Buying a home is a nasty, arduous and blessed task. It’s further complicated by the glaringly obvious fact that nobody makes any money until you buy. The feeling that you are so much meat waiting to be ground into sausage rarely goes away.

I should know. I am in the process of moving from the lovely state of Wisconsin to sunny California—specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area. There are, shall we say, some bracing differences in the two real estate markets, and not just in terms of price. (Did you say the actual ground beneath your feet sometimes … moves?)

Big Market For Real Estate Apps

Luckily for me and everyone else in the market, there are many useful real estate apps available across all major smartphone platforms. In fact, there are so many good real estate apps that it can be hard to choose the best one.

This shouldn’t be too surprising. The housing market in the U.S. is valued at about $10 trillion. Numerous companies are eagerly hoping to carve out a slice of this sizable American pie—and garner your loyalty—by helping you choose among the 70 million homes located throughout the country.

Zillow, for example, recently began airing this television commercial.

Having viewed nearly as many apps as properties in my ongoing search for a home, I can recommend these three: Trulia, Zillow and Redfin.

They each provide you with an abundance of listings and include the most important details of nearly every home displayed. Each app can text new listing alerts directly to your phone. You can also search for properties using the smartphone’s GPS, or input an address or city into the app’s search bar.

All three are available on iPhone, iPad and Android, and are all free. All three also have companion websites, with additional layers of information available, such as school rankings and property taxes. 

1. Trulia

Trulia is my favorite of the bunch, with a simple, intuitive design and ample listings of properties for sale and rent—along with links to open houses and agents. You can search by city or address, although I found it most useful to let the GPS service provide a map of all nearby homes for sale (within my specified criteria). As you drive through an area, the map can adjust, updating the homes quickly as your position changes.

With Trulia, it’s also very easy to set-up notifications and to save your searches. These may be linked to their website, so you can review your favorites on your laptop later. 

Trulia’s app often displays a small ad-sized listing of an agent across their map. At the beginning, this is helpful. After you’ve selected an agent, it becomes annoying. I would have been happy to pay about $2 for the app, say, to ditch these ads.

Trulia makes it a snap to get turn-by-turn directions to any property listed, and to quickly text your spouse of your latest find. You can also sort listings by price, features (e.g. number of bedrooms), and by “newest” listing – which can be very useful to know.

Use Trulia and you’ll wonder how people searched for homes before smartphones existed. 

2. Zillow

Because of the ease of use of the Trulia app, I have placed it above Zillow. The breadth of information that Zillow offers on each listing, however, makes it a must-have for your home search.

Zillow includes a photo tour of the property, a sales history and an estimate of its current value.

Spoiler alert: for the Bay Area, at least, the price estimate is wildly under-valued. This fact somewhat diminishes the Schaedenfreude of discovering that seemingly every buyer in the past ten years has lost a small fortune. 

Zillow includes a handy “draw” feature which lets you swipe an area on the map that then displays the listings within that area. The app also claims to include “pre-market” properties—those which may be coming on to the market soon. This might be a great feature, though I never saw any such properties in the Bay Area. And I would have jumped at them.

If you love good house porn, Zillow is the app for you.

3. Redfin

Redfin is also very good. The app provides a simple, yet robust search interface. You can search by GPS, type in a city or street—or even an MLS number—and narrow these down across several search criteria. These can include price, square footage, year built, number of baths and much more. 

For me, Redfin’s best feature was letting me know if a house was already “pending”—meaning, an offer had been made. This saved me a great deal of time. 

Redfin also lets you check out homes that have recently sold and for how much. This turned out to be extremely helpful information and has aided my subsequent searches.

Note: Redfin appeared to have as many or more listings than either Trulia or Zillow, at least within the Bay Area. In my personal app tests, looking for sales data in other states yielded fewer results.

Location, Location, App

I sometimes tell people that there are so many apps that they need to download three great ones, no more, and focus. But that’s not quite true.

While I do highly recommend all of the apps above, there remains that nagging uncertainty that some awesome property is out there, ready to slip away if I don’t reach for an alternative. So here are several backups for the paranoid house-hunters out there (i.e., all of you):

1. Foreclosures Real Estate

In the Bay Area, at least, a shocking majority of houses for sale are, in fact, houses in foreclosure. It may be the same where you are searching.

