If you like the idea of everything at your fingertips, then you have to check out these helpful apps. Everything you need when buying a home, selling a home or thinking about how to decorate your home can all be found on these helpful apps.
I never considered myself very tech savvy but I have to tell you, some of these apps are so easy to use and are really helpful! You will need a little practice on some of them, but once you figure out what your needs are you will be off and running! Most are free, or cost very little too.
Homesnap
Ok this one is pretty cool! While the Homesnap app was designed for homebuyers, it can be a valuable tool for agents working with home sellers too. This app will give you the lowdown on just about any property by taking a picture of it. You can use this app to find the estimated home values of the houses in your neighborhood and other helpful information too. And its FREE!
360 Panorama
This app is geared toward people who are selling their homes. If you want to jazz up your online listing with panoramic photos, this app is for you. It’s great for agents too! The app will cost you a couple of bucks to download on iTunes. But the small investment could be worth it, especially if you want some compelling photos of your home for potential buyers.
Houzz
When you first start thinking about selling, sometimes it can be tough to decide where you should invest your time and money. Making renovations can add value to your home for sure, but what will give you the best ROI? This FREE app has over 10 million high res photos that you can browse through to see what your kitchen would look like with new counters or what a new coat of paint would do to your living room. The app basically lets you remodel your home virtually. Be careful- it’s kind of addicting!
CO Everywhere
When you're looking for a home, one of the most important things, to most families, is the community. Yes, your agent should be able to give you some very helpful info, but figuring out what the neighborhood is going to be like for your family can be a lot more difficult. This app simplifies that process. The cool thing is that the app pulls in tons of info about specific neighborhoods, like local events, including great places to eat, sites to see, and even real time data pulled from social networks like Instagram and Twitter.
Evernote
When you start touring homes with your agent you’re probably going to tour quite a few before making a decision on 'the one.' Once you find the perfect place to live, the paperwork begins. It can be difficult to keep all of the information sorted and handy which is why an app like Evernoteis amazing! The app is basically your home filing system at your fingertips. You can write notes, save documents, make to do lists, store pictures, keep loan documents, contact info, etc. You can also share your notes with your spouse, partner, attorney or real estate agent which will ensure that everyone is in the loop.
Dwellr
When you’re making a big move, this U.S. Census-run app matches its data with your location preferences to give you a list of potential relocation towns that best fits what your ideal community would be like. This is the information hub for city and neighborhood stats and so much more. Dwellr looks at home value, desired school needs, your commute, etc and allows you to explore a wide range of potential locations for your relocation move. After you answer a number of questions about your preferences and needs, the app will display the top 25 cities that meet your criteria.
Dictionary of Real Estate Terms
We all know the home buying and selling process can be complex at times, and there are soooo many real estate terms to decipher. Especially for the newbies out there. This app has over 3,000 real estate terms and definitions right at your fingertips so you can quickly find out what terms like encumbrances mean or when your attorney is talking about a lis-pendens and liens. You’ll be the most educated buyer or seller out there once you master these terms.
Skitch
When you start viewing properties as a buyer you will realize there are things you need to update or fix in your potential new home. You may want yo remind yourself about these specific details too.   This app lets users mark up photos and docs with arrows, highlights, boxes and text. It’s perfect for sharing ideas with an architect or your decorator or your mom!
AroundMeÂ
Ever start exploring a town and then discover you have no idea what’s around you. Hence-this app will identify where you are in order to show you a complete list of nearby businesses. You can search for the nearest bank, coffee shop, gas station, hospital, hotel, movie theater, restaurant, bar, school, supermarket, theater, etc. This can be helpful when looking for a house in an area that is totally unfamiliar to you.
Doorsteps Swipe
This app can be considered the ‘Tinder’ of real estate. It’s a really fun way to get the ball rolling when house hunting. It’s like a game, but not really- you "swipe to like" newly listed homes, and then you can really start to discover what's super important to you and your family.
SnuppsÂ
If you’re terrible at organizing and hate the idea of packing, this app might save you from a breakdown. You can create different virtual shelves to mimic your real ones, so you can make sure nothing is lost during the move. (Note- pack like things with each other-ie:family pictures, kitchen utensils, candles)
House Hunter
Want to seriously keep track of every home you see? Take really bad notes by hand? Use the House Hunter app. You can give homes a grade based on how well they match your criteria and needs. You can also take notes, give each home an overall score or rating and add photos of the homes to track your favs.
