Five Smart Ways To Use Your Smartphone For Your Chicagoland House Hunt

Whether you're buying or selling a home, there is simply no better resource than a dedicated, knowledgeable agent who has your best interests in mind. However, tech-savvy home buyers and sellers have any number of options to choose from in making better, more informed buying and selling decisions. Learn about five great ways you can use your smartphone for your Chicagoland house hunt. 

1. Learn The Basics With The Real Estate Dictionary By Farlex And The BiggerPockets Apps

When you're just starting out on your real estate journey, the complex jargon of real estate deals can seem intimidating. While a qualified, caring agent is your best option, it can be reassuring to know that when you're looking up your common questions, you can trust the answers you're seeing. Free dictionary provider Farlex, known for its free online dictionaries and reference materials, has created the Real Estate Dictionary smartphone application, which allows users to access thousands of real estate definitions and hundreds of images from multiple real estate, mortgage, and financial dictionaries, instantly and at no cost. 

Especially useful for first time buyers or sellers, the Farlex Real Estate Dictionary smartphone app allows users to ensure that they completely understand any terms that might be thrown around during the home search or closing process. Users who are not familiar with a term can search phonetically using the native voice feature to look up a word just by saying it. 

Similarly, the BiggerPockets application allows users to search for answers to less common questions by posting queries in the app's forums, engaging an online community of experienced real estate investors. The app also contains a wealth of reference materials and articles geared toward new investors. Advanced investors who are searching for ways to manage their portfolio and rental properties can graduate to the app's professional version, which includes free legal forms, real estate calculators, and other features.

2. Use Your Smartphone To Check Out Neighborhood Amenities

Whether you're searching for your new dream home or trying to explain what makes your current home special, knowing as much as possible about your neighborhood is a great way to ensure that you're finding the right home for you, or showing your existing home to its best advantage.

The AroundMe and Google Maps smartphone apps allow buyers and sellers to evaluate nearby amenities, such as movie theaters, restaurants, supermarkets, coffee shops, museums, cultural opportunities, and more. A must-have for house-hunters, these applications will allow you to evaluate whether a potential neighborhood has the amenities you're looking for at a glance, taking at least some of the guesswork out of choosing a new place. 

3. Search The Market Using Zenlist, HomeSnap, Or The Mobile-Friendly Baird & Warner Website

No smartphone app can replace a seasoned, knowledgeable agent when it comes to providing information that buyers and sellers can trust. However, there are a number of ways for potential buyers and sellers to find valuable information that can make them more informed - and more comfortable - on their real estate journey.

Zenlist provides users with easy-to-filter information about homes for sale, including photos, virtual tours, and publicly available information. While you'll need to ask your agent to invite you before you can get started using Zenlist, this application is the best tool in the Chicagoland area to find private listings and listings for homes that have not yet made it to market.

Similarly, HomeSnap's smartphone app provides its users with the same accurate, real-time information that agents use to facilitate your house hunt. Users have access to HD photos, school zone information, property lines, property history, and much more. 

If you'd rather find the same up-to-the-minute information without downloading yet another app to your phone, check out the mobile-friendly Baird & Warner website. With easy-to-search listings organized by neighborhood, school district, or zip code, the Baird & Warner search tool allows you to see Chicagoland's best properties with the tap of a button.

4. Plan Your Dream Home With Room Planner

Changing homes during a pandemic is a challenge in and of itself, especially if your move isn't local. Planning out furniture layouts, the best pieces to buy for your new place, and ensuring your new place meets your aesthetic are difficult tasks in the best of times - during a pandemic move, they become tougher than ever. However, with even just basic information about your new digs, augmented reality and 3D modeling applications can allow you to see how your current (or new!) furniture will fit and look in your new home. Experimenting with different layouts, planning each room, and deciding on new pieces can all make your new home purchase more exciting and a smoother experience.

Home Design 3D is a great smartphone app that allows you to build a virtual model of your new home based on measurements or photos and then simply use the app's virtual tools to decorate it by tapping, dragging and dropping. Tools offered by specific furniture sellers can also provide great ways to see how new pieces will fit in your new home. Houzz can show you a variety of products in augmented reality, and Amazon's AR View application allows you to use your smartphone to see how pieces will look at home. 

If you're interesting in switching up your new home, paint apps like this one offered by Sherwin-Williams can help you narrow down your color choices for your new place by allowing you to take a photo of a wall and check out different color options. 

5. Check Out Other Apps That Make Your Home Purchase Easier

Your home purchase or sale is likely going to require a lot of paperwork and a lot of signatures. The dotloop mobile app can make signing and returning documents easier, avoiding the hassle of going to an office or trying to find a place to print and sign many common home purchase or sale documents. 

The LandGlide parcel property lines application allows you to search the parcel records for potential properties, including information about the property's current owner, acreage, square footage, last transfer date, school district, and other information. This app can help you quickly compare the features of different properties, and can simplify your research and empower you as a purchaser. 

Finally, the Baird & Warner Mortgage Calculator allows home purchasers to take their research into their own hands. The calculator is a great way for homebuyers to get a quick understanding of what their mortgage payments might look like, allowing for quick comparisons of different property prices and mortgage offers. 

When Home Means More, You Need A Team With More To Offer

Once you've armed yourself with all the knowledge your smartphone has to offer, it's time to chat with a knowledgeable agent. Home is about so much more than just four walls. Buying or selling a home is a big deal, and our homes have never been more important. That's why your local Baird & Warner agent is with you at every step of the way, from finding the perfect home to connecting you with local experts in mortgage and title. Whether it's the beginning of a story or the end of a chapter, we're here to help.