House hunting should be an exciting and rewarding adventure, and there have been numerous technological advancements that can help house hunters avoid the grind as well as wasted time and other resources. Perhaps the most accessible of such technologies comes in the form of an app, which the house hunter can use from their smartphone or tablet as they travel from one location to the next. With that in mind, here are five real estate apps that deliver much more than just basic listings.
Top Real Estate Apps for the Happy House Hunter
Redfin
Redfin is one the largest and most productive Web-based real estate firms, and the app provides full access to its listings, as well as all of the services it provides. What sets the Redfin app apart is its user interface, which is both streamlined and intuitive. The services supports the entire U.S., is filterable by zip code, and the listings are further refined by a wide range of factors. The map feature, which is based on the filtered results, is particularly clever and allows hunters to maximize their time.
Zillow
What distinguishes Zillow from other real estate apps is the concept of “Zestimates,” which are real-time projections of market values for nearly every U.S. home on the market. The app is completely controllable through touch, without typing, and it allows the user to zero in on nearby areas in their target range but also areas where the homes are selling at the target range, which can be significantly below the prices listed through other services.
Homesnap
Some house hunters prefer to hunt in a particular area in a more organic manner than working off listings. Homesnap is a relatively new real estate app that is meant to cater to the type of house hunter as well as the house hunter who just happens to stumble across a home that catches their eye. Simply use the smartphone or tablet camera to take a snapshot of the home, and then the Homesnap app will find the listing for that home as well as a bunch of additional and very useful information.
Realtor.com
Developed by the National Association of Realtors, the Realtor.com app provides an impressive amount of information and allows the house hunter to view it in either listing or map format. This app includes Area Scout, a crafty tool that displays average asking price, average price for square foot and average available square footage for a particular area. Like Zillow, the Realtor.com app also lets users easily define areas by drawing shapes on the map with their fingertip.
Trulia
The Trulia app is similar to the Realtor.com app and includes many features similar to Zillow. A feature that is unique to Trulia is real-time map-based listings of homes that have had recent price reductions. This is an incredibly useful tool for aggressive house hunters, and it is perhaps the best tool for finding a home in a neighborhood where the average market value is higher than the target amount.
Today’s feature contributor, Jenny Wadlow, is a freelance blogger and likes writing on topics that she finds interesting. She has a lot of interest in home improvement and writes many posts for Diesel Development, a company that provides home designs and renovations. You can follow her on Twitter @JennyWadlow.
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