Five Apps For House Hunting: Let Your Fingers Do The Buying

Lisa Walker • Oct 09, 2017

If you own a smartphone, you already have a powerful house-hunting tool in your pocket. Check out these apps for both the IOS or Android phones, and you could soon be moving into the place of your dreams.


1. Doorsteps Swipe

Turn house hunting into a fun game with Doorsteps Swipe, which is powered by Realtor.com. Set up a personal profile detailing your home preferences and your current lifestyle. Or, you can specify an area in which to look. Then check out the suggested homes offered to you. Swipe through the pics and give each one a Like or a pass. The app slowly learns your preferences, so you begin to see only homes that meet your needs.


2. Zillow Real Estate

Real estate authority Zillow distilled the best parts of its website into one convenient app that also works on the Amazon Fire Phone. Just like on its website, you can browse current US homes for sale or for rent, “including more than 1 million listing you won’t find on an MLS (Multiple Listing Service).” When listings hit the market or are bought or sold, you can get instant notifications on smart watches paired to your phone.


Get an estimate of nearly any property in the country that strikes your fancy, including yours, and find out about schools in the area. You can look for local lenders, calculate mortgages using the latest rates and get pre-approved. Having this app on your phone means a simple tap on a number connects you to an agent to tour a home.


3. Homesnap

If your phone swipe-and-tap skills don’t equal those of your kids, then you’ll want to use Homesnap. If you see a house you like, just take a picture of it. You’ll then get an estimate of its value, taxes, school ratings, description, lot boundaries and interior photos. The app relies on the same real-time data used by licensed REALTORS®, so you’ll know that the information is accurate.


Chat and private messaging features let you talk with real people while sharing your favorite finds. And of course, you’ll also get satellite images, property boundaries and school zones, so you get a sense of the neighborhood.


4. Dwellr

If you’re not sure where you want to move to or are looking in unfamiliar territory, the best way to get unbiased information for an area is through the stats provided by the US Census Bureau. This government agency’s app lets you fill out preferences to list your top 25 places and their information. It also uses your GPS to give you stats on your current location, if you happen to be passing through a community that you like.


Unlike other apps that collect any search keywords or information you enter so they can market to you, Dwellr maintains your privacy by not keeping anything you put in. Instead, it stores the data only on your phone.


5. Agent Apps

Ask your agent what apps she uses and then download them, so you and she can be on the same page when locating real estate. She may also have her own app, which includes data that comes from the MLS, that you should also put on your smartphone. Her software may allow you to communicate with each other more quickly since she would most likely prioritize any messages received on it. Her app may also let you tap for instantly scheduling a tour with a house that you’ve found. That tour then conveniently appears on her calendar without you and her trying to contact each other.


Are you looking for a new home in the San Joaquin Valley or Bakersfield? SJV Homes now has open for sale 10 communities with a combined 845 single-family homes.


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