center city phoenix real estate

I have crazy love for my little iphone and crazy love for the little apps I download from time to time.

Thanksgiving night (way past midnight) I could be found giggling to myself as I downloaded and played with my new favorite app:  Zosh ($2.99).  Zosh is not only great for a REALTOR, like me, but it’s great for clients in a real estate transaction.  As a REALTOR I can write a contract on my iphone and have my clients initial and sign the contract right there on my phone.  SERIOUSLY!!  It turns my sweet iphone into the oft-fantasized MacTablet.  The Zosh app is great for anyone who has to turn around a signature while on the go.  I can see myself using it to upload a registration form for my daughter’s next dance class in addition to many other things.  At the moment Zosh uploads only PDF files but things change quickly so keep your eyes peeled.

Zipforms ($9.99) has an iphone app too.  It’s not a consumer app but if you are a REALTOR using an iphone it’s a good tool.  It’s made great with the addition of Zosh.  Zipforms allows you to complete a “form” that will integrate into your contract forms but you can’t actually write the contract on the iphone.  Zosh lets you actually write it.

Blue Atlas 3 (Free) is a map-centric real estate search tool using Google’s real estate database.  It’s not the MLS but it’s a great way to add or eliminate properties you want your REALTOR to show you.  As a homeowner, I love to be able to see what is listed in my neighborhood, quickly and easily.

Walk Score (Free) is another big favorite of mine.  Use it to check out properties or areas you are considering (rental or purchase).  I have investors that use it to eliminate or include neighborhoods in their searches.

Zillow (Free) it’s a map-based search program that will show houses for sale and ‘zestimates’ for the nearby houses not for sale.  It uses your GPS to find your location and show you all the houses around you.  I like to use the app when I’m on vacation and curious about the gillion dollar beach houses that I’m passing by.

Trapster (Free) is many, many things.  As the name may suggest, trapster is first and foremost a speed trap alert system.  As a trapster user you can add a location to the map of a current speed trap, camera, etc.  Trapster will also show you bank, gas station, police station, fire station and school locations on the trapmap.  That’s all well and good but the ‘my trips’ function is the meat of this app for me.  The first time I used it was a long drive to Carpinteria, CA alone with my kids.  I shared the URL of my trip with Steffan and he followed along the trip with us.  We took photos along the way and sent him notes as we progressed across the desert.  It occurred to me that when starting a day of showing with my client I could open a trip and have it record our locations, we take photos of houses (or don’t – some aren’t worth the effort) and I hand my clients my iphone (or they are using their own) and they record their notes on on each house.  At the end of the day we share the URL and a record exists of what and where we ventured.  I’ve only used the ‘my trips’ function once with a client.  Their favorite part was sharing the day with family and friends who weren’t with us.

Others worth checking out: HomeFinder (using Trulia or Googlebase databases), Trulia and layar.

Happy app hunting.