More lines will be drawn to connect them. You can also click and drag anywhere on the lines to adjust the shape of the area you want to measure. You will see the distances between the points marked on the lines.

9. Close the area. After you’ve identified all the points, click the first point to close the area. A shape will be formed.

10. Measure the area. Until you close the area, all that’s being measured is the total distance. You can see this automatically displayed on the upper left corner, right under the search box. Once you close the area, the measurement here will be changed to total area. Note: the units are in square feet. You can convert this to acres by dividing the square feet by 40,000. That will give you the number of acres of your spot!

11. You can update the size of your spot through your account here.

Ready to host? You can learn more and get started here.