Have you ever driven through a neighborhood, perhaps an unfamiliar one and wondered, “What do houses like this go for around here”? I find my self doing that when I am in an unfamiliar neighborhood (usually with large homes) and I see for sale signs. That’s usually the second thing I wonder right after, “What could this many people possibly do for a living to afford these houses?”. But I’m also not a fan of stopping to get out and grab the flyer, if there is one.
But now you don’t have too! There is a great real estate app that lets you search for houses in a specific area or simply what is around you based on your GPS location.
My wife and I have enjoy looking at houses online just to see what is out there and dreaming of the day we can finally move. Well, we are in the process of getting our house ready to put on the market. We have also started venturing out to drive by some of the homes we find online. I like to call it house trolling.
It never fails that we also find others while we are out and we use Trulia to look up the information about the houses. With Trulia on your phone, your GPS can locate you and then show you what is for sale within the area you see on the map.
The prices are displayed on the map. Click on the price to open a brief summary and thumbnail picture of the property. Click the picture and it gives you the details and description. One thing I like about this app is it shows how long the house has been listed. This can be an important negotiating tool. Someone might be more likely to deal on a house that has been on the market for 210 days as opposed to one that was only listed a week ago.
While it is a great tool when you are actually looking for a new house, it is just as much fun to look around and see what the inside of $15 million dollar house looks like! But if you find something you are actually interested in, you can contact the real estate agent by phone or email directly from the app. There is also a share feature that lets you email the link to someone.
For a free app, this provides a lot of information. I have also found it to be very up-to-date and fast loading. If you are at home or work,search from the comprehensive website that shows school reviews, price trends, and area crime.
What apps or websites have you used in your search for a home? Or are you like me, and like to be a little nosy and just check out the listings for sport?
