Best Apps for Home Buyers

There are millions of mobile applications out there to make our lives easier (think Evernote or Trello), or to keep track with what is going on with the world around us (i.e. Flipboard and Pulse), and there are apps just to kill some time (see Candy Crush and Angry Birds.)

Fortunately there are also several apps to help you with your home buying process.  Below are my recommendations for the best apps for home buyers, and they are all free!

Doorsteps Swipe

Look at homes for sale and for rent in a whole new way.  This app offers rents and soon-to-be buyers a fun way to explore thousands of homes for rent and for sale on their mobile phones and to vote up or down on the homes the like or dislike. Quickly swipe through the homes to get to the ones you like.  Download now.

MyMLS App

For the serious home buyer, this is the best app to connect you directly with your real estate agent and your local multiple listing service.  Find out exactly which homes are still on the market with a direct feed from the MLS, save your favorite homes, and contact your real estate agent directly from the app.  A must have for any home buyer looking to purchase a home in the very near future.  Download now.

Fypio

This app is the cleanest and sleekest way to compile all of the important but hard to find criteria you want in a home that is not always available immediately on a stat sheet - like an oval-shaped pool, a partially wooded backyard, or a neighborhood with lots of block parties.  Download now.

Lasso

Like most home buying apps, Lasso allows you to search through homes available on the market today and save your favorites.  What sets this app apart is that once you save a home to your favorites, it extracts data from your favorites to recommend and suggest other homes in the area with similar stats, much like the streaming music apps Pandora and Songza.  Download now.

HotPads

Need a rental place before you buy your first home?  Not to worry.  HotPads is the single best app for rentals.  Forget the other big names out there in online real estate.  If you aren't using HotPads for rentals, you aren't doing it right.  Download now.

Sitegeist

This app is great for conducting some research on the neighborhoods to which you are thinking of moving.  It provides all sorts of information ranging from demographic make up, commute time, median income levels, and relative age distribution in a format that is easy to read and understand.  Download now.