This app lists foreclosures, short sales, HUD homes and auction properties. 

2. For Sale By Owner

This app claims to be the “only” one to provide properties that are exclusively for sale by owner. It contains over 30,000 listings. As most listings in other apps are taken from the MLS, this app clearly serves a purpose.

3. Realtor.com

A very well-designed app from the National Association of Realtors. Not surprisingly, it appears to contain as many listings as any of my top three. This app also provides better in-app data on schools.

That said, I found my top three easier to navigate, and their information better optimized for my iPhone’s screen. 

4. HomeSnap

This is a popular app that includes all the available MLS listings. Its claim to fame is that the app lets you take a picture of a house and—based on the GPS data embedded in the photo—get back the sales information on that property.

I have yet to use this feature.

5. Google Glass

If you’re one of the very few people possessing Google Glass, I am not, there are already real estate apps available for you. According to the New York Times, both Trulia and Zillow offer Google Glass apps.

6. Agents and Brokers

I found no compelling reason to choose a particular realtor’s app over any of those listed above.

Article source: http://readwrite.com/2013/07/02/real-estate-apps-from-android-to-zillow

Article source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Poverty-Growing-Faster-In-Bay-Area-Suburbs-168811506.html

Austin Allison grinned.

“This looks great; it’s a hip, high-tech vibe,” he said, snapping photos with his iPhone. “It’s open, collaborative space.”

Allison, 26, was seeking a San Francisco base for DotLoop, the technology company he founded in his hometown of Cincinnati three years ago.

He and his wife, Angela Allison, 28, who runs a decorative painting company, plan to relocate to the city this month with their Yorkshire terrier, Paris.

The couple’s move and their quest for living and work space epitomize a modern-day migration being played out continually in the city. San Francisco’s pull as a high-tech hub and cachet as a place to live is drawing growing numbers of entrepreneurs and technology workers who move here from as nearby as Mountain View or as far away as India.

“The Bay Area has one of the most educated and creative workforces anywhere on the planet,” said Gabriel Metcalf, president of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. “For companies trying to be innovative, the Bay Area is one of the best locations there is. This sets up a ‘virtuous cycle’: The more companies that locate here, the more talent wants to be here, which then improves the attractiveness to more companies.”

Since early 2010, San Francisco’s number of tech sector workers has grown by 13,000, hitting 44,000, according to an analysis of state Employment Development Department data, said Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis at CNRE, a commercial real estate firm.

Growing tech hub

In the same time frame, 150 tech firms have set up shop in the city, bringing the total number of such enterprises to 1,850.

Meanwhile, 18 firms from outside the city are seeking office space here.

“We’re seeing the office market explode with an influx of tech companies,” said Donnette Clarens of Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, DotLoop’s broker.

The Allisons – high school sweethearts – did an initial foray in May, seeking a base for DotLoop and an apartment for themselves, and lost out on some places by not pouncing quickly enough. They returned for two whirlwind days of hunting in late June.

Austin Allison dropped out of his second year of law school in 2009 to found DotLoop, which automates paperwork for real estate agents. Launched with angel capital, the company became profitable in 17 months, he said. In May, to accelerate growth, it took $7 million in funding from Trinity Ventures.

San Francisco is the clear place for that expansion to happen, he said.

“San Francisco has a talent pool that is different and more robust than the talent pool that exists in the Midwest,” he said. “Our office here will become our bleeding-edge tech arm, but our internal operations will stay in Cincinnati.”

He wants to hire 10 to 20 people in San Francisco within the next year. Having an office that projects the right vibe – “fun, cool, energetic, with lots of natural light, high ceilings and an open floor plan” and near amenities and transit – is a key part of recruitment, he said. Another big consideration is flexibility: a space that can grow with the company, or a shorter lease period in case it needs to relocate.

Then there’s price. “We want to be scrappy and prudent, but we don’t want to scrimp by holing up in a cave,” he said.

Average rents

DotLoop wanted to pay in the mid-$40s per square foot per year. That’s on target with the city’s first-quarter average rent of $46.66 a square foot, as tracked by Jones Lang LaSalle, which notes that rates are up 39 percent from the market bottom in 2010. The firm needs about 2,000 square feet to start.

