Lately I have been looking at property in Sydney. I don’t have an immediate intention to buy but I love to browse to see what is available and get a feel for the market.
realestate.com.au released their mobile app in December 2010 and set me with the task to find three of my top dream homes using the app.
Read on to see the houses I found and my review of the app…
The Real Estate app was fairly easy to use and download from the App store or you can download from realestate.com.au.
I like that you can search using the map which gives you a good view of where the property is located. You can share the homes you find on Twitter or email to a friend and contact the agent to find out more – all the functionality you would anticipate from a real estate website.
It is good that you can also view more properties in the area using the map or search for properties in your current location and you can also refine your search by price, number of rooms, property type and land size.
Properties can be saved to a list that is handy to refer back to and also view the open times however I found when I added a number of properties to my list I wasn’t able to see the available open times.
I used the app to search for what I consider dream homes and here is what I found:
Dream Home #1 – “The Palm Beach Paradise”
+ Link: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-palm+beach-112212199
Dream Home #2 – “The Gissing House”
+ Link: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-wahroonga-111553447
Dream Home #3 - "The Byron Bay Beauty"
+ Link: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-byron+bay-111823295
My suggestions to further improve the app would be to allow for keyword searches. I have a keen interest in mid century property and it would be great to be able to search by related keywords or search by the age of the property.
Another suggestion would be to show summaries for all properties from the search listings page. I noticed some properties were missing the short summary although there was a further description when viewing the property details.
Overall I rate the app 3.5 out of 5 and I feel the suggested improvements would greatly enhance the app. The Saved Properties list and Open Times would be handy to refer to when planning weekend house hunting and I would love to see this working. In the meantime the app is handy to search for properties by suburb or your current location when you are out and about.
Please note: I reviewed the app using iPhone 4. I also briefly reviewed the app using an Android phone and found the Open Times functionality was not available. You can download the app via http://www.mobile.realestate.com.au
i love the Palm Beach house ... We are actually looking to buy so please keep on sending
ReplyDeletei live on that app - but i've been using it for at least a year and a half? Unless it's a new one that just launched? looks the same?!!? (i use the adroid one) i'm obsessed - i alone would boost their rates of use if they monitor such things! I keep checking for more houses in my area for sale several times a day just in case the site was updated! ha! hate this market at the moment. no one is selling where we are looking and those that are selling are either too "done", too small, too crap or of course the other end is too expensive. nothing in the middle. i need an app that allows me to contact owners of properties i really like to find out if they're interested in selling!!! that would be good!!!
ReplyDeleteBuy the Gissing House so that I can visit and chill out by the pool ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I got the date wrong! It was released in December 2010. I've updated the post. Totally agree re: the property market right now. It's rare for gems to pop up. I came across one recently - ticked all the boxes and got my heart racing. Turns out the price is a bazillion times out of my price range. I like your idea belinda! I'd be flattered if someone asked me if I'm interested in selling. But most people want the brick mcmansion in my area. All the weatherboard homes are being knocked down.
ReplyDeletetoo deco . i like the frenchie :)
ReplyDeleteBuy me the Gissing House? *dreaming*
ReplyDeletesure help me make money first :)
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