5 Apps Every Real Estate Agent Should Have on Their iPhone

Posted by Joel Burslem on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 Filed Under: Internet
Tags: iPhone, real estate 2.0, real-estate-technology

42 Comments

iPhone 2.0 turned the iPhone from smartphone to full-fledged pocket computer. Applications continue to pour into the iTunes store and I’ve been experimenting with a lot of them. Here are a few of my favorites, practical applications:

Evernote – Need to keep track of all the contacts and colleagues you meet on the road? Scan their business cards with the iPhone’s camera and Evernote will scan in the information so it’s waiting for you in text form back on your desktop.

Puluwai – The power of location-based, mobile real estate search can be seen in this app. Bare bones for now, and the search results are pretty sketchy – but familiarize yourself with this experience… the future is here.

Yelp – Keep track of your online reputation in Yelp’s reviews with this handy app. Better still… find a good place for lunch when you’re out on the road.

Nearby – On a neighborhood tour with out of town clients? Top up the databanks with useful local landmarks pulled from Platial’s geobits. Better still create your own neighborhood tours on Platial and pull them up on your iPhone.

Sketches – Take a photo of a property you want to email to a client? Use Sketches to mark it up, add arrows and notes right on the photograph.

Any others to add to the list?

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36 Comment(s)

Mike | Aug 6, 2008 | Reply

You forgot the app “I Am Rich”
Galen from Estately | Aug 6, 2008 | Reply

Unfortunately the “I Am Rich” app has been removed.
Seth Parker | Aug 6, 2008 | Reply

Thanks! Just downloaded Sketches, Evernote, and Pulawai. Going to try them out ASAP. I just got my new iPhone and I’m amazed at what it can do.
sjcalimel2000 | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

omnicell would be great add on to real estate.
Chris Mattix | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Do you really think the iPhone is much better than Blackberry? I’ve been contemplating getting one, but have heard of all the shortcomings. I’ve also heard rumors and seen photos of a new phone coming out supposedly 3 quarter of this year by Blackberry. It is called Thunder. It will be BB’s answer to iPhone with touch screen.
Adam | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Thanks for the info about Evernote. Looks like a huge time saver. Check it out now
norman | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

not only for real estate agents…
Thomas Johnson | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Joel: As long as my MLS (Inman Most Innovative Houston Association of REALTORS) refuses to make my MLS system (billion hits and over a million uniques/month) and the Supra system compatible with the Safari browser and iPhone, why should a REALTOR in Houston even have an iPhone, but for the cool factor?
Chip | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

The iPhone version of Evernote is not nearly as polished as the desktop version. Lines of text run off the page, notes can not be edited….my suggestion would be to get the desktop version and learn the app, then hope there’s an update soon to the mobile version.

A far more useful app that’s not on the list is File Magnet. It gives the iPhone a pseudo disk mode by allowing you to carry files with you, but adds the ability to open them: PDF, Word, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, MS Office docs (Word/PP/Excel) and others.
Jason Edwards | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Great post. I love all those apps! And this morning found this accessory: http://www.mophie.com/collections/iphone-3g-accessories

Although, a simple car charger may be cheaper.
Philippe Furlan | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Check the free app: SearchQuest GPS.
It features real estate feature from propertymaps.com
Philippe Furlan | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Every real estate office should have an iPhone app with their brand, their logo, their listing and an easy way to contact them by phone, sms or email.

I developed technology that will enable me to do it at a low cost.

I am ready to work free of charge with one agent or office to demonstrate this new type of advertising for real estate agent or office. I will develop for them a free iPhone app.
Erik | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply

Just an FYI, your Pulawai and Sketches links are reversed.

I’m getting Sketches now off of your recommendation, should be fun if nothing else.
DanITman | Aug 8, 2008 | Reply

How could your forget about Jott! Great app for real estate agents while on the go.

http://jott.com/jotters/index.php/iphone
Cristina | Aug 8, 2008 | Reply

I AM INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW?
Justin from HawaiiLife | Aug 9, 2008 | Reply

Waiting for my Verizon contract to run out so I can switch to AT&T!!!
Frank Jewett | Aug 9, 2008 | Reply

Just a quick correction. It’s “Puluwai”, not “Pulawai”, according to the App Store.
Overland Park Real Estate | Aug 14, 2008 | Reply

Thanks for the heads up on these apps Joel. There are so many new apps popping up on iTunes, its hard to find all the good ones. I also agree that the new iphone is more of a pocket computer then a smart phone. I love it.
Overland Park Real Estate | Aug 14, 2008 | Reply

I also saw an app where you can make your iphone still camera record video but I cant remember the name of it. That may be a useful tool from time to time.
Natalie | Aug 28, 2008 | Reply

Obviously, you’ve already found it, but I love the StreetEasy Real Estate app. It is for NYC only.

http://www.streeteasy.com
Panama City Real Estate | Aug 28, 2008 | Reply

Well, the record video app is still under development from what I hear. They were able to do it with the first gen iPhone, but it could only record like 10 second video clips. I haven’t heard to much from it since the initial news of someone doing it.