Austin Allison has a strong preference to be in SoMa, near other up-and-coming tech firms. SoMa’s vacancy rate is 3.8 percent, Jones Lang LaSalle said; it hasn’t been that low since the height of the dot-com boom in 2000.

While incubator spaces offer flexibility, he feels DotLoop is past the startup phase of working cheek by jowl with other nascent companies, just as people outgrow group houses after college.

“We are a real company with products, revenue and customers, not a three-person startup with an idea,” he said. “Our space should reflect that.”

Like other tech folks, he eschews the type of traditional offices inhabited by lawyers and accountants.

That’s spurred an odd trend downtown: Landlords rip out walls and ceilings so Class A offices will look more like old warehouses.

“They are exposing natural brick that’s been sheet-rocked up for years, opening up the ceilings, trying to maximize window lines to get great light,” Clarens said. “It’s all about making it more attractive to creative-user tenants.”

Austin Allison made offers on two offices: A space one floor above the open-floor-plan Second Street office and a cheaper sublet. After two weeks of negotiations, DotLoop signed for the Second Street space, agreeing to a two-year lease on 1,900 square feet in the low $40s. A big plus was a contiguous office that will be available in a year, offering room to grow.

Housing budget

On the housing front, the Allisons were in the lucky position of having a $4,000-a-month budget. At that price range, they didn’t have to deal with cattle-call open houses where dozens of hopefuls jostle for favor with a rental agent.

Still, it was competitive. In May, they were surprised when apartments they toured got snapped up within hours.

The couple’s apartment wish list mirrored that for DotLoop’s office space.

“We’re steeped in that world of lofts with high ceilings and an industrial feel,” Angela said. “Most San Francisco places are older in style; SoMa and South Beach are the only areas with robust modern architecture.”

They decided to boost their monthly budget to $6,000, because a second bedroom to host DotLoop’s Cincinnati employees was a must.

They looked at condos being sublet and apartments for rent in several high-end high-rises: The Infinity near the Ferry Building, the Paramount and the Metropolitan in SoMa.

Sticker shock

A converted loft in a smaller building in Mint Plaza appealed to both for its industrial aesthetic – but it had just one bedroom. At the Brannan in South Park, a stunning view of the bay and ATT Park was a draw, but the $6,000-a-month condo’s biggest pluses were that it came fully furnished in a sleek, modern style; had two bed/bath suites separated by the living/dining room; and was near Highway 101 for quick access to SFO.

They decided to go for it and signed a one-year lease.

Not surprisingly, the couple had some sticker shock.

“Our Cincinnati condo is about $350,000; it easily would be $1.5 million out here,” Austin said. “Our Cincinnati office is less than $10 a square foot. It’s extremely competitive out here; the landlord has more leverage to dictate how the game is played.”

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Tech-firms-seeks-perfect-space-in-S-F-3691082.php

Dropbox: The Inside Story Of Tech’s Hottest Startup

Victoria Barret
Forbes Staff

Will Facebook’s IPO Mark The Beginning Of The End?

Eric Savitz
Forbes Staff

Y Combinator Start-Ups: Guess Which Will Be Worth A Billion

Nicole Perlroth
Forbes Staff

Real estate can tell you a lot about people and markets.

Hundreds of Web-savvy startups have sprung up in San Francisco’s oldest buildings in the South of Market district (called “SOMA” for shorthand). So behind that sleek new Apple iPhone whatever-it-does application are a bunch of software developers crowded into a brick building that 100 years ago housed a meat warehouse, a button factory, or maybe a flophouse. Best of all (for those who enjoy irony), that same startup labored, even spent a few grand, to make sure their former warehouse looks nothing like: an office.

Original bricks are a must, according to Hugh Scott and Travis James who help run the technology practice at real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. “The funkier the better,” says Scott. This duo have spent the past decade landing homes for startups in the Bay area.

Exposed pipes are another top request. These used to be out of cheap necessity, in buildings where landlords were too stingy to shell out for even ceilings. But now tenants are willing to pay for what used to be done out of thrift. Scott and James have seen several tenants add $15 to $20 a square foot to their costs of moving in by asking that the ceilings be ripped out and the pipes cleaned to get that cheap chic look. For landlords, ceiling-free space is commanding a 10-20% premium.

One highly sought-after space was previously the storage closet for the nightclub below. What’s hipper than having your startup next to a night club? (Hint: the answer rhymes with “hip club”.)

