How much does it cost to develop a Real Estate App?

Our digital age has made mobile apps an essential tool for all types of businesses. And the real estate industry is no exception to this.. 76% of home buyers admit to using their smartphone or tablet to search for a new home. 57% of agents use social media apps daily.

So, developing a real estate mobile app can provide a convenient and efficient way for agents and brokers to connect with clients, manage properties, and close deals. Today we will look at the different types of mobile apps in this field, their must-have features and the costs associated with developing a mobile app for a real estate company.

Ideas and types of mobile apps for real estate

Mobile real estate solutions offer a variety of functionalities that meet the needs of both buyers and sellers.

Property search (listing)

Listing apps are important tools for those looking for a new home. They allow users to easily find properties that match their specific criteria, such as location, price and features.

The best real estate mobile apps should provide users with a wide variety of properties to choose from. These apps also offer a variety of convenient features that can help users make informed decisions about the properties they're interested in.

Users can view detailed information about each property: photos, virtual tours and other important details. This can help you better understand what each property has to offer.

Real Estate Agent Assistant

These apps are designed to help brokers and agents manage their properties more effectively. They can help streamline the process of scheduling showings, tracking leads, and managing contracts. They are especially useful for agents who manage a large number of contracts. Assistant software helps agents save time and focus on what matters most: closing deals.

Additionally, mobile apps for real estate agents allow agents to track important dates such as lease expiration. They can also send alerts when certain tasks need to be completed. This makes the agent's life easier and ensures that everything gets done on time and efficiently.

Mobile real estate apps are also useful for those who work with multiple clients at the same time. With all the information they need in one place, agents can easily keep track of everything and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

In addition, mobile apps for real estate agents often come with additional features. These include analytics and reporting tools. They can provide valuable information about the agent's business performance.

They provide effective tools for carrying out property valuations on the go.

With all these benefits, it's no surprise that more professionals are turning to these solutions to help them succeed in today's competitive market.

Buying or renting apps

Another area where real estate mobile app development is useful is real estate rentals. These apps help users find properties that are available for sale or rent. They allow users to search for properties by location, budget and other parameters.

Users can also read reviews from other people who have rented or purchased properties through the app. This can be very helpful when choosing a property.

Additionally, some companies offer features such as the ability to schedule property viewings and communicate directly with owners or managers. With so many useful features, rental apps are quickly becoming a go-to resource for home seekers.

Virtual tour

These solutions use advanced 3D modelling and virtual reality technologies to create virtual environments that users can navigate through using their smartphones.

These apps offer a wide range of benefits for real estate agents. Agents can use them to show properties to potential buyers. Now this is possible even if the buyer is in another city or country. By creating a virtual tour, agents can provide potential buyers with a more detailed and interactive overview of the property. Consequently, this increases the likelihood of a successful sale.

Mortgage calculator

They calculate monthly mortgage payments based on factors such as the property price, interest rate and down payment. Thus, providing an instant estimate for budgeting. Thus, setting realistic budget expectations.

A mobile real estate app can also provide users with a list of potential lenders or financial institutions to work with. Other solutions may offer advice on the types of mortgages available in the current market.

Applications for investment property analysis

Investment property analysis apps are powerful tools. They can help real estate investors carefully weigh their investment decisions. These solutions are designed to analyse the potential return on investment (ROI) of a particular property. They also provide users with a deep understanding of the financial performance of the property.

Using these applications, users can quickly and easily calculate important financial indicators such as

marginal rate

return on cash

IRR (internal rate of return).

These calculations can provide users with valuable information about the profitability potential of a property. 

Must-have real estate app features

Regardless of the type, it is important to have several features for a successful real estate mobile app development.

Lists of real estate objects. Allowing buyers to search for properties based on various criteria such as location, price and other important factors is critical. To improve the user experience, each property should be accompanied by a detailed description. High-quality photographs and even virtual tours are also necessary today.

Map integration. Maps are essential for real estate search programs. They allow buyers to search for properties by location and see nearby properties. Ensuring that map integration is seamless and easy to use will greatly improve the usability of your app.

Advanced Search. The advanced search feature helps users find properties that match their specific requirements. It can include filters by property type, location, price, size, amenities and other important characteristics.

Push notifications. Attracting users to your app is the key to its success. One way to achieve this is to implement push notifications. They notify users about new real estate properties or changes in the status of existing ones. This feature can greatly increase user engagement and keep your app top of mind.

Mortgage calculators. They should be easy to use and provide an accurate estimate of monthly payments based on the down payment, purchase price and interest rate.

Contact agent. The contact agent feature can allow users to contact a real estate agent or owner to ask a question, schedule a viewing, or make an offer. In addition, chatbots are becoming increasingly popular. They provide users with an even faster and more convenient way to get the information they need. With the help of chatbots, users can even receive personalised recommendations based on their preferences.

Favourites. The Favourites feature allows users to save properties they are interested in for later viewing. This feature makes it easy to compare and contrast different options.

Real estate app development cost

So, how much does it cost to create a real estate mobile app? The answer depends on many factors such as

Application complexity. More complex projects require more development time and resources. Some complex features that can increase development costs include advanced search functionality, real-time updates, or integration with third-party services. However, these features can also make the product more valuable to users. And this may justify the higher development cost.

