Buying a home is likely the most expensive purchase your clients will ever make in their lives. They will more than likely turn to one or more of theses Top Real Estate Apps. Real estate apps can help give a greater insight into the market where a client is looking to make a purchase, so it is always best to be in the know of the best Apps on the Market.
Best Overall: Zillow
Zillow is arguably the best known real estate app, and for good reason. Zillow was a pioneer in online home value estimates? and tells users estimated home values, past sale prices and more for virtually every home in the United States. If you are a homeowner, you can create an account to track your estimated home value over time and insights into a potential sale price if you decide it’s time to move.
If you are looking to buy a home, you should definitely bookmark the Zillow website and download the app to your smartphone. The Zillow app lets you view home prices by location on the go and offers filters and search options to zero in on your next home.
Best For Discounted Home Buying Fees: RedFin
RedFin is both an app and a brokerage firm. The app is excellent, offering estimated home values that are sometimes more accurate than Zillow’s algorithm. One of the best features of the mobile app for anyone in an active home search is the ability to filter on upcoming open houses. While it may not lead to your next home, it does give you an idea of what homes are like in the area and what you can expect to get for your money.
The standard real estate fees for RedFin are lower than traditional agents. When selling, most homes list for 1.5 percent, and when buying, the average buyer gets a $2,000 refund back on the agent fees.
Best for Learning About Real Estate: Bigger Pockets
Bigger Pockets offers a huge range of free resources to learn about real estate, including blog posts, podcasts, ebooks, guides and forums. The app is a gateway into the Bigger Pockets world, which is also available through the Bigger Pockets website.
You can learn a ton about buying a home that will increase in value, as well as how to do work on a property to get the best return on your investment. If you want to take your real estate game to the next level and get into real estate investing, this is the top resource on the Web.
Best for Commercial Real Estate: LoopNet
Speaking of real estate investing, the best app for real estate investors may be LoopNet. This real estate app is like Zillow for bigger properties. If you want a multi-unit or commercial property, you won’t find many details on the other sites on this list. LoopNet is exclusively for property investors.
Plugging in your local area often yields a range of results for multi-unit residential and commercial office spaces. But remember that with real estate investments you don’t have to buy in your local market. You may do much better buying out of town or even out of state.
Best for Most Houses: Realtor.com
Realtor.com is, not surprisingly, the official search portal for the National Association of Realtors. One benefit of using its site is the close relationship realtors have with the Multiple Listing System (MLS) that provides data feeds used by most sites on this list. Because of the special relationship, however, Realtor.com is often updated a little faster and has a wider range of listed properties.
If you don’t yet have a real estate agent, Realtor.com makes it easy to connect with a local agent as well. Though be sure to thoroughly vet any new agent before hiring them or signing an exclusive agreement. You should shop around for both agents and homes before buying.
Best for An Active Home Search: Trulia
Trulia started as an independent company? but is now owned by Zillow. This brought some of the behind the scenes data from Trulia to Zillow and vice versa. Zillow is best for the general home ownership lifecycle, including tracking your current home’s value. Trulia is better for those in an active home search.
Trulia offers very focused tools for one purpose, finding a new home to buy, and does it quite well. Some great features include abilities to filter your search by specific home features, such as hardwood floors, so you know you will only see and review homes that could meet your needs.
Best for a Team Real Estate Search: HomeSnap
HomeSnap has features useful for home buyers and real estate agents alike. While it has the regular MLS-powered search features that most real estate apps have, HomeSnap adds messaging and sharing features that make home buying with a spouse or partner or even getting your parents to chime in, much simpler.
HomeSnap also claims real-time MLS updates, which gives you access to new and updated listings as quickly as possible. In competitive home buying markets such as Denver and Portland, that added speed could be the difference in a winning bid and missing out on a home completely.
Best for Auctions: Xome
If you love the action of an auction, you’ll love Xome. Xome offers real estate search similar to many others. But it also brings you access to real estate auctions. Some auctions come through the MLS while others are exclusive to the Xome platform.
The Homes Only on Xome section of the site offers options to nab a deal on bank-owned, foreclosed, short-sale and standard home listings. For real estate investing, this feature is a great addition as you may be able to pick up a property before it hits the general market at a lower rate. Lower price paid means higher profit when you sell. That, after all, is what real estate investing is all about.
source: The Balance