Dogs are another a must-have accessory for today’s startups. This request tends to rule out any buildings owned by real estate investment trusts, which typically put “no pets” clauses in contracts.

Commercial rents in most cities are below 2007 levels. Meanwhile SOMA is commanding a hefty premium. Rents have jumped 35% just in the last two years, with some deals hovering around $50 per square foot — matching rates in Palo Alto’s most desired corridors, including the famous Sand Hill Road.

“Most spaces are seeing upwards of four offers,” says James, before smiling suddenly as a text message comes in and he adds: “We submitted an offer sheet for a place last Wednesday. Heard back yesterday, and now I’m hearing we’ve got just 24 hours to make a decision.” James sprints back and forth between downtown San Francisco and Palo Alto, alternatively finessing newly-picky landlords and networking with venture capitalists in the hopes meeting up and coming startups.

While rents here are soaring, they’re still not near the last bubble’s levels. That could mean this is less of a bubble, or simply reflect new buildings that have sprung up in SOMA. Scott and James aren’t sure. Another intriguing difference this time around: rents might be a leading indicator instead of lagging when it comes to the performance of tech’s all-encompassing NASDAQ stock index. Take a look (rent rates provided by Jones Lang LaSalle):

Some companies, notably Facebook, Dropbox, and Airbnb, have so far managed to avoid the headaches of going public while still raising IPO-size amounts, from venture capitalists. Social networking tool company Jive landed $120 million in its December IPO. Dropbox meanwhile scored twice that, $250 million, in its private funding round months earlier. If there is froth this time, it isn’t showing up in the NASDAQ.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/01/17/what-san-francisco-real-estate-tells-us-about-this-technology-boom/

San Francisco, CA – December 22, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, Redfin launched Redfin for iPad, a home-buying app that combines the best real estate data with an industry-first “swipeable” interface. This app follows on the success of Redfin for Android, the highest-rated real estate app in Android Market.

Redfin for iPad’s unique interface uses the iPad’s large screen size to display area maps, thumbnails of homes for sale, listing details and galleries of full-screen photos, all on one page that customers navigate by swiping, rather than going back and forth between pages. Also, no other iPad application combines Redfin’s rich feature set with listing data directly from the Multiple Listing Services used by brokers. As a result Redfin for iPad shows users all the homes for sale, in more detail than any other application can provide.

Redfin for iPad is a combination of the features enjoyed on Redfin’s top-rated Android and iPhone apps and the fun and fast interaction of iPad’s high-resolution screen. Additional Redfin for iPad features include:

• Full detail on every listing, with more than 20 fields for each home in the native application, and dozens more a tap away;
• Full-screen photos, for luscious detail on every bathroom and kitchen;
• Full price history, so users see how a listing’s price has changed since its debut;
• Photo upload, so users can add photos taken by the iPad camera to a listing already on Redfin’s site;
• Agent Insights, which give iPad users comments from Redfin agents with firsthand experience of a listing;
• Price-drop notifications, so users can follow a listing via iPad and get email updates when its price drops or its status changes;
• Syncs with Redfin’s website, so that favorite listings, crossed-out listings, private notes and home-tour schedules are the same on the device and on the web.

“We designed this app from the ground up to take advantage of the crisp screen and large size of the iPad’s display,” said Sasha Aickin, Redfin’s Chief Technology Officer. “Customers told us they want one page that shows the map view, a list of homes and details and photos of individual listings. Rather than having to browse back and forth between views, with Redfin for iPad, they’ve seen the map, narrowed their search, viewed the listing and are halfway to talking to a Redfin agent while other applications would still be loading the map for the fourth time.”

The areas of the United States served by the iPad app are the same as those served by Redfin’s website, which include the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, Washington DC, New York’s Long Island and Westchester County as well as the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Palm Springs.

The app continues to deliver on Redfin’s commitment to combine technology and service to make the home-buying process better, from start to finish. Redfin for iPad not only allows buyers to search for homes, but also gives them fast, mobile access to agents who specialize in their search area, and unique insights from agents who have seen the homes. During the next year, Redfin will continue marrying technology and service throughout the home-buying and selling processes.

