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New Real Estate Apps for the iPad

By
Mortgage and Lending with Fitzgerald Financial, a Division of Monarch Bank

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell

Recently I’ve discovered two iPad apps that most people in our industry will find useful:  ShowYou and HomeSnap.

Think of ShowYou as Instagram for video.  It allows for easy, if menial, video tweaking (by comparison, iMovie, which is Apple’s consumer version of the professional editing suite Final Cut, gives you much-more functionality).  Perhaps more importantly, however, is that ShowYou is about social video sharing—getting your videos views!  And likewise, being able to find videos from friends and others that are relevant to your own liking.  I expect this to grow in popularity over time, as a real alternative to YouTube and Vimeo for those trying to share video.

HomeSnap is very similar to an Android program called “Google Googles.”  Using the “Google Googles” program, one can take photos of barcodes, famous places, and consumer products—among other things—and if the photo is good enough for the software to recognize it as similar to a photograph in their database, the software is able to tell you everything it can about the particular subject of the photograph.  The software is quite accurate and Google’s database is quite extensive.

HomeSnap gives consumers and real-estate professionals alike similar capabilities:  you snap a picture of a home (whether it’s on the market or not) and based off of your picture, your location, and metadata within the app (i.e. median home values in a certain area), you get an estimate of the home’s value, along with estimates on probable square footage and even the amount of rooms (not as sure about the tech behind this feat).

These are two iPad apps that—as I mentioned earlier—further empower both consumers and professionals alike.

 
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

Thanks Bob for sharing,

I know HomeSnap, but not ShowYou.

I'll check!

There are so many great RE applications now for ipad and iphone! There is no way, we can use all of them, but it is helpful to have few fav apps;) I went last week for Realtor.com presentation about mobile tools( most of them are free, btw)~ got tons of very impressive info. Now, I hope to find time to check them:)

May 21, 2012 05:35 AM
Todd Clark - Retired
eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR
Principle Broker Oregon

One that I just discovered, though a little glitchy, well worth it. It is a browser that allows you to visit sites that use Adobe Flash. (Lots of training videos are done that way) It is called iSwifter.

Then another app that is pretty awesome is AgentAid, (Gives you the ability to sign contracts on your iPad) it is an app that is free to download, you can upload your first contract for free, then you upload the other one or two contracts you use all the time for $4.99 each. I've been using it for months and have only spent $14.97. Figure the only time I will have to upload another contract is when the MLS updates the contract. Much better than the $16.99 a month that I was being charged by Docusign to do the same thing.

 

May 21, 2012 05:47 AM
Bob Caldwell
Fitzgerald Financial, a Division of Monarch Bank - Annapolis, MD
VA Mortgage Specialist and Military Relocation Services
There are a few browsers that support flash on the iPad and as glitchy as they often are, they certainly come in handy on more than a few websites.
May 28, 2012 05:10 PM
Diane M. Phillips Realtor 443-286-4365
Frankly Real Estate Inc. - Manchester, MD
Specializing in Carroll Co., MD
Bob ~ Great tips thanks. I'm a new iPad user an can use all te help I can get.
Jul 24, 2012 08:22 AM
Bob Caldwell
Fitzgerald Financial, a Division of Monarch Bank - Annapolis, MD
VA Mortgage Specialist and Military Relocation Services
Thanks I can be of help! The iPad is a fantastic tool if used properly.
Jul 25, 2012 12:18 PM