The real estate market is complicated. You have agents, brokers, underwriters, your family, the economy… so many parties with a vested interest! And then you have the whole finding the house part of the equation. You need to think of a neighborhood you would like to live in and then find local listings. Once you do, you need to print out the listings (or at least write down the addresses) and print out a map to the houses (or put them in your GPS).
Now, I can’t get rid of the agents and brokers for you and simplify the process on that front. But, I CAN simplify the “finding the house” part of the equation. With the advent of advanced phone technology comes the development of some pretty cool real estate phone applications. How would you like to stop in a neighborhood that you would like to live in, click a button, and get a listing of all the houses for sale in the immediate vicinity?
Sounds too good to be true? Here are four applications that can simplify your real estate hunting process:
|
|
Trulia’s mobile app allows you to use GPS in order to search for homes for sale by neighborhood, zip code, or county. It has a neat feature called “heat maps.” This is an interactive map that shows average home prices around the country. Real estate guides by state are also offered.
Devices Supported: iPhone 3G, original iPhone, iPod Touch, Dash Express GPS |
|
|
Smarter Agent was developed by two brothers who have been in the real estate industry for more than a decade. SA allows you to search properties based on your location, street address, city, or state. You can browse listings, see the closest 10 listings, map the listings, and connect with a real estate agent. Real estate agents and brokers are allowed to customize the application, brand it, and offer it on their own websites. If you download this program from a third party, please note that they can have all calls to agents routed to them regardless of whether or not they listed the property. Devices Supported: iPhone, Some Blackberry Models, Other web enabled phones (see their list of supported phones) |
|
|
RealEstate.com’s application grants you instant access to over 2 million home listings nationwide. Wow! Like the other applications, you are able to get information on the average pricing by zip code, city, or state. You can filter your searches by price range and different features (square footage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, etc). You can also call the real estate agent that listed the property. Seems to have the same features as the other two apps, so just another one to add to your arsenal! Devices Supported: iPhone, Android, Web enabled phones |
|
|
Cell Signs enables you to receive property information through text messages. How does it work? You send a text message with a houses property ID to Cell Signs. You will be immediately sent a text message containing the price, features, photos, and real estate agent’s contact information. This system is different from the others in that you don’t have to do anything. Just look for houses that have signs and text message the number if you want information! Devices Supported: Any device that supports text messaging |
Do You Use Anything Else?
These are just four real estate applications that I have heard of. The first three I have played around with on various peoples cell phones and the last one I have seen on a few different houses I have driven by. I actually have the Trulia one on my iTouch so I could provide more in-depth feedback on that one if anyone has questions.
Are there any useful real estate applications I have missed? If so, let me know and I will add them to the article! Thanks :)
I'm MLR. After graduating from college debt free, I decided to write a blog encouraging people to adapt responsible and sensible personal finance rules.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am |
I’ve played around with Trulia for fun and found it pretty interesting. My wife and I drove around looking at homes for sale in the area using that app on the iPhone.
[Reply]
MyLifeROI Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:24 am |
@Keith Morris,
I would find that a fun evening :)
I like window shopping, to be quite honest. So doing that with real estate would be AWESOME. Like an Ikea shopping trip but even better!
[Reply]
July 9th, 2009 at 2:55 pm |
Cool! I don’t have an iPhone yet, but I love the idea of these apps! I wonder if you can search for land with them too…
Kristin´s last blog ..Free Organic Baby Layette Giveaway
[Reply]
Shelly Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:58 am |
@Kristin, Smarter Agent works on 95% of cell phones and you can refine your search to find land for sale, as well.
[Reply]
MyLifeROI Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:23 am |
@Kristin,
Exactly as Shelly (from SA) said… click the link I included for a list of the supported devices. They support a lot more than just iPhones!
@ Shelly,
Thanks for commenting!
[Reply]
Kristin Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 2:10 pm |
@MyLifeROI @Shelly : thanks for the info. I use US Cellular which currently isn’t supported. I did fill out the contact form for when the app becomes available.
Kristin´s last blog ..Free Organic Baby Layette Giveaway
[Reply]
July 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm |
For one of my classes this one entrepreneur visited us and this is exactly what we discussed. He was working (and still is) on an app/website where you type in the address or intersection & it helps you find everything in that area. My personal take is that if you plan on moving somewhere you should do a little more additional research by actually going down to the area and spending a few days walking around to see what the community is like.
Studenomics´s last blog ..3 Questions College Students Need To Answer Before Earning Money
[Reply]
MyLifeROI Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am |
@Studenomics,
You should definitely do some foot research, I can agree on that 100%. But I think his website will fill a need (if done correctly).
If people know what is in the area they can decide if its even worth checking out!
[Reply]
July 9th, 2009 at 7:13 pm |
I have Zillow on my iPod Touch – it uses Microsoft Maps to show the estimated value, recent (well somewhat recent) sales, and what homes are on the market. I discovered it while looking into a refi on our home. I like it, but not being a serious buyer (or investor) of real estate – I can’t speak to how effective it is over the other apps mentioned. Our mortgage lender recommended it to help assess the market value of our house.
[Reply]
MyLifeROI Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:27 am |
@Sean,
D’oh. How could I forget Zillow? Zillow is an awesome website! I have heard conflicting reports on the accuracy of the zEstimate.
But regardless, if you do your research and use a few different tools you can probably come to a pretty decent average price.
[Reply]
July 10th, 2009 at 7:58 am |
Please check out “Blue Atlas Broker”. This is the original Map based Real Estate App for the iPhone. We just released our new version 3.0.
Here’s the link…
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321048502&mt=8
[Reply]
MyLifeROI Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:29 am |
@tony,
Thx for including the app suggestion. If anyone decides to give this app a try, let me know how it goes!
[Reply]
April 8th, 2010 at 9:34 pm |
Cool post! Keep us the good work!
[Reply]