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry’s first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin’s agents handle every facet of a transaction, including tours, pricing analyses, negotiations, inspections and closings. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey alongside the agent’s complete deal history. Redfin’s service is available in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, OR, Seattle, Washington DC, New York’s Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

• Redfin Releases Native Real Estate Search Application for Android Mobile Devices
  San Francisco, CA – July 19, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Redfin today released Redfin for Android, a map-driven real estate search application for mobile devices using Google’s Android operating system….

• Barrett Co Real Estate reaches Greater Boston home buyers with custom iPhone/iPad App
  Concord, MA – May 31, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Barrett Company Real Estate has expanded their mobile MLS IDX reach with the addition of a complimentary, custom Massachusetts Real Estate App for the iPad iPhone. With Verizon’s launch of the iPhone, Apple’s recent launch of iPad 2, and over 10 million iPads sold in 2010, Executive Director of…

• RE/MAX Agents Receive Exclusive iPad App for Listing Presentations
  Anaheim, CA – November 11, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — NAR Convention – RE/MAX agents worldwide will soon be pulling out their Apple iPads when meeting with prospective home sellers, using one of the real estate industry’s first iPad App for listing presentations called “RE/MAX Presenter,” an innovative and intuitive application developed exclusively for RE/MAX agents….

• Homes.com Adds New iPad App to its Mobile Portfolio
  NORFOLK, VA – November 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Homes Media Solutions, sister real estate brand of For Rent Media Solutions™ and branch of Dominion Enterprises, announced today the expansion of the Homes.com mobile suite with the release of its iPad application for home and rental searches. The Homes.com iPad application joins the company’s widely successful release of home search…

• Stan Jones Santa Fe Real Estate Launches Free Mobole Santa Fe Real Estate Application For All Mobile Platforms
  Santa Fe, NM – February 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Stan Jones Santa Fe Real Estate/ Sotheby’s International Realty in Santa Fe, NM today announced the launch of a free mobile application and mobile web search that works on standard cell phones, smart phones, and iPads across all mobile carriers, allowing consumers to view all homes for sale in Santa…

• • Seattle, King County receive more than $21.8 million in federal homeless assistance grants
  • RKF SECURES CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN FIRST MEN’S BOUTIQUE IN THE U.S. AT TF CORNERSTONE’S 808-10 WASHINGTON ST. IN THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT
  • Governor McDonnell Asks for Additional Earthquake Recovery Assistance for Homeowners and Local Governments
  • Redfin Launches iPad App, Featuring Real Estate Industry’s First Swipeable Interface
  • HUD EXPANDS SERVICES TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PUBLIC IN 175 LANGUAGES

• • Canyon Gate Real Estate Services’ Vice President Kim Corcoran Named to APCM Board of Directors
  • Governor Haley to sign South Carolina REALTORS® Point of Sale bill Monday
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® Release August Market Numbers
  • 1Casa Real Estate Agency – Offers Cheap Spanish Properties like Business, Villas and Bar in Spain
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • 1Casa Real Estate Agency – Offers Cheap Spanish Properties like Business, Villas and Bar in Spain

Article source: http://www.realestaterama.com/2011/12/22/redfin-launches-ipad-app-featuring-real-estate-industrys-first-swipeable-interface-ID013509.html

San Francisco, CA – December 22, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, Redfin launched Redfin for iPad, a home-buying app that combines the best real estate data with an industry-first “swipeable” interface. This app follows on the success of Redfin for Android, the highest-rated real estate app in Android Market.

Redfin for iPad’s unique interface uses the iPad’s large screen size to display area maps, thumbnails of homes for sale, listing details and galleries of full-screen photos, all on one page that customers navigate by swiping, rather than going back and forth between pages. Also, no other iPad application combines Redfin’s rich feature set with listing data directly from the Multiple Listing Services used by brokers. As a result Redfin for iPad shows users all the homes for sale, in more detail than any other application can provide.

Redfin for iPad is a combination of the features enjoyed on Redfin’s top-rated Android and iPhone apps and the fun and fast interaction of iPad’s high-resolution screen. Additional Redfin for iPad features include:

• Full detail on every listing, with more than 20 fields for each home in the native application, and dozens more a tap away;
• Full-screen photos, for luscious detail on every bathroom and kitchen;
• Full price history, so users see how a listing’s price has changed since its debut;
• Photo upload, so users can add photos taken by the iPad camera to a listing already on Redfin’s site;
• Agent Insights, which give iPad users comments from Redfin agents with firsthand experience of a listing;
• Price-drop notifications, so users can follow a listing via iPad and get email updates when its price drops or its status changes;
• Syncs with Redfin’s website, so that favorite listings, crossed-out listings, private notes and home-tour schedules are the same on the device and on the web.

