Zillow makes data fun for once. Interactive data graphs for the geeks in all of us.

Here are Minneapolis home values:

Another one looking at % sold for a loss:

Play around with the interactive graphs here for a deeper look into the neighborhood level.

Google has been slowly getting into the real estate search game for little while. A few weeks back they announced they jumped into the mortgage marketplace by comparing mortgage rates and today just opened the doors a little wider into their ‘real estate pages’.

I ran a simple search for ‘Minneapolis Homes For Sale‘ on the maps feature of Google. Then pulled up a home by clicking on more info and this detail listing page pops up (click pic for larger view):

Nothing all that special, but it is simple and to the point.

New real estate site hits the web, well it’s been in beta for the past few days that launched as a consumer fronting website last week  from the National Association of Realtors called HouseLogic.

The site seeks to be the complete resource for homeowners were you can track the progress of your home as you make updates to it with improvements, maintenance and just about anything else that deals with home ownership.

I haven’t played enough with it yet to really get a good decision on it but it has promise but here is a little overview of how it works.

These things just keep on coming out as more and more companies try to corner the mobile market when it comes to the consumer searching for real estate data.

So far some hit and some are miss.

Coldwell Banker iPhone App

Not a bad app for the iphone but falls short right off the bat because it seems like it only has Coldwell Banker properties (in the interest of full disclosure: I work for Coldwell Banker or a Coldwell Banker franchise ). Which doesn’t make sense at all especially when the app has one of the better user interfaces in my opinion. Why not have all the listings?

Update: it only shows Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Better Homes & Garden & ERA.

Isn’t that what most buyers want, they don’t want some but all. Giant miss here and maybe there is some legal junk that has to be worked out with IDX (internet data exchange).

Easy interface and navigation you can look for properties for sale close to you by bringing up the GPS capabilities of the iphone or properties that have recently sold.

One thing I like about it that others don’t have that I have tried is the ability to search for property by MLS number with beds and baths or new listings that have come on in the past 7 days. You can also pull up homes that are open houses first.

Search by map or list view.

If you also sync with your Coldwell Banker account by saving or pulling up past homes that you have liked.

RealQuest Home Value Pro

Nothing like having access to comprehensive home value data to over 140 million properties courtesy of First American CoreLogic. This is by far one of the best apps that dives into data it just doesn’t have the name like Zillow has.

This app works great if you are out looking at homes and if you want to pull up specific data on the home, just enter in the specific address of the property you are interested in. You can then get excellent data based on past or current trends of the neighborhood.

Things the app does well on the fly by entering in the address:

• Pulls up a summary report with median home values, % change in median sales price from last year, % of bank owned homes and other hardcore data. All relative to the zipcode of the property.
• An overhead hybrid map view of nearby properties with estimated values.
• Housing trend graphs for county with home prices, foreclosures and home sales. Change form a graph display to list if it is more useful.
• Also pull up housing activity that includes preforeclsoures, auctions and bank owned property.

Home value pro app also gives you the option of also sharing the search and bookmarking it as well.

This app has a lot of potential for being extremely useful for home buyers if they only knew about it.

I’m wondering when the backlash from home sellers is going to start with all this wicked cool stuff that is starting to come out.

Has anybody tried any of real estate related apps whether iPhone or Blackberry when searching for a home?

I’ve been a huge fan of Walkscore for some time now, what better for urban dwellers to discover the walkability of an area.

I have it on the website here and when you search for Twin Cities homes each one that pops up automatically has a walkscore built into it [here's a write-up for using Walkscore when searching for a home]

The app launched back in July but never really heard about it until this weekend so I was kind of playing around with all weekend. Found out it was very simple interface and easy to use.

For the purpose of this post, I simply typed in Minneapolis, MN for a location (although you can use GPS location to locate your exact location). It pulls up a map based search with icons to click on for reviews and numbers. You can also search in a list view.

As you can see, downtown Minneapolis is a walker’s paradise with a score of 97. Out in my ‘burb’ area, rolling in at car dependent with a whopping score of 6.

The only problem that I came about was the GPS location was bit off, but nonetheless within a stone’s throw.

The biggest plus of course is finding everything near by when house hunting. It also works well, for finding local numbers instead of the phone book.

How will you use the app?

Don’t know what your real estate agent is doing and need to get together?

Bookfresh is a new service I am testing out and it by the looks of it, it will probably stay judging from the great feedback I am getting.

What is BookFresh? It is a service that lets new or existing clients book appointments online. It’s very simple to use and allows people a very easy and convenient way to book an appointment, home showing, meetup or a simple chat. Everyone has access to my schedule now because it syncs with my appointment book.

It let’s me work virtually and get instant notification via email or SMS so I never miss anything.

You can now use the big orange button in the side bar to set up an appointment.

I make it extremely easy to use and here is how it works:

1. Click on big orange button in side bar
2. Pick a service
3. Pick the place

   

4. Pick time based on available slots
5. Enter in contact info
6. Hit submit
7. Wait for final reservation

I then receive the email and confirm and you are good to go!

So go ahead and

give it a try!

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Just downloaded the Zillow iphone app and have been playing around with it. Keeping up with the growing demand for mobile search interface. Trulia also launched an iPhone app awhile back

Screenshots from the iPhone:

Zillow iPhone App Features:

• Allow app to access location for current listings, sold listings and make me move that are close by
• Get 1-5-10 year home Zestimates
• Get detail tax information
• Comparable Sales
• Easy browsing by street view, hybrid view or list view

I would like to see some of these real estate apps incorporate third party reviews or amenities into the search interface. This way, being out in the field would be easy to see what is located close to the property. I think there would have to be a way to search with or without amenities otherwise the map might look clustered.

Otherwise the app is nicely done.

Has anybody used a real estate search app that they like on either an iphone, smartphone or Blackberry?

Any easy way to see if the home you are looking for is located in a distressed market. PMI has put out a interactive chart to find out. All you have do is enter you zip code in , just click here to see the PMI Zip Map.

If you are familiar with social bookmarking sites like Delicious, then you will certainly like Dwellicious to book mark all your favorite real estate searches. The cool thing about Dwellicious is that it now works live on Living Twin Cities home search provider Diverse Solutions.

The concept is simple, find a home here or any site and bookmarket it to Dwellicious to come back for viewing later. The problem with some search sites is they don’t offer all homes for sale (not this one because homes come straight from the MLS), which in turn leads to a problem of keeping track of your favorites. Dwellicious keeps the home search organized.

Go ahead, create you account here and get bookmarking!

What the hell… as soon as Barack Obama moves into the White House Zillow Zestimates that the most famous address in the world, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave has sunken below the $300 million mark for a home value. Have you seen the monthly mortgage payment for this sucker? A zero down loan, 30 year fixed at 5.15% comes in at $1,718,246 a month!

On January 8th, the White House Zestimate was over $308 million, 12 days and over $11 million depreciation! I think I would be worried Mr. President.