Best Real Estate Apps - Your Next Home Is at Your Fingertips
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When my wife and I searched for condos to buy at the start of 2023, real estate apps were pivotal to our success. We were so ready to be renters no longer, and especially once we were pre-approved by a lender, it was even more exciting to look at what homes were for sale. Without evaluating floor plans, square footage, and sale prices via convenient apps, we wouldn’t be homeowners today.
The real estate market has been in a slump since 2023, meaning that homebuyers need to research and look at every option available. Even if you’re working with a realtor in your real estate search, looking at home listings can help you determine whether open houses are worth your time. Mobile apps make that process more accessible than ever and, at the same time, offer you the chance to get a headstart toward scheduling home tours when time is of the essence.
If you’re on iOS or Android, real estate apps allow you to view property listings from multiple listing services (MLS) in real time. Whether you’re interested in commercial real estate, condos, or even short sales and foreclosures, here are the best real estate apps to streamline your home search.
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Overview of the best real estate apps
App | Best for |
Realtor.com | Detail-oriented buyers without a real estate agent |
Zillow | Buyers and sellers in search of an all-in-one option |
Redfin | Buyers looking in a particular location |
Trulia | First-time buyers gathering information |
Homesnap | Individuals who need to-the-minute updates |
Xome | Sellers who want to save on fees |
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The best real estate apps
Realtor.com
When it comes to finding a home, finding the right realtor is half the battle. A good realtor will understand your needs and avoid pushing you into a purchase you don’t want to make. A lousy realtor will ensure you don’t wind up in a new home! Realtor.com can help you find a qualified local realtor in your area and has some other nice perks.
When finding a rental property or home to purchase, Realtor.com will show you plenty of listings in your area. They’ll also use your location to connect you with an agent and even offer cash rewards for using their service. Especially if you don’t want to head to many open houses to network with real estate agents, Realtor.com can be a major boon as you’re just starting in the home-buying process.
Another big perk about Realtor.com is that the free service has a lot of detailed search filters. The robustness of this feature, combined with the fact that Realtor.com allows you to hide listings you’re not interested in, can help you personalize your feed only to see homes you’d actually be willing to make an offer on. From neighborhood information to school ratings and how many floors a home has, you can really narrow in on what you’re interested in with Realtor.com.
While the free app and website have a lot to offer, it’s important to note that you can’t list your home for sale using Realtor.com. Additionally, unlike other platforms in this list, Realtor.com doesn’t offer estimates on the current value of your home. Even so, this is a great option if you’re a new homebuyer who wants an all-in-one option to help with every step of the purchase process.
Zillow
Zillow is one of the most well-known real estate apps on this list, and for a good reason. Zillow offers a full-featured approach to finding, buying, and selling real estate. This makes it a great option for first-time homebuyers and those looking for an investment property.
Zillow has millions of listings to browse, meaning that if it’s for sale, you can likely find information about it on this app. As a buyer, you’ll have plenty of details about each listing, including tax information. You can also search for a real estate agent with honest reviews from other homeowners.
As a seller, there are also a lot of perks to using the Zillow app. The My Home tab makes it simple and straightforward to search up various comps so you have a realistic idea of what your home is worth. Additionally, Zillow’s proprietary Zestimate evaluates what your home might be worth using tax data and other recently sold homes. While a Zestimate isn’t guaranteed that your home will sell for that price, it is a good indicator of what someone might pay.
If there’s anything to dislike about Zillow, you can’t block certain listings and agents can pay for better listing placement. Of course, that’s only really a drawback as a buyer, since these features could be in your favor as a seller. If you’re used to seeing paid ads on other websites, it likely won’t bug you too much.
Related: What to Do If You Can't Pay Rent
Redfin
Redfin is another real estate app offering a lot of name recognition and a solid number of benefits for its users. Full disclosure: Redfin is the app my wife and I used most when looking for a condo to purchase. We really liked Redfin’s user interface and felt like it had a pretty good feature set for what we were looking for.
One of the biggest things to love about Redfin is setting up geographical zones that you draw on their map to get listing results. In Chicago, where we bought, some zip codes encompass multiple neighborhoods. Still, there were really only two neighborhoods we were interested in buying in—and we were pretty specific about how close to certain restaurants, public transportation, and parks we wanted the condos to be. Without the ability to define hyper-specific location settings, we wouldn’t have felt as confident that we were seeing what we wanted to see.
As a buyer or a seller, Redfin also has some nice incentives to use their service over others. Generally speaking, you can save thousands of dollars when using a Redfin agent. Even so, online reviews of Redfin agents can be hit-or-miss (like any realtor), so research before committing to your agent. If you’re looking to rent your property or find a rental, you’ll need to find a different app.
While Redfin’s website is great, the app can leave a bit to be desired. If you’re looking to set up email alerts and other notifications for the first time, you’ll probably want to start with the browser-based version of Redfin. However, if you’re just browsing, the app is great for thumbing through listings quickly.
Trulia
Trulia is a great resource for gathering information about specific properties, mortgage estimates, and neighborhoods. Still, it might not be the tool you want to use when pulling the trigger. Like many other options on this list, Trulia gives you a robust series of search filters to find different properties based on certain amenities or features. However, the app might be lacking for a seller or someone without an agent.
Focusing on the good first, the neighborhood overlays offered by Trulia can be helpful. Especially if you’re gathering information about different neighborhoods, Trulia can be an exceptional resource for this kind of research. With filters and overlays based on schooling statistics and crime details, you can gather a lot of data about a home and its neighborhood using Trulia.