The platform(s) you are developing for. Developing an app for iOS and Android will be more expensive than developing a solution for just one platform. However, if you're counting on a large user base, it's often worth investing in development for both platforms.

The location of your development team. Costs can vary significantly depending on where your team is located. If you hire a team from the US or Western Europe, expect to pay higher rates than for a team from Eastern Europe or Asia.

The average cost of developing a mobile application starts from $60,000. Typically, the estimate includes extensive planning, design, programming, testing, and deployment phases. Developing a mobile application also requires a significant amount of time. A typical project can last from 3 to 6 months. It depends on the complexity and scope of the project.

In addition to the initial cost of developing a real estate application, there are ongoing costs associated with maintaining and updating the application if the client chooses to do so. This includes server costs, bug fixes, and regular updates. This helps ensure the application is compatible with the latest mobile operating systems. It's important to budget for these ongoing costs to ensure your app remains functional and relevant.

It is very important to work with an experienced real estate app development company. At Sparkout we always help our clients navigate the complexities of the development process. We also ensure that their product meets all the needs of their business. The case study below is an excellent example of a comprehensive solution for our client.

Our Experience: Discovery Phase for a Real Estate Company

The client ordered a web panel for managing existing tenants, a real estate marketplace for agents and clients, and a mobile application for ordering services for existing tenants and servicing payments.

The Sparkout team had to work with 3 main roles: property owner or agent, existing client (tenant) and potential client (new visitor). To gather all the details, we began research that included Lean Model Canvas, CJM for the property owner, potential client, existing client, dashboard, marketplace and mobile app prototypes, product vision, user stories and evaluation.

As a result, the client received a comprehensive solution for both the MVP and 2 release versions of the future product, including web and mobile applications. We created detailed prototypes, user stories, product vision and budget plans. More details can be found here .

Basic real estate applications with basic functionality

Speaking about the development of mobile applications, you should remember that they can be of varying complexity. You can always start with a basic solution with the basic features of a real estate mobile app. Development will take about 3 months. These functions are limited to only the most necessary - user registration, real estate listings, basic search filters and a contact form. The design of such software solutions can be based on existing UI/UX templates without customization.

The budget required to develop such an application ranges from $10,000 to $25,000.

However, if you want to develop a more complex application, be prepared to pay ten times more.

Key Real Estate App Features That Affect Value

Let's take a closer look at the features that can increase the value of a real estate mobile app.

3D housing tours, AR/VR integration

The benefits of virtual tours today can hardly be underestimated. AR/VR and 3D configurations form a powerful force. This allows you to provide immersive virtual property tours to clients around the world. There is no need to physically visit the property; technology makes it possible to see and evaluate real estate from anywhere in the world.

This expands global opportunities for marketing and selling real estate. Buyers/tenants, agents and sellers can save time and effort by implementing these technologies. Users can get instant information about the property, its details, equipment, machinery and the like.

Mortgage calculators, financial planning tools

To give you some more real estate app ideas, consider integrating mortgage calculators and financial planning tools. This will help users estimate their monthly payments at a glance. Such financial information, based on real-time market rates, can help clients make decisions. After all, they can immediately find out whether the purchase will fit into their budget.

You might also consider giving your app users access to financial support. Giving users a wide range of lending and mortgage options right within the app will make the negotiation and decision-making process easier. Seeing financial offers from several banks, the client can choose the best one that suits his needs.

Automated Property Valuation Models (AVM)

If you want to create the best mobile app for real estate agents, integrate automated real estate valuation models. The AVM service uses advanced analytics on huge amounts of data, often a combination of property listings and records with data on the desirability of the area. Using mathematical or statistical modelling, it calculates the value of a property.

Thus, AVM integration can provide users with a quick understanding of the current value of a property, saving time and human effort. This leaves no chance for fraud or deliberate undervaluation of residential real estate. What's more, you can compare multiple properties from your real estate portfolio before visiting some of them physically (or virtually).

Constant maintenance and updates

In these times of rapid technological development and high competition, it is not enough to simply create an application. You must support it for a successful launch in the future, provide timely updates and ongoing support. A newly developed application cannot be perfect, so you need to get rid of errors and glitches. Over time, any software solution requires changes and updates to keep up with innovation.

For the success of your real estate business, you cannot risk having a software solution full of bugs and errors. It's your sales generation asset, so you can't afford to let it become obsolete.

Constantly maintaining and updating the application has many benefits:

Improved user experience makes your audience happy and loyal. To create a long-term relationship with users, ensure the smooth running of the application, monitor market trends, monitor user engagement and application performance.

With timely updates and bug fixes, you minimise the number of app uninstalls and maximise the ROI for your business. In the long run, it becomes cheaper to attract new users. They come for a well-functioning application and service. When you focus on ongoing support, you can provide popular and unique features so that users get all the features they want in your software solution and stay with you.

Conclusion

All in all, mobile real estate apps are an indispensable tool for those who want to buy, sell or manage real estate. Although the cost of developing a real estate app can be significant, the benefits of using it for your business are well worth the investment.

By providing your clients with an efficient and convenient way to contact you and manage their properties, you can increase customer satisfaction, streamline your operations, and ultimately grow your business. Sparkout is always ready to take on a new, interesting project and develop a first-class solution for you. Contact us for a more detailed discussion.