Online real estate broker Redfin launched an iPhone app today that lets house hunters view homes for sale on Multiple Listing Services. It focuses on helping real-estate searchers locate nearby listings and open houses, narrowing their selection with filters, and taking notes on waht they like. The app displays listings with Google Maps, including listing photos and write-ups.
Of course, Redfin is just one of many real estate apps hoping to make it big, and it has tough competition from the likes of Zillow, Trulia and others. The company claims what sets them apart is their complete set of listings, showing every single broker-listed home available in the area.
“Where many apps show 70% of the listings, the Redfin app shows virtually 100% of the broker-listed homes for sale. And we show all the photos, not just one, with details on every feature of the house, not just a handful,” said Sasha Aickin, the leader of the search engineering team that built the Redfin App.
Launched in 2004, Redfin is an online real estate company that provides real estate search and brokerage services. The company was founded by David Eraker and is based out of Seattle; there is also a San Francisco engineering office, and local agents in each of the markets Redfin serves.
While the cities are currently limited, Redfin plans to expand to every major metropolitan area in the U.S. over the next two years. The Redfin App guides users through the home-buying process as they preview listings on the web, see homes in person and then go back to look again at
listings on the web.
Redfin.com visitors can also use the website to set up home tours or mark favorites, then download their itinerary to the app to get directions. Once out looking at homes, iPhone users can add additional homes that they see to their list of favorites, and take photos or notes on a home; this information immediately synchronizes with their account on Redfin.com. On returning to the website, users see a record of their tour with each photo or note automatically associated with the right listing.