No, not rain drops on roses, though whiskers on kittens get a definite thumbs up! Today I’m following up on a promise to share some favorite iPhone apps, especially those related to real estate. On Friday my WCR (Women’s Council of REALTORS) Chapter hosted a session at our local Apple Store, and while it was a great over view of some cool things on Macs and the iPad, they did not talk about iPhones in the main session. So here are some of the applications I find myself using:
General Purpose Apps: (in alphabetical order). I’m purposely omitting photography apps. That’s the material of numerous posts on its own!
AroundMe(Free): AroundMe allows you to quickly find out information about your surroundings. When you need to find the closest restaurant or gas station, bank, etc, this app shows you a complete list of all businesses in the category you have selected along with the distance from your current location.
Bump. A favorite at conferences, once you set up your contact info, you can share that with other Bump users by doing just that while you and your new friend hold your iPhones. And putting a little hip action into it doesn’t hurt!
Dragon. (free) This is dictation software, extremely helpful for taking notes and transcribing them into text. The accuracy rate is generally impressive.
Dropbox. A great “cloud computing” storage facility, accessible for the iPhone as well as numerous other platforms. Allows for remote file access, and group file sharing.
FastFinga: uses the touch screen and your “finga†to jot notes on the iPhone screen—a great general purpose app.
Google. I sometimes forget about this very functional app, but it’s great for finding a business with a voice command, and then finding and dialing the number for you.
HootsuiteLite. The free version of the little Owl’s program, and one I find just fine for Tweeting on the go.
iBart. Handy tool for those using public transit in the Bay Area.
Urban Daddy. Fun graphics help you find a place to go eat, drink or be merry near you, or at a specific location.
Urban Spoon. Good for finding nearby restaurants. I tend to use this rather than Yelp, but that’s a matter of personal preferance.
Walk Score (free) locates nearby amenities, and rates a location by their patented algorithm. In the Bay Area, a home’s Walk Score has become a popular metric.
Real Estate Specific apps:
Home Value, from Core Logic (gives a rough idea of value as a first cut, but data is dated by several months)
ILiving ($2.99): This app allows you to take a picture of a room and then rearrange and add new furniture. This can be handy if you’re working with a buyer who could use help visualizing a makeover–and that applies to most buyers!
Loan Calculator($.99): We’ve all been asked: “How much would this home cost me per month?†Using the Loan Calculator, you can easily calculate monthly payments based on the current interest rate. The calculator also gives you the option to email the payment terms and information to your client from within the application.
Realtor.Com app(free) called Real Estate Search, which as the name says is a search tool, for rentals as well as homes for sale, and open homes in your location; has ability to save your searches. A very good all-around real estate app.
Redfin, Trulia and Zillow. I have these in the interest of making sure that I have at least as much information as my clients, and many of them like these apps. Redfin is probably the most user-friendly at the moment, but each has its unique features and disadvantages.
Then if you want to expand to the next level, I suggest you visit the following Top App Chart, which includes apps for both iPhone and iPad, paid and free. Some of these apps are specific to various states of the union (and states of mind!) so not all are applicable. It includes numerous apps for making rent vs. buy decisions, and for finding foreclosures and other distressed properties. In a subsequent post I’ll share some iPad-specific apps that have made it to the top 10 lists of some of my favorite technology mavens.
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