CHICAGO, May 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chicagoland’s traditional home-buying season is underway, and a combination of rising wages, a solid job market, and lower mortgage rates are expected to drive robust home shopping activity through the summer, according to regional real estate data giant Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).
Home shopping has changed dramatically since today’s home buyers purchased their last home. New faster, easier, and more data-rich technology is available to help home buyers shop smarter, making them more prepared than ever to work better with agents to find the best options for their needs. MRED is working with its 15 local Realtor Associations throughout Illinois to educate consumers about one of the hottest tech tools local Realtors offer – Homesnap.
Now you can take a picture with your phone of a home for sale and get all the listing information instantly – just from a snapshot. The highly-rated, popular and free mobile app Homesnap, delivers the sales price, address, number of bedrooms and baths, square footage, school district, real estate taxes, property lines, commute time and the rest of the home’s details after simply taking a photo of a home.
“You no longer have to get out of your car and grab a flyer,” says broker-owner Paul Wells of RE/MAX of Barrington. “Homesnap ‘wows’ home buyers,” he adds. “It shows the property lines with a satellite image and the built-in GPS reveals where you are standing in real time. I can take a home buyer and walk the perimeter of the property, as my phone tracks us!”
Nearly all of Wells’ homebuying clients use Homesnap, he says, because it makes them “a smarter home shopper.” Wells explains home buyers also love the Homesnap school search feature. “If you have school-age children, you can select the school, and it shows every house in that school's boundaries. Pictures aren't worth a thousand words, they're worth a million. If people can picture where the school boundary lines are, it allows them to easily see homes that fit their needs.”
Locally, in the Chicagoland area, Homesnap data is being delivered in real-time from one of the nation’s leading Multiple Listing Services, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). Wells notes that the MLS has “…the best data so consumers are getting the same data real estate pros get,” and the Homesnap app is 100% advertising free.
Wells also shares that his clients snap more than just homes listed for sale. “The technology is so cool, so engaging, that when they start using Homesnap, they get addicted. They even snap photos of homes that are not listed for sale and receive publicly available information about those homes as well. Homesnap is also fun for homeowners wanting to research properties in their area, or just to stay informed about what's happening in their local real estate market or checkout home values.”
The Homesnap app is ad free because it comes from the real estate industry, a joint venture between brokerages and MLSs, providing consumers with “the best local real estate listing information from people who sell homes, not ads,” Wells says.
Homesnap is available free for download from the Apple App store, and Google Play. Wells also encourages home buyers to ask their agent about other ways to use the Homesnap app when they are shopping for a home.
Media Contact:
Stephanie Kerch
(224) 707-0337
stephanie@wavgroup.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3cbf1be1-d817-4449-a759-8c881236e743