New iPhone apps for real estate buyers and renters

New iPhone apps

Taking advantage of the latest augmented reality trends as well as the rise of rentals, three new real estate apps have hit the market to serve consumers. Trulia, Findwell and Sawbuck have all launched new iPhone apps with unique features for home buyers and renters that are mobile.

Sawbuck’s HomeSnap iPhone app

Sawbuck’s HomeSnap iPhone app was designed to tell you about any home you snap, from price to sale history to size and school district. The company says they have over 90 million homes available to snap, seamlessly integrating live data from the multiple listing service (MLS). Any home snapped that is for sale offers complete listing details and photos and encourages users to schedule a showing, and for homes that have sold, the final sale price and listing history is offered.

All homes snapped can be shared via social networks, and it seems that the first step for consumers will likely be to see what their own home is worth and when the novelty of that helps them understand the app, we can see how the fun of the app would catch on.

Trulia Rentals iPhone app

After launching their Android app for rentals last fall, Trulia is announcing today the release of their iPhone app dedicated to rentals. The app’s flagship feature is push notifications of new listings within their parameters to keep renters immediately up to date.

Other features include color-coded listings, organized in order of how long they have been on the market, with green markers indicating a listing under 24 hours hold, grey indicating a listing that has already been viewed, and black for unviewed listings added over 24 hours ago. The app also features neighborhood information like restaurants and schools, and offers saved searches which fuel the push notifications. Agent contact information is on all listings as the company promotes renters connecting with brokers or lanadlords through the app.

“The needs of a renter are very different than the needs of a consumer looking to buy. The cycle and timeframe is much shorter, so delivering push notifications to our users may mean the difference between landing your dream rental or missing out on the best place on the market,” said Lee Clancy, VP of Consumer Products. “As a company, Trulia is committed to delivering unique experiences through product innovation. As the number of renters continues to grow, we’ll provide them with accurate and timely information they require right on their iPhone or iPod touch.”