Top 7 Best Real Estate Apps in 2022
Buying your first real estate property can be a time-consuming and often stressful task. It can take anywhere from weeks to months to find the property that fits all of your needs—but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore! Now, with so many apps literally at your fingertips, property hunting can become more streamlined and much less stressful.
But real estate apps are not all made equal. Some apps are better than others because of their top-notch features, while other apps are great because of their affordable services. Regardless, the best real estate app may vary from person to person, and what we’re about to discuss here may not necessarily align with your needs. However, we were objective in our analysis and factored in the following characteristics to estimate app quality:
- Easy-to-use interface;
- Database size;
- Customer support;
- Reliability.
Note: This list is geared toward buyers and agents, containing real estate apps that help buyers look for homes and help agents close deals. Some apps on this list may not be particularly useful for buyers but will streamline negotiations and closing nonetheless.
- Trulia
Trulia is probably the best real estate app for prospective homeowners. The application’s primary focus is delivering valuable information about a property, including the following:
- Location;
- Neighborhood;
- Restaurants;
- Schools;
- Commute around the area;
- Walkability;
- Parking.
If you’re looking to buy a home for your family, Trulia is a great app to obtain a holistic view of the property, giving you more relevant insight into the home than simply knowing its price and size.
Staffan Ulmert, Editor-in-chief at Theleak.co says “Trulia is free for users and generally provides accurate sales prices for the properties listed on the app.”
- Zillow
Zillow is arguably the hottest real estate application on the market right now. And with total revenue of $8.1 Billion in 2021, it seems that the company is making big bucks in the sector as the leading real estate app.
Zillow is great because of its large inventory of more than a hundred million properties ranging from homes and apartments to rentals and commercial locations. Plus, Zillow is free of charge. The company’s revenue streams come from ad space sold to property management companies and mortgage lenders and providing premier agent services for buyers.
Adam Fard, Founder & Head of Design at Adam Fard UX Agency says “With Zillow, you can easily tour properties through videos and photographs that sellers can upload with their listings (pending agent approval). The app also lets you choose from properties for sale, rent, or lease.”
- Magic Plan
Magic Plan isn’t the typical real estate app in that it has property listings available, and potential buyers can view the property and connect with the real estate agent. Instead, it offers a unique value to buyers and sellers alike by making it easier to view the specifics of each property without having to go on-site. This is especially useful if your buyer is moving somewhere quite far (out of state) and cannot easily make the drive to and fro the property.
Abdul Saboor, Full Stack Developer at The Stock Dork adds “Magic Plan allows users to view 3D tours of the property, view floor plans, and create estimates all in one application. While the app itself isn’t free to use, you can easily avail of an affordable plan. You can try Magic Plan through the following offers:
- Sketch – $9.99;
- Report – $29.99;
- Estimate – $89.99.
The application is best utilized by contractors, but it’s also an excellent real estate app for sellers—giving your buyers immediate property-related answers without waiting on professional turnaround time.
- Xome Auctions
As the company name suggests, Xome is the best real estate app for auctionable properties like bank-owned or recently foreclosed locations. Xome has one of the largest databases of exclusive properties where you can choose by asset type and location, among a host of other features.
Steve Rose, Vice President at MoneyTransfers adds “One characteristic that differentiates Xome from competitors is the in-app contract signing feature. You can quickly close deals on the app, and the overall negotiation process becomes more streamlined on both ends of the transaction.”
Here are other Xome features we love:
- Financing (listings show if a property is to be paid for in cash or financing);
- Walk and commute score;
- Early bidding (pre-auction);
- Notifications for competitive bids.
- Redfin
Redfin is the app of choice if you want the optimum balance between technology and the human factor in real estate. Many real estate apps on the market currently lack the characteristic connection between an agent and a buyer, so if you’re looking for something along that line, Redfin is an excellent choice.
says Mark Valderrama, Founder & CEO, of Aquarium Store Depot “The app itself is also relatively easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. You can easily do customized searches on the app and book a tour all on the same platform. And because Redfin is an actual real estate firm, their property estimates are pretty accurate, so what you see on the company’s application is going to closely resemble the closing deal.”
- Dotloop
Dotloop is another ancillary real estate app that assists in the negotiation process, especially for real estate professionals.
Robert Warner, Head of Marketing at VirtualValley adds “The app helps agents and brokers create and sign contracts online while also allowing users to track the progress of each contract. This feature is notably helpful for real estate professionals handling many clients who need help with organization and staying on top of negotiations.”
It also keeps records for up to seven years, so your information is safely stored without a hassle. The app has a trial version, but users must pay to avail themselves of the full product.
- Realtormate
This app is a bit different and actually helps realtors to grow faster and better on social media such as Instagram. However, most smart realtors these days have more properties on Instagram than on their websites. So if you are a realtor and not yet checking this platform out you are missing a big time.
Do You Need Real Estate Apps?
Real estate apps help buyers and sellers navigate the ever-changing real estate market, making negotiations happen faster than ever. While apps aren’t strictly necessary for your property hunt, they do make the process significantly easier.
Andrew Priobrazhenskyi, CEO of DiscountReactor says “Thanks to the power of technology, you can now view properties virtually and go on tours right at the convenience of your own home. More than just that, you can also check neighborhood stats and see if the property is a good match for what you need—all in just a couple of clicks.”
While these apps still don’t replace the actual human connection forged by real estate negotiations, they’re definitely a great start.
And one final note is that sometimes you would rather settle at furnished short-term rentals for example short term rentals downtown Toronto before you can make a patient and profound decision on what property to buy when you move to another country or town.