GreatSchools is another awesome app which lets you study a specific neighborhood. The app helps you learn more about different school districts and the specific schools that make it up. It will tell you exactly how that school stacks up compared to others in the state. Believe it or not real estate agents cannot talk about the pros and cons of school districts so this is very helpful for those concerned about schools in the areas they are thinking of moving to.
CURATE
Ever look at piece of art or a great mirror or frame when your out shopping and thinking about decorating your new home, but have no idea how it will look? This app actually allows you to virtually see how any artwork would look on your wall at home. So instead of guessing and being totally indecisive you can see how the art piece will look before bringing it home. This app allows you to virtually display the piece on any blank wall. All you have to do is upload a pic of the wall you want to place it and take a pic of the piece you’re thinking of buying. And Tada!! Plus, you can use the app to shop too!
MagicPlan can create professional floor plans for any room in your home. It literally measures rooms and draws floor plans just by taking pictures. Want to get square footage and room measurements so you can accurately order home décor or see if your own furniture would fit in your potential new home, this app can help. By taking a photo, the app is able to calculate distances and measurements and you can get a pretty accurate floor plan. It takes a little practice to navigate, but I know you can figure it out. For an added fee, the plans can be exported in PDF, JPG, and DXF formats to share with contractors, designers, or your real-estate agent.
Chairish
If you just bought the home of your dreams or you’re about to sell your home and need to unload some fancy décor, Chairish is a one-stop shop. If you like to buy or sell high-quality, pre-owned decor, this app is for you. Sellers can upload photos of furniture via the app, and then Chairish’s curators decide which items to sell. Listing items is free, and the seller keeps 80 percent of the final sale. Chairish takes care of payment, shipping, and returns for most sales so it’s really easy for those selling. If you’re buying- options are endless but not inexpensive.
Color911
With the Color911 app you can have fun creating and saving color palettes for your next decorating project or your new home. There are almost 100 different ideas for color themes but you can also create your own palette based on a picture you take on your phone. You can also organize your favorite colors and ideas into folders, then share with whomever you choose. This is so helpful when you’re buying a home and need to do some updating or simply pick your new color scheme.
ColorCapture
Have you ever seen a gorgeous color while you’re out and about and wonder if you can find that in a paint color? Benjamin Moore created this app which allows you to snap a pic, and it will give you a list of suggested paint options to match your color. They also give suggestions for pairing colors and accent colors too.
PhotoMeasures
When you’re house hunting or just purchased your home you usually want to get an idea of the size of a room. Most agents will put room dimensions on their listings in the mls, but some don’t. With this app you don’t need to constantly carry around a tape measure. The app allows users to snap a pic of a space and literally writes the measurements right on it. Now you can determine if the furniture you already have or the furniture you’re out shopping for will fit in your new space.
Measured
Similar to Photo Measures, Lowes recently debuted this handy little app, which allows users to measure a space or an object using only the phone's camera. I can't tell you how many times I wish I knew if a piece of furniture I just stumbled upon would fit in my space! This is amazing!
BrightNest
The company behind Angie’s List invented this app. It literally acts as a personalized reminder system for tasks that homeowners commonly forget, like changing your smoke detector, cleaning your dryer vents, etc. What’s also really cool about this app is it asks you a set of questions in order to make it really personalized for your own needs. It helps determine which of its 10,000 cleaning, organizing, DIY, design, and maintenance tips show up in your app’s feed.
If your lender isn’t available when you’re out house hunting and you have a question about the home you just fell in love with, here’s a quick, helpful app. Mortgage Calculator Plus quickly estimates your mortgage, then provides analytics and graphs to show your payments over time. BUT- please don’t only rely on this. It’s a great way to get a quick answer, but ALWAYS defer to your lender.
Weichert
You know I had to add this one. This app will ask you to select an agent (me, I hope) and then you can request a list of homes in a specific area with certain criteria. You can also request a home valuation if you're thinking of selling too. You can also get property alerts if you add certain criteria-super easy and user friendly.
I hope you have fun downloading all of these apps, or at least a couple of them. Some are really helpful depending on where you are in your process of house hunting, selling and the most fun part of decorating. If you know of a great app I missed, please share!
Commentaires