“We designed this app from the ground up to take advantage of the crisp screen and large size of the iPad’s display,” said Sasha Aickin, Redfin’s Chief Technology Officer. “Customers told us they want one page that shows the map view, a list of homes and details and photos of individual listings. Rather than having to browse back and forth between views, with Redfin for iPad, they’ve seen the map, narrowed their search, viewed the listing and are halfway to talking to a Redfin agent while other applications would still be loading the map for the fourth time.”

The areas of the United States served by the iPad app are the same as those served by Redfin’s website, which include the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, Washington DC, New York’s Long Island and Westchester County as well as the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Palm Springs.

The app continues to deliver on Redfin’s commitment to combine technology and service to make the home-buying process better, from start to finish. Redfin for iPad not only allows buyers to search for homes, but also gives them fast, mobile access to agents who specialize in their search area, and unique insights from agents who have seen the homes. During the next year, Redfin will continue marrying technology and service throughout the home-buying and selling processes.

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry’s first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin’s agents handle every facet of a transaction, including tours, pricing analyses, negotiations, inspections and closings. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey alongside the agent’s complete deal history. Redfin’s service is available in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, OR, Seattle, Washington DC, New York’s Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

• Redfin Releases Native Real Estate Search Application for Android Mobile Devices
  San Francisco, CA – July 19, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Redfin today released Redfin for Android, a map-driven real estate search application for mobile devices using Google’s Android operating system….

• Barrett Co Real Estate reaches Greater Boston home buyers with custom iPhone/iPad App
  Concord, MA – May 31, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Barrett Company Real Estate has expanded their mobile MLS IDX reach with the addition of a complimentary, custom Massachusetts Real Estate App for the iPad iPhone. With Verizon’s launch of the iPhone, Apple’s recent launch of iPad 2, and over 10 million iPads sold in 2010, Executive Director of…

• RE/MAX Agents Receive Exclusive iPad App for Listing Presentations
  Anaheim, CA – November 11, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — NAR Convention – RE/MAX agents worldwide will soon be pulling out their Apple iPads when meeting with prospective home sellers, using one of the real estate industry’s first iPad App for listing presentations called “RE/MAX Presenter,” an innovative and intuitive application developed exclusively for RE/MAX agents….

• Homes.com Adds New iPad App to its Mobile Portfolio
  NORFOLK, VA – November 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Homes Media Solutions, sister real estate brand of For Rent Media Solutions™ and branch of Dominion Enterprises, announced today the expansion of the Homes.com mobile suite with the release of its iPad application for home and rental searches. The Homes.com iPad application joins the company’s widely successful release of home search…

• Stan Jones Santa Fe Real Estate Launches Free Mobole Santa Fe Real Estate Application For All Mobile Platforms
  Santa Fe, NM – February 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Stan Jones Santa Fe Real Estate/ Sotheby’s International Realty in Santa Fe, NM today announced the launch of a free mobile application and mobile web search that works on standard cell phones, smart phones, and iPads across all mobile carriers, allowing consumers to view all homes for sale in Santa…

• • Seattle, King County receive more than $21.8 million in federal homeless assistance grants
  • RKF SECURES CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN FIRST MEN’S BOUTIQUE IN THE U.S. AT TF CORNERSTONE’S 808-10 WASHINGTON ST. IN THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT
  • Governor McDonnell Asks for Additional Earthquake Recovery Assistance for Homeowners and Local Governments
  • Redfin Launches iPad App, Featuring Real Estate Industry’s First Swipeable Interface
  • HUD EXPANDS SERVICES TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PUBLIC IN 175 LANGUAGES

• • Canyon Gate Real Estate Services’ Vice President Kim Corcoran Named to APCM Board of Directors
  • Governor Haley to sign South Carolina REALTORS® Point of Sale bill Monday
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® Release August Market Numbers
  • 1Casa Real Estate Agency – Offers Cheap Spanish Properties like Business, Villas and Bar in Spain
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • The NH Department of Revenue Administration’s Annual Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief
  • South Carolina REALTORS® UnConference a Success
  • 1Casa Real Estate Agency – Offers Cheap Spanish Properties like Business, Villas and Bar in Spain

Article source: http://www.realestaterama.com/2011/12/22/redfin-launches-ipad-app-featuring-real-estate-industrys-first-swipeable-interface-ID013509.html

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Nov 17, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Zephyr Real Estate once again leads the race in technology advances
for the real estate industry. San Francisco home shoppers need look
no further than their iPhone to find every available listing in the
city with Zephyr Real Estate Search, now available in the iTunes
Store.

