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5 best house hunting apps and real estate apps for Android
Buying a house is a big deal. You have to find the house you want, find a realtor, obtain approval for a loan, and tons of other things. It can be a stressful process.
However, once you get into your house, that’s it. You just pay your mortgage and enjoy yourself. We can’t help with every step of the process, but we can help with the start of it! Here are the best house hunting apps and real estate apps for Android! It’s worth noting that there are some large real estate services like Re/Max and 21st Century Homes. We recommend using their mobile sites because their apps aren’t that good.
The best house hunting apps and real estate apps for Android
The secret to house hunting apps
So, here’s the thing about house hunting apps. Most of the big ones like Zillow and Trulia have out-of-date information. The sites get listings from all over the place and many listings are out of date. Some listings can be out of date by years if the original poster never updates the listing or takes it down.
Thus, we recommend such services as reference guides. You can see the pricing trends in the area you want, get an idea of how much taxes are, and apps like Trulia can give you insights such as foot traffic and crime rates.
For actual house hunting, your best bet is finding a realtor. They have resources mainstream services don’t have and their listing resources are a lot more accurate than Zillow or Trulia. Actual house buying is competitive and good properties often get multiple offers within just a few hours or days of being listed. Even if you find an open property on Zillow or similar apps, by the time you go through the proper channels to make an offer, the house is most likely already off of the market and you have to start over. Yes, it happens that quickly.
Most real estate agencies have apps or websites with the most recent and actually open listings. The additional benefit is that you already have a real estate agent so you can schedule a walkthrough and make an offer quickly. The good news is you usually don’t have to commit to anything to get hooked up with a real estate agency app or website and it’s generally not very difficult. Those ready to buy a house should definitely go this route.
Homesnap Real Estate
Price: Free
Homesnap Real Estate is one of the newer house hunting apps. You’ll have access to most of the features you’d want in a real estate app. It can help you find houses, search for listings, and more. You can also search for houses by school zones and find dates for open houses. The app also includes a chat, Material Design, and even Android Wear support. The search criteria could be more diverse. However, the app tends to work pretty well. You’ll obviously want more than one app for this, but this one’s a good start.
Realtor.com
Price: Free
Realtor.com is one of the most powerful house hunting apps. It boasts a larger collection of properties for sale than any other app. We don’t know if that’s true, but it’s a bold claim to make. It gives you the basic stuff. You can search for houses based on various criteria. It can also give you estimates for properties that aren’t on the market. It also has Android Wear support. By far its coolest feature is the ability to watch live video streams of open houses with Chromecast support. It’s free to download and check out. It’s not without its faults, though.
See also: The best construction apps for Android
Redfin Real Estate
Price: Free
Redfin is one of the up-and-coming house hunting apps. It’ll show you the kind of stuff that you’re looking for. That includes various types of houses and condos. It also includes foreclosures, for sale by owner homes, and short sales. The company boasts that their real estate listings update every 15-30 minutes for higher accuracy. You can also search by a variety of search parameters. The app also features extra stuff like a finance calculator and some other stuff as well. It works quite well, but it does have the occasional bug. It’s good for what it does.
See also: The best shopping apps for Android
Trulia
Price: Free
Trulia is one of the biggest names in house hunting apps. Its biggest feature is its house searching. You can search for homes, apartments, open houses, price, neighborhood, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and more. It also features an interactive map, local information (including crime stats), video tours, and saved searches. It even has things like a mortgage calculator to make things easier. Its Android Wear support is top notch as well. It’s not 100% perfect, but it’s close.
See also: The best kitchen design apps for Android
Zillow
Price: Free
Zillow is one of the most popular real estate apps out there. They actually have a few apps. There is one specifically for apartments and rentals. Another is for buying properties. The rest are for property owners and property managers. That includes an online transaction app called dotloop. The main app has a ton of features. You can browse homes across the US, see estimates of houses not on the market, and search based on a variety of search criteria. It may not cover all the bases, but it covers most of them. It’s a good spot to start a house hunting search.
Official real estate apps
Price: Free
Most larger cities and locales have realtors in the area. All of them either have an official app such as Keller Williams (linked at the button below) or at least a website with listings. The listings are pulled directly from MLS. They are generally more up-to-date, more factually accurate, and more detailed than services like Zillow or Trulia. Don’t get us wrong, Zillow and Trulia do post everything available, but an official realtor service will remove options after purchases immediately rather than over a long period of time. We recommend talking to your real estate agent to see if they have an official app or website you can use to see what’s actually available around you.
If we missed any great house hunting apps, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
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