Have you ever reached into the flyer box of a home for sale only to find the box empty? As smartphones (Apple iPhones & Google Android phones) become more popular, this frustration will be a thing of the past. In fact, as smartphone technology becomes more prevalent, the entire home hunting process will be fundamentally changed. No longer will buyers need to comb the Sunday real estate sections of their local newspapers nor will they need to physically visit a home to see what the home’s kitchen looks like. With the right smartphone in hand, home shoppers can have a virtual property flyer for tens of thousands of homes for sale at their fingertips.

Imagine that during a Sunday open house tour you’re able to look at all of the pictures of a home as you are sitting in your car, before you actually go in. If you don’t like what you see, you can just move on. If you do like what you see, you’ll know what the home last sold for, how long it has been on the market, the home’s “Walkscore” (a number that measures how easy it is get where you need to go on foot from any home) and tons of other details before you actually walk in the front door.

Smartphones also have ‘location aware’ capabilities, meaning that they use GPS technology to locate your current location. Real estate apps are ideally suited to take advantage of this capability. For example, if you are having brunch in a local neighborhood and are interested in seeing what nearby homes are for sale (and for how much), you can simply pull out your phone and have it show you what homes are for sale nearby. By the time you finish your second cup of coffee, you’ll be able to get a quick rundown of everything that’s for sale and which homes you might actually want to see in person. Furthermore, using the integrated map features built into the smartphones, you’ll be able to easily navigate your way to the homes after brunch.

ZipRealty, a full-service residential real estate brokerage offers both an Apple iPhone App and a Google Android-based app for free. Serving over 5000 cities and covering over 1.1 Million home listings, ZipRealty’s free smartphone apps offer a complete & updated list of all MLS-listed homes for sale. Access to full property details such as last sold price and all available pictures, as well as GPS/location-aware capabilities, make the ZipRealty iPhone and ZipRealty Android apps must-haves for home shoppers. Whether you are serious about buying a home or just like to keep up with the market, ZipRealty’s smartphone apps will take the frustration out of the home shopping process and allow you to be more efficient in your search.

To access ZipRealty’s free smartphone apps, follow these links:

For the Apple iPhone App: http://www.ziprealty.com/iphone

For the Google Android App: http://www.ziprealty.com/android

To learn more about ZipRealty and how we can help you buy or sell your home: http://www.ziprealty.com

Follow us on Twitter: @ziprealty or Like Us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ziprealty

Contact information:

Myron Lo
ZipRealty, Inc.
Vice President, Innovation
mclo@ziprealty.com
(510) 735-2624

—

This guest post is part of our Technology Tuesday Series. We seek out the latest and greatest technology companies out there whom we feel offer cutting edge products and services to consumers. Our readers are interested in the financial and real estate industries as consumers and professionals. If you feel that you or your company has something wonderful to offer and would like to write about it, please contact us at liz@dalesiegel.com