Mike's NBC-TV stories

Home buying and selling apps

We’re headed into one of the busiest times of the year for selling homes – meaning lots of competition for sellers.

By using one of the apps featured by PC Mike Wendland this week, you can get an advantage in the market.

Homesnap is for both home buyers and sellers. You can see home value estimates, taxes, property boundaries, learn about school zones, view interior photos and more just by taking a picture. Sellers, in particular, can scope out the competition and adjust selling price, increase promotion efforts, and more. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Magicplan allows users to create a floor plan of a house by simply taking pictures – no need to mess around with a measuring tape. As a home seller, this is particularly useful in helping potential buyers envision the full potential of a house they might be considering buying. For just a few bucks, users can create a printout of the created floor plan that can be handed to buyers. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Houzz allows sellers to get ideas for improving and designing their home by browsing more than 15 million high-quality photos of home interiors and exteriors. Choose by style, location or room, such as kitchen or bathroom. Get an idea of what it would look like with a few modifications that could mean the difference between a sale or fail. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.