Personally, I’m still in love with Aurora Feint
PMZ Real Estate | Dec 22, 2008 | Reply

We’ve developed a mobile app for California Real Estate. Covers most of northern California.

Try it out here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=299294565&mt=8
Real Estate Raj | Mar 25, 2009 | Reply

A really cool app, though not directly real estate is http://www.citysense.com/home.php.
Super intuitive interface, great lay out, and best of all, its free.
Terry | Jun 19, 2009 | Reply

You put Nearby up there but a great app is NearBuy, it’s all classifieds and has a good interface
The Toy Lounge | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply

iPhone apps can make realtors more productive and help keep customers in contact. The Toy Lounge – http://TheToyLounge.com/smallbusiness – makes custom and semi-custom iPhone apps for Realtors and other small and large businesses.
Charleston Real Estate | Oct 29, 2009 | Reply

Nice thoughts!Let me have all those apps in my iphone..hmmmm..Thanks, anyway!
Thomson Comer | Mar 2, 2010 | Reply

A new app to the iTunes store, TrueCost Mortgage, is helpful to realtors, home buyers, and investors. TrueCost computes the total cost of owning a home over a period of time (6 months to 30 years), reporting the true monthly cost of ownership.

It sweeps away all of the confusion of rates and amortization tables, giving realtors, buyers, and investors a single value to evaluate homes and mortgages.

TrueCost Mortgage: http://bit.ly/ahSoHY
Gareth | Apr 16, 2010 | Reply

I’m really surprised the property industry is so slow on the uptake with iPhone technology, there are only a small number of real estate agencies in the UK currently utilizing the technology. My company built ours inhouse with a very limited budget and have already had great success.
Nur | May 20, 2010 | Reply

wow this is amazing.people can really make money out of this.I also know a site where you can learn how to create advertising ideas for iPhone.
Adam Thibideau | Aug 1, 2010 | Reply

iREI Real Estate Invesment App for iPhone!

iREI stands for iReal Estate Investment. It is a tool for analyzing potential rental properties as investments. Enter the property value, closing costs, monthly rental income and all other costs associated with running the property and iREI calculates your Annual Income, Annual Return on Investment, and Break Even Monthly Rental Income.

This is a useful tool for real estate agents who want to show buyers these statistics on the fly while at the property or to make these calculations quick and easy any time! Email the results to yourself or your client with the click of a button! Also great for personal use!

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/irei/id380604691?mt=8
Andrew | Sep 1, 2010 | Reply

Great article. Small businesses definitely can benefit a ton from iPhone apps.

Check out http://www.BiznessApps.com

Were a start up company that let’s businesses create their very own iPhone app for only $39 a month. We have even specialized templates just for realtors.

Mobile apps are about building that connect with with your customers as well as establishing credibility, and what better way than creating your own iPhone app? I highly suggest checking us out.

Andrew Gazdecki
CEO of Bizness Apps
Brian Randy | Sep 4, 2010 | Reply

It looks like there is a great new iPhone app for commercial real estate – a must have for all commercial brokers/agents.

Here is the news: http://www.pr.com/press-release/260012

Learn more at the RealUp blog: http://blog.realup.com

Download the RealUp iPhone app for free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/realup/id385943330
Jessica | Nov 2, 2010 | Reply

There’s also the iphone Home Buyer app, which lets you take notes and photos when visiting properties. You can also locate addresses on the iphone map and schedule inspection times on the calendar.

Try the free version http://itunes.com/app/homebuyer
mrfoxtalbot | Dec 21, 2010 | Reply

The links to the apple store for Sketches and Puluwai are crossed over. I thought you might mwant to correct that.
Cheers.
Joe Nim | Mar 25, 2011 | Reply

Thank you for your post.

There is another useful real estate and mortgage app that you might want to check out, iQualify Pro. It is a new mortgage calculator on the App Store. Has a power feature that allows real estate or loan professionals to pre-qualify their clients in seconds based on their income and other factors such as debt ratios. Great app, but need UI improvement.
Jay | Apr 26, 2011 | Reply

I realize this article was posted some time ago, but I thought readers might be interested in a Real Estate app that my partner and I are working on. It is an app for home buyers to help them evaluate a property/house based upon their own unique needs/requirements. We are launching in May 2011 but have some screenshots on our Facebook page.
A friend and I are in the process of developing a real estate app for home buyers. It helps home buyers evaluate a house/property based upon their own unique needs. We are launching in May 2011 for the iPhone, but we have some screen shots up on our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/Cre8tiveApps