Cars, Homes and Stuff with your iPhone

When you want to find the best home, car or item from the classifieds, timing can be important. However, most of us cannot always be at home reading the paper classifieds or reading the online versions. Shopping, like much of life, is a 24/7 activity. We are going to take a look at web sites and applications that will help you use the general classifieds, shop for a home and shop for a car wherever and whenever you need – all with the help of an iPhone.

GENERAL CLASSIFIEDS SHOPPING

Classifieds Pro – If you are shopping for an item that is in the classifieds listings and you have an iPhone then you need to spend the $3.00 and buy Classifieds Pro. Classifieds Pro is an application that provides the very best classifieds experience for iPhone and iPod Touch users with access to search millions of classifieds from Craigslist, eBay, EPage, Oodle, Shopzilla and LiveDeal. In addition, you have access to their own iClassifieds network which is an exclusive classified ad application for iPhone and iPod Touch users where you can post free ads right to the network through your device and your ads can be seen by millions of iPhone or iPod Touch users worldwide. Once posted to iClassifieds, you can post that same ad with pictures in a nicely formatted style to Craigslist. Honestly, the iClassifieds is just a bonus, the meat of this application is the access to Craigslist and eBay – not to mention the other sites and even search all the services simultaneously.

Craigsphone – If you are focusing your shopping on Craigslist then you might not even need to spend the $3 for iClassifieds Pro as Craigsphone offers great support for Craigslist. They were the first iPhone application to support Craigslist and have been regularly updating it with new features. You can be a Craigslist shopper by browsing Craigslist posts that interest you and even a seller by posting listings and photos directly from your iPhone (though it seems like you could wait till you got home for this). There is even a planned feature that will let you browse postings according to your current location.

eBay Mobile – If eBay is your marketplace, then try out this official and free eBay application. When you want to bid on an item from wherever you are – this is a great application. eBay Mobile has a nice interface that’s both elegant and practical as eBay members can search, bid, and check their activity on the go. Buyers can sneak in that last-minute bid on a hard-to-find item, sellers can check on their sales, and everyone can act on time-sensitive eBay business on the spot without a computer.

REAL ESTATE SHOPPING

Zillow.com – The Zillow iPhone App is the perfect application for a mobile phone, even more so because it is a free application. When you are driving through neighborhoods and see a house for sale you can instantly see Zillow’s Zestimate home values, homes for sale, recently sold homes and more. The GPS technology pinpoints your location and displays real-time real estate information and data as you go through neighborhoods. But you are not limited by the GPS as you can also search any neighborhood, regardless of your location. Zillow is perfect for buyers, sellers and real estate agents.

Trulia – Use your iPhone to search all homes for sale near you, find nearby open houses after Sunday brunch, or daydream about your favorite beachfront getaway. Trulia takes advantage of the GPS to know the neighborhood that you are in. Scroll through the color photos or see results on a local map. See full property details and then get directions from Google. It’s just that easy and it’s free! Trulia works on the iPhone 3G, the original iPhone and the iPod touch – and while we’re focused on the iPhone it is worth noting that Trulia also has a Blackberry version available. Trulia says they “aim to be a delightfully smart partner when you are looking to buy a home” and with this iPhone app they deliver on their promise!

Caldwell Banker – Even in the midst of the nation’s financial crisis, Coldwell Banker is continuing to innovate. With their new iPhone-ready site, iphone.coldwellbanker.com, you can perform real-time searches for homes or home values right from the palm of your hand. Coldwell Banker was the first national real estate brand to launch a customized online platform just for the iPhone. The site allows you to look for a home where you can search by entering in criteria such as city, state, zip, minimum and maximum price, and number of beds and baths. You can also specify via checkboxes whether you want to see new listings only (new in the last 7 days) or open houses listed first.

AUTOMOBILE SHOPPING

AutoTrader – AutoTrader has a web site, iphone.autotrader.com, that is tuned for iPhone visitors. The iPhone-tuned subdomain cuts through all the clutter and presents buttons (large buttons – you can’t miss these) for the simple tasks of finding cars in your area that match your selected criteria. The site performs quickly and returns the exact same list of vehicles you would see if you were using the desktop version of AutoTrader. If you have already setup an account at AutoTrader, you can even view your saved vehicles through the iPhone site.

Kelley Blue Book – Just like AutoTrader, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) offers a custom web site instead of an iPhone application. All you have to do is type www.kbb.com on the phone’s Safari browser and you will be redirected to the iPhone optimized Web site. The site appears as a Web application that looks and feels very much like an independent application that you buy from Apple’s Apps Store. iPhone users can access KBB’s new and used vehicle information on their device anywhere they go. In addition, iPhone users also have the ability to view the Web site’s videos, images, new car reviews. Many users have found the iPhone version of KBB to be far less cluttered and even easier to use then the desktop browser version.

NADAguides.com – Next to Kelley Blue Book, NADAguides is one of the most widely used pricing guides. They are offering iphone.nadaguides.com which allows iPhone users to access car prices within a few strokes. Users can access both invoice and retail prices for new cars and the prices can be customized to specify interior and exterior color as well as multiple options. iPhone users searching for used car prices can enter the car’s mileage and options to obtain trade-in and retail prices for the 1989 model year and newer. Photos of new and used cars are also featured on the iPhone site. However, for additional information, such as car specs, video car reviews and pricing information for other types of vehicles, such as classic cars, boats and ATVs you will have to use the regular NADAguides site.

If you want to try out any of the iPhone websites from your PC, check out www.testiphone.com which is a web browser based simulator for quickly testing your iPhone Applications.

By David Silversmith
May 8, 2009
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