Halifax has introduced a new 'Home Finder' mobile app that uses augmented reality technology to enable users to view and pull up data on houses for sale as they pass them on the street. The Lloyds Banking Group subsidiary has teamed up with findaproperty.com to offer searches on houses for sale across the UK. This app also allows you to check your bank details and identify affordable places based on the filters put.
The first page you see offers a search tool, mortgage calculator, access to your favourite properties and a guide to the home buying process.A quick search brings up all the properties in your chosen area in a list or displayed on a map, and this can then be filtered by the number of bedrooms, price and several other criteria.
You can then access all the usual property details, including images, but also the area’s sales history from the land registry and a repayment calculator to see if you can actually afford it.Viewings can also be booked within the app.
When you have chosen which flats you want to view, the app allows you to add notes to the property details as you look round.
You can even take photos of the property and add ratings out of five for various criteria. All the details, including the photos, can then be emailed as a PDF and printed off.
Closer to home, users can hold their phone up on any street and explore properties for sale nearby, overlaid with additional data such as local school rankings and transport links.
The app offers a deeper search on selected properties, with photos and floor plans available for display, plus information on monthly remortgaging repayments.