A few names would have already popped up in your brain by now if you are already a homeowner as you might have heard them from your real estate agent or some research done through your own online surfing. If you are planning to buy a home in the near future or down the road (don’t worry we all will be homeowners soon) take a look at these and, for the homeowners already I want to refresh your home search experience for the next one.
I am writing this blog to explain three things
1. Difference between a Portal and a Brokerage App
- Few of the apps are just portals that advertise the available homes for sale from all the Real Estate Boards in Canada (MLS boards).
- Others are the mobile apps of Real Estate brokerages (with the listing agent or an agent from those brokerages)
2. Choosing the app based on your need
All the apps in this blog have unique features explained below and you can choose what best suits your preference. The apps mentioned in this blog are very helpful in finding resale (not new) homes. I will write a separate blog on Pre-construction homes and where to find them online.
3. Make you understand how the information you gave works behind the screen while searching the homes.
- In the Portal apps, your contact information is shared directly with the agent selling the house you are looking for. So, you will be in contact with the listing agent.
- In the brokerage apps, your contact information is shared with one of the brokerage’s agents. If you like the agent and are willing to proceed further, he/she will communicate with the listing agents of the homes you like and guide you in the process
In some cases, the Agent you are working with for your home buying will suggest a few portals/apps to look for. It is up to you to decide how you want to communicate.
Now let’s jump out of our beloved Kijiji app for our home buying search and look into other apps. All the below apps have features like Map search, saving favorite homes, mortgage & affordability calculators, new home alerts matching your saved criteria, virtual tours and, some of them have additional information. Here are some apps that you can download for your home search
Realtor.ca
- Realtor.ca is the listing portal of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). In this app, you can find all the listings in Canada and, you can find information about any Real Estate Agent/Broker or the Real Estate Brokerage and the Realtors working with the brokerage.
- Realtor.ca is not biased toward any Real Estate brand or Brokerage.
- In this app, you can directly get in touch with the agent who is actually representing the seller and listing the house on the market. When you give your contact information this app will direct the information to the listing Agent.
- You can look for property details without creating an account with Realtor.ca. Also, Realtor.ca will be releasing sold data of the properties Nationwide soon.
Apple Store Link Google Play Store link
Zolo
- Zolo is a brokerage with over 700 agents. Zolo.ca & Zolo mobile apps are one of the most visited home search portals in Canada.
- Zolo can give you the sold data, days on the market and, sold status of the property when you create an account.
- When you request a viewing or more details about any property you will be directed to the Agent who is associated with Zolo in most cases, not the listing agent.
Apple Store Link Google Play Store Link
House Sigma
- House Sigma is also another brokerage on the list with over 125 Agents.
- In addition to sold data, House Sigma app has average days on the market and market trend reports which gives you a complete understanding of the market in a few provinces.
- If you are looking for more information about the market at your fingertips this is the app that gives you. You must signup for an account to view all the information.
Apple Store Link Google Play Store link
Condos.ca
- Condos.ca is a mobile app from the Property.ca Brokerage with around 150 agents based in Toronto.
- This is the best app to search if you are looking to buy a condo or an apartment. The above apps will also have condos and apartment listings but the condos.ca app has a better User Interface in my opinion.
- You need to create an account to see the sold data and also even the images of the property. They also have a property.ca mobile app for the resale home search.
Apple Store Link Google Play Store link
There are a few more mobile apps and real estate websites where you can search for homes, but these are some of the popular apps. Also, when you create an account with any apps you might be receiving emails and SMS alerts related to your search criteria, you can always opt out of them if you no longer wish to receive them.
USA apps like Zillow.ca and Redfin will also work in Canada if you want to take a look. However, let’s see what mobile apps our pals from the USA got for their home search in our next blogs.
See you then…