The Zephyr MLS-powered search makes it easy to find all available
properties for sale in San Francisco. It is the only app that allows
users to search by specific neighborhood rather than just by zip
code, leading to far more nuanced results. The app includes GPS
detection to search in nearby areas, or by any other criteria that is
a priority for those looking for San Francisco properties.

By electing to create a free MyZephyr account, even more features are
available. For example, users will be able to find additional
properties not available on public websites, search pending and sold
properties, save searches and favorites, rate properties, make
notations, share properties with others via email or on Facebook,
receive new listing and price reduction email alerts, and use
Zephyr’s exclusive Home Tour tool. The Home Tour tool allows the
creation of customized multi-point driving directions of up to ten
properties, which is particularly useful for planning a tour of
Sunday open homes. All of the personalized saved information, from
searches to tours, is available from anywhere for those with a
MyZephyr account, whether utilizing the full site or the app.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in mobile usage of our site over the
past year, and expect to only see that trend continue with the
expansion of the mobile market,” commented Randall Kostick, Chief
Operating Officer of Zephyr. “With a robust mobile experience in
place in a market area with too few good options in the real estate
sect, we expect to see our site and app traffic continue to trend
upward.”

Recognizing the proliferation of smartphones in the marketplace,
Zephyr’s mobile website provides those users with an app-like
experience so that all the tools and services are available to
non-iPhone users as well.

“The diligent and detailed process to develop this app was extensive
and reflects Zephyr’s commitment to create an easy-to-use tool for
our clients,” stated Hud Bixler, Director of Technology. “We
deliberately decided to develop a custom app rather than license
something ‘off the shelf’ so that the content would be more
localized, which we feel is crucial.”

Currently, the new Zephyr app serves San Francisco only; however,
development for additional cities in the Bay Area is planned.

About Zephyr Real Estate
Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San
Francisco’s largest independent real estate firm with $1 billion in
annual gross sales in 2010 and a current roster of more than 200
full-time agents. In 2010, Zephyr launched its new website, which has
earned two web design awards, including the prestigious Interactive
Media Award. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international
relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; the
luxury real estate network, Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate; and the
local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of
San Francisco. Zephyr has six strategically located offices in San
Francisco, a business center in Marin County, and serves a large
customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more
information, visit
www.zephyrsf.com .

        Contact:
        Melody Brown
        Zephyr Real Estate
        San Francisco, CA
        415.729.3555
        Email Contact

SOURCE: Zephyr Real Estate

http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=997B70F8BF308F97

Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zephyr-real-estate-debuts-iphone-app-2011-11-17

Word was last week that federal banking regulators, not the state attorneys general, were going to announce some kind of “enforcement action” against 14 big banks/servicers in the so-called “robo-signing” foreclosure paperwork mess today or tomorrow.

Now I’m told that may be a bit delayed, and now I’m reading the state attorneys general’s expected punitive monetary “settlement” is also in question.

The regulators are all about fixing and tightening the process of processing foreclosures. The AGs need to appease their constituents a bit more by getting something back from the big banks, which they claim got homeowners into this mess in the first place and then proceeded to mess it up even more when they couldn’t handle the outcome of their wrongdoings, i.e. foreclosures.

The controversy among the AGs is largely over principal forgiveness. Some have proposed a $20-25 billion fund that the banks would pay into that would go to lower the balance of troubled borrowers’ loans. A report today from three professors and banking experts, Charles Calomiris of Columbia Business School, Eric Higgens of Kansas State U and Joseph Mason, of the Wharton School of Business, argues that a settlement involving principal write down “would generate significant unintended negative consequences for housing and financial markets.”

Here’s the gist of it:

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42553732?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS