Best Apps For Finding Your Dream Home In The Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Josh Rubin has lived in New York City his whole life, but that's about to change.
"I just recently got married, and we want to start a family," Rubin said.
Now Rubin and his wife are looking to escape the city and move to the suburbs, but it's not as easy as it sounds, CBS2's Mary Calvi reported.
"There's many towns and there's very few resources and it gets very overwhelming," Rubin said.
Luckily, there are several apps that can help house hunters find their perfect home.
PicketFencer lets prospective homeowners look through about 600 communities in New Jersey, Westchester County and on Long Island. While that may still seem overwhelming, the app lets lets you narrow down your search with filters like commute time, schools, home values and walkability.
The app also offers a sort of "concierge service," where users can get more comprehensive results by answering a series of questions addressing their needs.
PicketFencer founder David Leibowitz says the website isn't about house hunting, but finding the perfect community before you dive into real estate listing.
"We didn't want to make it just about census data and kind of dry statistics," Leibowitz said. "We wanted to make it feel like you got a sense of what the people community was like."
After using PicketFencer for only two weeks, Rubin and his wife have narrowed their list to several coveted communities.
"We ended up focusing on Port Washington, New Hyde Park and Manhasset, Long Island -- that had every feature we were looking for."
But the suburbs aren't for everyone.
If you're looking to stay in the city, PlaceILive is another web app that can help you narrow down the right neighborhood for you in the five boroughs.
The app asks you dozens of questions revolving around requirements like rent, commute time, family needs and safety, before compiling a list of communities that may be right for you.
There's also a map based on noise level, with red being the loudest.