Mobile apps, social media and GPS game changers iin housing market
The revolution of mobile apps, social media and GPS being used to find online real estate listings is exploding in the housing market.
With the growth of portable technology, buyers, sellers and agents can easily get up-to-date information at their fingertips, according to real estate experts.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how we lived without it,鈥� said Rachel Linderman, real estate agent with SWC properties in Uniontown.
There are a variety of mobile apps available for prospective home buyers making easier to search listings, calculate mortgage costs, find out which businesses and attractions are nearby and even one with real estate terms.
Over the last decade, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found the house hunting world has become increasingly digital.
Consumers are going online at a rapid pace to look for information to support their buying decisions, the NAR reported.
According to NAR, nine in 10 home buyers today rely on the internet using specific online tools during different phases of the home search process.
All the major services have mobile apps that also feature text alerts.
U.S. News and World Report found that with a multiple listing service, which includes a consumer website, most potential home buyers send listings to their agents rather than the other way around.
Home shoppers can look at homes for sale at popular real-estate sites such as Zillow.com, Trulia.com and Realtor.com, which offer applications for smartphones and tablets that enables users to search for homes based on their location.
Linderman said she prefers Zillow and Realtor apps.
鈥淵ou could be driving around, see a sign in the yard, click on homes nearby and have all the details in a few seconds,鈥� she said.
Linderman added the sites also provide multiple photos and let the user call the agent from within the app.
Amy Bohutinsky, chief marketing officer for Zillow, said that graphic screens and GPS features on smartphones have made a significant impact on real estate.
鈥淏oth of these are really game-changers for real estate,鈥� Bohutinsky said.
According to Bohutinsky, Zillow蘑菇视频 app was used about 8.5 million times in April 2011.
The company蘑菇视频 website also states Zillow has a living database of more than 110 million U.S. homes that includes those for sale, rent and ones not currently on the market.
In addition, users of Realtor.com蘑菇视频 app look at about 30 million homes a month on mobile devices, said Steve Berkowitz, chief executive officer of Move Inc., which operates the site.
The Move Network of websites provides resources and decision support tools for consumers and real estate professionals to help them navigate all stages of the home-buying cycle.
With these tools, consumers have access to existing homes for sale, property records, rentals, mortgage resources, senior housing, moving resources and more.
The network reportedly captures more than 20 million monthly visitors and over the past year, the app has experienced a 67 percent increase in mobile page views and more than a 130 percent jump in mobile photo views.
Trulia offers 15 mobile apps across multiple platforms, including dedicated apps for renters, mortgage seekers, and agents around the country.
Users can also learn about schools, crimes, commute times and even ask the local community questions to get a better idea of the neighborhood.
The company蘑菇视频 website states that Trulia attracts more than 51 million unique house hunters every month, and during peak periods on the weekends, the majority of the traffic is now coming via mobile devices.