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National Mortgage Rates 25 May 2012

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New iPhone Aps Simplify Home Shopping

By:
Kara Johnson - MortgageLoan.com

House-hunting has become a lot easier and more convenient, thanks to some new iPhone applications that provide instant access to real estate listings and other information while touring neighborhoods of interest.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently unveiled its Real Estate Search iPhone application, which is available for free on its Realtor.com web site. It follows the release of similar applications offered by Zillow and the online brokerage Sawbuck Realty.
 

Uses GPS to browse nearby listings

 
What the applications have in common is that they allow you to use the phone’s GPS feature to browse listings and other information for nearby homes, depending on where you are. You can call up a display of the neighborhood you’re in, see which homes are for sale nearby and see listings of recent assessed prices for all properties.
 
You can also find out when open houses are scheduled for nearby homes, view photo tours of home interiors and access all of the information typically provided in a listing, including price, square footage, number of rooms and the like.
 

Provides map and directions

 
The NAR application can identify any homes currently for sale within a radius of up to 20 miles, then provide a map and directions to any you choose as well. You can also snap photos of home exteriors using the phone’s camera feature and store photos and notes in conjunction with each home you visit. The NAR people say it offers access to some 4 million listings nationwide, with information updated every four minutes.
 
The Zillow application has most of the same features, and also allows consumers to filter homes displayed by a variety of criteria, including price, size, number of rooms and the like. You can also set it to notify you as soon as any new listings in a given area are posted.
 

Aps for other phones in the works

 
Right now the major real estate shopping aps are designed for the iPhone. However, the NAR people have indicated that they plan to launch other “mobile initiatives” later in the year, apparently in reference to applications for other types of GPS tools.
 
One thing the new applications don’t seem to offer yet is links to mortgage lenders, brokers or relevant information on shopping for a loan to buy a home in a particular area. But it’s probably only a matter of time.
 

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