Technology has been the driver of numerous changes across all business areas and real estate is no exception. It is now possible to know pricing and availability in real time. The public aggregation of data has completely changed the landscape and made it more transparent for consumers. As a result, a lot of information is available online; the only challenge is to learn to identify the service that is right for you. Whether you’re looking to buy, rent or sell here are the few apps that will facilitate the process.
Buying:
Ready for Zero – One of the main reasons Millennial home owner rates are only at 36%, the lowest rate for their age group since the 1970’s, is because they are plagued by debt and student loans. Ready for Zero is an organization tool that syncs to manage and track debt, loan and mortgage payments all in one place.
Homes.com – Allows you to compare listings across neighborhoods. The tool also allows you to monitor new listings in your choice of neighborhood(s) as they become available.
WalkScore – Is like the Yelp of home buying, it allows prospective buyers to see the score of not only the home their interested but the score of the surrounding neighborhood and its amenities. This one helps you choose your home and your lifestyle.
HomeKeepr – Has two interfaces, one for buyers and one for real estate agents. The buyers’ side is great for when you’ve decided on a house and want to take a look at the local service providers (i.e., maintenance, gardeners, cleaners, movers, etc.) before signing the papers
Dwellr – This app is U.S. Census Bureau certified. Home buying involves a seemingly never ending string of numbers Dwellr helps synthesize data and not only makes it easy to compare neighborhood statistics but to compare them as well.
Both:
This section is the one users across all generations are the most familiar with as Zillow, Trulia, and Apartments.com are the three most dominate players in the real estate market. Zillow, perhaps the most popular of home buying tools Zillow is a one-stop-shop for listings all around the world. Similar to Zillow, Trulia allows prospective buyers to filter their searches by price, size, location, amongst other qualifiers. Apartments.com offers Zillow and Trulia users the same information and tools but is specific to users looking for apartments and specializes on listings in urban areas.
Renting:
Air BnB – It isn’t just for tourists, millennials are renting rooms, apartments and homes directly from one and other for several months (sometimes even a year) at a time, eliminating the need to go through a real estate agent all together. However, cities such as Paris and New York are fighting this trend through regulation and increased tax measures.
Wimdu – Is Air BnB’s lesser known, albeit equally useful, cousin that allows Millennials to flat-share and rent long term on a direct and digital marketplace.
Roomie – Ever had to choose between moving out and being utterly miserable until your lease is up because of a bad roommate? Roomie connects renters with prospective rentees. While the results of a specifically designed questionnaire show how well matched you are before you get stuck in a sticky situation.
The Other Side – Tools for Real Estate Agents:
Just as our partners Roubini ThoughtLab stated in their Wealth 2021 White Paper, Millennials want digital integrated into all aspects. This digital shift means real estate agents need to change and adapt their sales and marketing strategies. Here is a breakdown of the best tools to help facilitate real estate agents through a seamless transition into the digital age:
Casamatic – Was initially created for prospective buyers but has since been restructured to serve real estate agents. The platform allows agents to tailor their searches specific to their individual clients demands so that they are able to present their customers with personalized options rather than casting a wide net and then narrowing down after the fact.
Obeo – Allows real estate agents to digitally decorate and furnish empty homes to provide clients with an idea of what a finished space has the potential to look like.
Tour Vista – Is an affordable platform that helps real estate agents easily create dynamic floor plans to add to the now standard virtual tours of their listed properties.
HomeKeepr – Is a contact management tool that helps real estate agents stay in touch with former clients which will help position them to be top choice for the next time a homeowner needs to buy or sell. The app also helps real estate agents connect to new clients.
And if you live in Philadelphia, our Philadelphia Housing Index will give you a better understanding of the trends that affect the local real estate market and help you assess when it’s time to buy or sell. The portal allows you to see changes in the sales price of Philadelphia’s housing units through time, adjusting housing traits to compare like-to-like, with differentiated trends by city district, neighborhoods and school catchment areas.
Sharan Walia is a Marketing Assistant at Econsult Solutions Inc. (ESI), and a student at Drexel Univresity majoring in Global Studies with a concentration in International Business and Economics and minoring in Political Science and French.