Five cool property apps for home buyers

In this age of smartphones and tablets, apps have become a ubiquitous part of life. We use them for a whole range of reasons, from gaming to news and even ordering food. It makes all the sense in the world then to use apps to help you make the most expensive buying decision in your life. With that in mind, we’ve compiled below five of the coolest and most useful property apps for your endeavours so you don’t end buying a house just because the owners want to sell house fast.

 

 

• Rightmove Property Search App

 

Rightmove has a searchable database of over one million properties listed for sale in England, Wales and Scotland. The nimble search function helps users to quickly zoom in the specific properties based on a set of criteria. Each listing includes floorplans and multi angled photos to give users a quick overview of homes. Another interesting feature is the School Checker, which lists down school catchment areas. Perhaps the most impressive feature though is the historical selling prices of over 26 million properties that have been sold in the country thus far.

 

• Stamp Duty Calculator UK, Scotland, Wales

 

This app is geared more towards professional property agents, financial advisors and bankers. However, its simplicity means prospective homeowners can use the app to calculate HMRC’s Stamp Duty in UK as well as Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in Wales and Scotland. The app also has a Loan to Value (LTV) calculator for Mortgages and Loans. The app is regularly updated, so any changes in taxation schedule will be reflected in the app.

 

• Zoopla Property Search UK

 

This exceptional app not only provides a listing of over 90% of properties in the market, it also uses GPS to automatically search houses near to where you are located. The results can be filtered based on the type of property you are looking for. The powerful search function also allows you to find properties using keyword searches. An alert is also sent when a new property matching your criteria has been listed. As a bonus, the app also includes foreign listings – just in case you’re in the market for a holiday home.

 

• AroundMe

 

Using geolocation technology, this app provides information on the nearest amenities to you, such as police station, hospital, school, gas station and banks. The database is comprehensive, and users will be provided with the distance to any of the selected location. There are even categories for movies and deals. It’s a godsend for someone who just moved into a new neighbourhood.

 

• Houzz Interior Design Ideas

 

This is a must have interior design app for first time homeowners. Houzz contains over 16 million images of homes, both inside and outside, categorised by themes and location inside the house. The app allows users to make notes and draw on the photos. Users can then shop directly using the app, at extremely competitive prices, using a Visual Match recognition technology. What’s more, users can also directly hire design professionals, architects and contractors from a database numbering well over two million.