Friday, March 25, 2011

Home-buying help in your pocket

Jameson Berkow, Financial Post

Mobile apps can be used for just about anything these days. From remotely starting a car to filming and editing entire feature-length films using a smartphone, there are even apps out there to help buy, sell or renovate a home.

With spring officially arriving on Monday, the busiest time of year for the real estate industry is now here. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the majority of deals to buy or sell a home will occur in the next few months. To help buyers and sellers stay on top of their own efforts without having to stay on top of their home computer, Financial Post technology reporter Jameson Berkow found some of the more useful real estate apps for Canadian house hunters.

REAL ESTATE DICTIONARY

Hypothecate is when someone offers their property as collateral when taking on a debt, such as a mortgage, but the average person would never know that. Particularly useful for those looking to buy or sell a home without using a real estate agent, there are a number of dictionary apps available on every smartphone platform to help users make sense of all the industry jargon. The Glossary of Real Estate Terms, complete with 700 key definitions, is available for the Google Android platform at a cost of $2 and the Dictionary of Real Estate Terms is available on the Apple iOS platform also for about $2. Anyone who has ever been confounded by the term "estoppel" will find one of these apps to be well worth the price.

REALTOR.CA

The official mobile app of the Canadian Real Estate Association, this free app gives users access to an average of 350,000 Canadian properties for sale on the Realtor.ca website. Using a smartphone's built-in GPS feature, the app lets users search for houses available near their current location or a specific address, providing them with photos, listing details and contact information to get in touch with the agent. It launched on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7 platform last November and a version compatible with Apple Inc.'s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices was released in late December; with other versions for Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry OS and Google Inc.'s Android expected in the next few months. More than 100,000 people have already downloaded this well-designed app.

ZOOCASA

This free app, currently available only on the iPhone platform, is similar to Realtor.ca but even more intuitive. For those Apple device users who don't mind using something other than the "official" industry app, Zoocasa will also let users search for properties based on their current location, even displaying full descriptions of properties that would appear on the Zoocasa website. There is also a unique social function built in, allowing users to email listings from directly within the app.

MOVETOOLS

Once the deal has been made and the title transferred, the physical labour can begin. That is where the new MoveTools app specifically designed for the Apple iPad tablet, released by insurance provider State Farm in early March, definitely comes in handy. Users can use this app to customize a weekly moving checklist. Waiting to pack the printer last would also be a good idea, as this app also lets users create and print "smart labels" with digital QR codes, which can be read by any smartphone with a barcode scanning application to display what each smart-labelled box contains.

DREAM HOME

Even after the buying and the physical moving is done, a new home still needs to be adapted -either through major renovations or minor redecorations -to suit the new owner's unique tastes. The Dream Home app for iPhone, as well as the Dream Home HD app for the iPad, brings an element of fun to the process. Users can snap photos with their device's camera and share them with other users of this $5 app to gain inspiration for their new dwelling. With content arranged by room type, colour and style and new content added regularly, users can find the new style to match their new abode.

Seize the spring and clean up your budget! 10 tips to organize and tidy up your finances

Happy spring! The sun is out, the birds are singing, and here in Canada, we probably only have one or two more surprise snowfalls before summer.

This is the time of year when we emerge from our dark rooms, stretching and blinking into the sun. We peel off our woolly layers and start thinking about what bikini we will flaunt this summer (yikes). And then we start going for long walks again and haul out the bicycles. Yes, spring is a time to open the windows, clean out the closets, flip the mattresses and sweep away the cobwebs.

While you are busy freshening up your home and garden, you might want to consider pulling out your wallet, blowing off the dust and giving it a good seasonal purge as well. Your finances are like anything else in life: after a while, you start to forget your good habits, and things tend to get sloppy, neglected and disorganized. So seize the spring, darling. Carpe ver!

Here are ten tips to organize your finances and clean up your budget:

1. Clean out the wallet! Lord knows what is lurking in there. Stuffed full of receipts and bank slips, expired discount cards, phone numbers with no names attached, business cards from your last three jobs. As our feng shui sisters might say, you must make space in the wallet for the money to flow to you.

2. Be an A-Lister. Dedicate space for lists in your BlackBerry or a notepad that you carry at all times. Lists are critical for clearing trivia out of your head and keeping you focused when it's time to spend. Mark down items you need as you think of them; that way, when you get to the grocery or department store, you won't get that overwhelmed, "why am I here?" feeling and end up with a cart full of cocoa puffs and tea lights.

3. Reality check. Fitness memberships are an essential expense to many of us. However, if your gym is $90 a month and you only show up three times a month, that's $30 a visit. Be honest with yourself and your schedule. You might be better off paying as you go, or finding a gym where you can buy 10 sessions at a time.

4. Subscribe to this. What is with that messy stack of unread newspapers and magazines on your coffee table? Don't you have enough to dust? Subscriptions are no bargain if you're not reading the products. Consider weekend-only newspaper delivery and buy magazines at the newsstands when you have time to read them.

5. Stay on season. Now that it's spring, we can look forward to fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers. Check labels and choose food products from close to home — not only will they be fresher, but they won't be packed with big fuel and shipping costs.

6. Be a contrarian. On the other hand, when it comes to big-ticket items, it helps to be delightfully off-season. The end of February is the time to nab a Prada ski jacket in the clearance sales, saving you money to buy Swarovski Christmas tree ornaments in July and Pottery Barn patio furniture in September.

7. Friend and follow. Before you shop, check the website of your favourite store or mall for online-only specials and coupons. Sign up for the Facebook or Twitter accounts of your favourite retailers, restaurants or hotels, which often use their online profiles for giveaways, contests and special deals to their friends and followers.

8. Spring THAW. Remember that trip to Costco where you got 40 chicken breasts for four dollars? Take an inventory of your deep freeze and start planning meals around what you already have on hand. Or throw a dinner party and use up everything you bought more than three months ago. Buying on sale is a waste if you end up throwing out freezer-burnt food.

9. Get your Groupon. Clipping coupons gets stylish with deal-of-the-day sites such as Groupon. The site offers limited-time discounts on everything from $25 off at The Gap (NYSE:GPS) to half price scuba diving lessons. Going on vacation? Check the site for deals at your destination. When you're going out a lot, who wouldn't want to score a free plate of appetizers or two-for-one tickets to a show?

10. Cheap and cheerful. Fun doesn't need to cost nearly as much as you think. A morning with the whole family at the playground is just as rewarding as a day at a theme park and much cheaper than driving, parking and paying for family passes. A night in with the girls and a bottle of wine is every bit as fun and boisterous as going out to the newest hotspot. Bonus: by making it OK to have fun on the down-low, everyone feels better about hosting or getting together more often.

Of course, along with the flowers come the inevitable showers. You know what they say about rainy days, don't you? By cleaning up your financial bad habits and getting in shape for spring, you might actually be able to save a little something…maybe enough to buy yourself one of these must-have items for spring: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/Carpe-ver-Seize-spring-clean-goldengirlwp-4288637079.html?x=0