8 Smartphone Apps You Should Have When Shopping for a Home

A house is one of the most important purchases you can make, so you obviously want to take your time and get all the help you can to find the best home for the right price. With the array of tools, you have in your smartphone, finding that perfect house and buying it is a lot easier than it was just 10 years ago.

Check out these eight apps to help you find your dream home.

1. Mortgage Calculator

When you’re shopping for a house, the price is obviously going to be a deciding factor. The more you know about your budget and paying off the mortgage, the easier it will be to find a house that’s in your price range and save yourself from getting in way over your head with house payments.

2. The Walk Score app

If you’re the kind of person, who would rather walk than drive, put potential locations into the Walk Score app and see how they measure up. The app shows you important places within walking distance from the house you’re looking at — stores, restaurants, bars, parks, etc. — and gives you a good idea of what your daily life could be like if you lived in that neighborhood.

3. Realtor.com

Your one-stop-shop for real estate listings in your area, this site’s app is constantly getting great reviews and helping all kinds of buyers find the perfect home.

4. ColorSmart

When it gets down to comparing potential interiors, this app helps you visualize what different color schemes would look like in specific rooms. Get a solid idea of what your home might look like before you buy it.

5. Suburb Scout

With this app, you can get an idea of what possible annoyances (like planes flying overhead or sewage smells) might be in different neighborhoods. A Realtor will never tell you these things during the walk-through, and you don’t want to be left wishing you had known about a house’s problems before you’re living there Stump Blog.

6. The Directory of Real Estate Terms

Talking to a Realtor can be like trying to learn a new language. You can know exactly what you’re talking about with the help of this app.

7. Safe Neighborhood

It’s always a good idea to check out what kinds and amount of crimes are reported in the area, especially if you have kids or are planning to.

8. Homes in Foreclosure

This free app lets you navigate through the latest foreclosures, which can be helpful if you’re an independent buyer, a real estate agent, or an investor. Staying on top of the latest bank and government foreclosure data listings, direct from the source, could mean you get to see which houses will up for sale before the majority of other buyers do.