iPhone Apps that Pin-Point Your New Home

I am attached to my iPhone. It helps me do so many things, stay in touch, gives me great information while traveling, and entertains me while I wait. I love it. When I heard that Realtor.com released a new iPhone app this week that allows you to draw on a map to select the area you’d like to search in, I was intrigued. And that got me thinking, what other apps are out there that might be useful for your home search? I thought I would review the top two residential search apps in the app store right now.

First off, we’d love for you to download the Bunbury & Associates App.  It is great for local searches in south central Wisconsin.  But, maybe you would prefer to use an app not affiliated with a Broker or need to look out side our area.  So, with that in mind, onward to my reviews:

Zillow:

Zillow is one of the major national home site search websites, so it seems fitting that they have an iPhone app.

Pro: You can search by using your current location on a map.  This allows you to pin-point listings where you are geographically located and carry-out your serach.  Very useful in the car when you pass that dream house.  You can also display the satelitte map view.

Con: You can only search by map.  So, if I’m on my couch in Madison and want to search properties in Sun Prairie, it takes some fanagling.

Con: You have to create an account with your email address to save your favorite listings.  I don’t know about you, but that would be a big no for me.

Con: There is not an easy way to contact the marketing agent of the property directly.  As a broker, we don’t like this.  Instead, Zillow connects you to a choice of three agents who are the most active in their online community.   These are not the marketing agents of the property, and may not be the best person to ask your question to.  Plus, it just seems a little bit fishy.

Pro: There is a handy monthly payment calcular that displays on each property.

Pro: You can easily share the listing via email, Twitter, or Facebook to quickly get friends and family feedback.  All you have to do is tap a button.

Overall: Since I work for a broker, I really don’t like the idea that the consumers can not contact the marketing agent of a property directly.   I do not think that this is the best thing for the consumer.  I also don’t like that your only option is to search by map.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com is another large nation wide real estate site, and just like their website their app looks clean and polished.  I liked this one from the get go because it seemed to utilize the iPhone’s functionality the best

Pro:  When searching on the map, you can create a serach area by drawing on the map with your finger.  I just get a kick out of this, and there is so many practical uses for it.  Often where we are looking for homes there are cut-off lines between areas that you just can’t get with a radius search.  This would be useful on the go if you just wanted to look closely at one street or neighborhood, or if you don’t want to cross a certain road in your neighborhood.  After you select your area, you then enter some basic search criteria.

Pro: Once you’ve found a listing, Realtor.com gives you a TON of information right in the app without having to open the listing in Safari.  You won’t even have to get out of the car to grab a listing brochure out of the box – which is especially nice in our Wisconsin winter months!

Pro: Realtor.com makes it very easy to contact the marketing agent to have a question, with the email option integrated into Mail.  All you have to do is click “Email”.  You can also add the agent’s contact information into your phone so you know when he or she is calling you back with information.

Pro: There are a few different options to search from on the home screen, one of them is to search by Open Houses.  Pretty handy when you’re out and about on a Sunday and want to see what’s open around you.

Overall: This app is a great resource for finding a property.  Some apps just seem “made” for the iPhone better than others and this one is exactly that.  If I were searching for a home, this would be the app of my choice.

What are your apps of choice when searching for a home?  I still think there is a need to allow local community information to be shown along with the home search.  That way you would be able to see if there is a coffee shop, grocery store, or restaurant within a close distance of each property.  I think it would be a handy little feature consumers would love, any thoughts?

Tags: featured

Category: Buyers