Smartphone Homebuyers: Finding a Home is Now Much Easier

iPhone owners rejoice -- Trulia, the popular home listing site, comes to your phone to allow you to search on-the-go.

A recent article in Newsweek brought to light the recent changes in the process home buyers face now that we’re all technophiles armed with smartphones, MapQuest and a speedy cable or DSL Internet connection. While many buyers do still rely on realtors, brokers and agents to assist them with their search, it’s estimated that more than four of our five home buyers now start looking for a new home online.

Today we’re addressing one of the fastest growing segments of home buyers — those who own smartphones, specifically, Apple’s new must-have toy, the iPhone. As a somewhat fanatical user of this little beauty, I’ve always known that Realtor.com has had a search site specifically created for the iPhone.

But I was delighted to read in the article that Trulia — the very popular, up and coming real estate listing site has an actual application (or “App” as we iPhone owners call them) that allows you to search and review listings right on your phone. According to reviews and information from the Newsweek article, home buyers using the App can now:

• Search for homes by current location (we hope it uses the iPhone G3’s GPS abilities to determine what’s close).
• Ability to map your trip to a home from your current location (again, GPS is the key here).
• Ability to view current open houses.
• It’s easy to call or e-mail the listing agent.