Buying a Home? There’s an App for That

Technology has made homebuying immensely easier.

Not too long ago, you could only find home listings through a real estate agent. The agent would comb listings, forwarding ones they thought would fit the bill, potentially only sending the ones that meant the highest commission fee.

In short, buyers had much less control over their shopping experience.

Now, thanks to tools like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and other home listing sites, the power is in the buyer’s hands. You can browse homes at your leisure, hone in on properties and neighborhoods you like and often, even schedule your own showings.

And with these following apps and tech tools, buying gets even easier:

1. Dwellr – Tons of sites help you evaluate homes, but Dwellr? It helps you evaluate the neighborhood. Just answer a series of questions about your priorities and living preferences, and Dwellr recommends the best places to live for your needs.
2. Curate – Curate lets you virtually “place” furniture and décor in a space so you can see what a room looks like when personalized to your tastes. It’s great if you’re looking at sparse, new homes, or properties where existing décor is distracting or off-putting.
3. DocuSign – Don’t have time to go by your agent’s office to sign every piece of paperwork or contract in person? DocuSign lets you do it from anywhere using just your phone and your finger. It takes countless hours of driving and hassle out of the homebuying equation.
4. HomeSnap – HomeSnap is similar to other home finding apps, with one key difference: You can simply snap a photo of any house you pass (on the market or not) to find out vital information about its value, assigned schools, sales history, and more. You can even send those snaps directly to your Realtor to schedule a showing.
5. Trulia Mortgage Calculator – Not sure how much you can buy? Want to know how much that home you’re looking at could change your monthly payment? This handy calculator app can help. Zillow has a similar calculator app if you want additional options. Or, you could just use Embrace’s mortgage calculator right now.

Tech empowers today’s homebuyers, just as a great agent and lender can do. Are you looking for a mortgage lender who puts the control back in your hands, while walking you through the entire homebuying process? Then get in touch with Embrace today. Our home loan officers are here to help.