In addition to listing single-family homes, Trulia also offers listings for apartments, condos, and townhouses. As such, no matter what you’re looking for, you can find a living arrangement with Trulia. Not all real estate apps offer this, so if you’re still considering renting the right property, Trulia can be a nice tool to have in your back pocket.
While there’s a lot to love about Trulia, it’s not as great an option if you’re looking to sell your home. You can’t list your property directly with the website, and it also doesn’t feature a directory of real estate agents like other apps. As a result, it can be a great option to pair with another service like Realtor.com or Redfin if you’re trying to get the whole picture on a property but need another app to source an agent from.
Homesnap
Homesnap has many unique features that some buyers will love, although it lacks some other tools you might need during your real estate journey. Because of this, it may be a bit more niche for some; however, there are still many things that the app gets right, especially in the realm of up-to-date data on homes and sales.
If you’ve paid attention during the past two years, the real estate market has been moving strangely. It was on fire in 2020 and saw a major slump in 2023. Supply, demand, inflation, and unemployment concerns have all contributed to the slump in the market. As a result, getting up-to-date, real-time information is critical to your success. Homesnap excels in this because all homes are pulled from current MLS listings. You won’t have to worry about falling in love with a house sold three months ago or taken off the market while using Homesnap!
Homesnap also comes with built-in messaging tools. This makes it easy to share home details with your partner, real estate agent, or just interested family members living vicariously through your real estate journey.
Since Homesnap sources its listings from multiple listing services, you won’t always get unique listings like for-sale-by-owner or auctions. Homesnap also may not even have a local partnership with the MLS in your area, so it might be worthless. Even so, there are many things to like about the platform, assuming that your area has listings that show up on it.
Xome
Founded in 2015, Xome (pronounced like “Zome”) differs from other platforms because it offers access to real estate auctions rather than traditional listings. While not everyone will be interested in bidding on a home, some features make this platform shine if that is something you’re considering.
One benefit of Xome for buyers and sellers is that it is a complete turnkey solution during every step of the buying process. Even signing mortgage documents (using Docusign) is possible on the platform. All of this makes for an all-in-one platform that is truly all-in-one, although some people may be a bit nervous about completing tasks like valuations online if they haven’t visited the property in person.
If Xome is the eBay of real estate, what’s the process like? For buyers, you’ll need a $1,000 hold placed on your bank account before you can even start bidding. You will bid (make offers) on homes you’re interested in, and if you’re successful, you’ll receive a purchase agreement via email and begin the home-buying process in earnest online.
As a seller, one perk of using Xome is not paying the 6% commission and service fee that the app charges. Instead, a buyer pays this on top of the home's purchase price and other closing costs. This makes the platform skewed towards favoring sellers, although some buyers and real estate investors may be fine with these fees for the right home.
Use Home Insure to Find Affordable Home Insurance
- Get Home (or Rental) Insurance as Low as $19/Month
- Compare rates in minutes
- No cost or obligation to check
- Rates subject to qualification and approval
Summary of the best real estate apps
App | Platform | Price | Rental Listings |
Realtor.com | iOS/Android/Web | Free | Yes |
Zillow | iOS/Android/Web | Free | Yes |
Redfin | iOS/Android/Web | Free | No |
Trulia | iOS/Android/Web | Free | Yes |
Homesnap | iOS/Android/Web | Free | No |
Xome | iOS/Android/Web | Free + 6% service fee when buying | No |
FAQs
Are the apps on this list free?
Yes! All of the apps on this list are free to use and browse. Of course, when you pay for a home using one of the apps above, you will have to pay costs!
What’s the main difference between the app and web version?
In most cases, the app experience will be a bit more user-friendly, but at the cost of some more advanced features. If you’re setting up a very specific alert or type of notification, then it may make sense to use the web platform to perform that task. However, for browsing on the go and getting real-time information wherever you are, it’s hard to beat a phone-based app.
How accurate are the mortgage estimates these apps offer?
While the mortgage amount you qualify for is just an estimate, it’s generally in the ballpark as long as you provide accurate information. Most mortgage calculators use your current income and expenses. This will help paint a rough picture of what you may be able to afford; however, it’s best to get pre-approved from a lender or brokerage before you actually start shopping.
Why you should (or shouldn’t) use a real estate app
Between features like notifications, email alerts, home value estimates, and mortgage calculators, you might want to use the real estate apps above for dozens of reasons. If you’re looking for something specific, you can be alerted when a new home with the number of bedrooms, square footage, or other amenities you’re interested in hits the market. While real estate agents will have access to some listings before they hit places like Redfin or Trulia, for the most part, things will be fed to you in as close to real-time as possible.
If you’re the type of person who easily becomes addicted to social media, be forewarned that looking at home listings can be a major time suck! There’s a reason that Saturday Night Live sketched it after all.
Use Home Insure to Find Affordable Home Insurance
- Get Home (or Rental) Insurance as Low as $19/Month
- Compare rates in minutes
- No cost or obligation to check
- Rates subject to qualification and approval
The bottom line
Real estate apps can be a great way to supercharge your home search or improve your chances of selling your existing property. When it comes to which of these apps is the best for your needs, there are a few different situations you’ll want to consider, but most of the apps have a core feature set that will help the general buyer.
From search filters to email alerts, there are many ways that real estate apps can give you an edge in a competitive market. Give a few of the above apps a quick spin and see which one is the one that makes the most sense for you and your needs. It may be the secret to getting your offer accepted!
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