House-hunting on the go

The ever-increasing popularity of Droids and iPhones—and, now, the release of the iPad 3—has given rise to apps to help put life at your fingertips. The question is, which apps are right for you? Every so often, I look at various home-shopping and real estate-related apps, and here are a few winners:

SpringPad
You have enough to remember as it is, but this app helps you organize the hundreds of elements of your home-buying quest into a single, central spot. Better yet, you can access this digital notebook from anywhere, on any device. Think of it as Pintrest Plus.

Scan barcodes of home furnishings, appliances and other items you want to buy after you move.
Save ideas, property addresses, articles from design and news sites, photos fromdecorating magazines and to-do lists from your mortgage broker.
Categorize all these things and more by house hunt, mortgage and escrow, moving and decorating.
Set reminders, share your notes with your agent or even get an email alert when the appliance you want goes on sale.

Works with: iPhone, iPad and Android
Price: Free

ColorSnap
Take a picture with your phone of anything that inspires you, then discover the corresponding Sherwin-Williams paint color. While you’re house hunting, you’ll come across various homes that may be the color you want. You can capture the colors and store them until you find your dream home. Or you may find colors you like in nature. Either way, it’s a good way to store your design notes.

Works with: iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry
Price: Free

Genius Scan
Many real estate agents now use digital document signature software that enables you to sign with a click and without faxing documents back and forth. But some don’t, and some mortgage lenders won’t accept anything but a hard copy or scan of your “wet ink” signature.

Throughout your transaction, you might find yourself needing to scan and email your contract documents with your original signature, a copy of your deposit check, new payroll check stubs, your driver’s license, a gift letter from your Uncle Ron or any of a other documents you’ll need to get to your realtor or mortgage broker. Having the ability to scan documents and checks and email them right from your phone can save you a lot of time and hassle, not to mention gas and cash.

Works with: iPhone, iPad and Android
Price: Free