Using 30 Home Buying Apps

The reporter faced housing instability after the jeonse landlord notified them that the lease could not be extended. It became difficult to reside stably as landlords often express their intent to sell at the end of a jeonse contract.

At the same time, due to rising interest rates, the interest on jeonse loans or monthly rent costs became not significantly different from mortgage interest, reducing the economic benefit of extending monthly rent or jeonse. The need to secure long-term housing stability in consideration of marriage and childbirth plans increased, which ultimately became a major factor in deciding to purchase a home.

This is significantly more than other platforms like Zigbang or Dabang.

Zigbang and Dabang provided photo-centric property information with relatively fewer listings, and real estate agents tended to list apartment properties mainly on Naver and KB Real Estate.

Naver Real Estate was optimized for comparing and evaluating properties by providing detailed objective conditions such as floor level, south-facing orientation, and renovation status.

The reporter actively utilized the favorite complex notification features of Naver and KB Real Estate to check listings in real-time. The market at the time was characterized by properties quickly appearing and being sold at a rapid pace.

In fact, market prices sometimes surged by 20 million won in just a week. Reporter Lee Seong-bong explained that quick on-site response was crucial, such as visiting properties late at night even after working overtime.

This dynamic required constant vigilance and prompt action to secure desirable properties before they were taken off the market.

Experiencing cases where properties were sold out within 30 minutes of contact highlighted the overheated market. These were instances where buyers decided on a contract based only on location and conditions, without personally inspecting the house.

When a specific location and apartment conditions were favorable, and the price range was reasonable, buyers tended to quickly secure the properties.

The Hogangnono app was primarily used to grasp actual transaction prices, allowing for a detailed analysis of apartment price trends.

Hogangnono provided real-time information, including details on the agreement drafting stage in land transaction permit zones. This information helped accurately grasp market prices and predict changes.

Such real-time information was crucial in determining the appropriate value of properties in the rapidly changing real estate market.

The reporter utilized Danggeun Real Estate's resident review feature to assess the satisfaction levels of actual residents. Similar to Jobplanet, this app requires users to write a review of their past residence to view other reviews.

Information sharing among residents was also confirmed through the Hogangnono apartment bulletin board. This community information was important for understanding the pros and cons of an apartment from a resident's perspective and identifying unexpected drawbacks in advance.

It is crucial to review the certified copy of the real estate register before the contract and analyze it using beginner-friendly title analysis apps. The reporter even discovered properties with tax arrears of approximately 30 million won and excessive collateral set up with capital loans in addition to housing loans.

Through such cases, it was realized that it is essential to always check the certified copy of the real estate register and meticulously analyze property rights before a contract.

There are title analysis app services available for beginners, and it is important to utilize them to identify potential risks in advance.

It was recognized that finding a home that is 100% satisfactory when purchasing a house is practically impossible. Based on the advice of a real estate agent, the reporter set the housing purchase criteria at 80-90 points.

The approach involved objectively comparing and analyzing properties based on their pros and cons, and considering a purchase if the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

It was deemed important to set realistic satisfaction criteria rather than seeking a perfect home to make a purchase decision.

Criticism was also raised regarding the current financial system, where the loan amount can only be determined after a contract is signed, prior to loan execution.

Most app estimates tended to be conservative. This made it difficult to know the exact loan amount from app information alone, leading to criticism of the current system where actual loan conditions can only be known after a loan consultation following the contract.

Users can receive consultations without any separate fees, and counselors earn profit from banks. Counselors receive commissions from banks, so users do not incur any additional costs. The reporter was able to hear the latest information not reflected in the app directly from the counselors.

During the consultation process, no separate fees were requested from the customer, and the counselors' source of income was clearly explained as commissions received from banks. BankMall showed flexible responses, such as supporting re-connection with a counselor if circumstances changed, such as changes in the government's household loan growth rate target.

Finally, the loan was applied for through the KakaoBank app. KakaoBank had a flexible system that accepted loan applications every day.

Notably, the complete absence of mid-term repayment fees was a significant advantage. As many newlywed couples switch to policy loans later, the lack of mid-term repayment fees greatly reduced their financial burden.

The complex document submission process could also be conveniently handled through the Kakao app, which was very user-friendly. Preparing general loan documents is often a very extensive and cumbersome process, so the non-face-to-face simplification was a major benefit.

Today's House provides a list of pre-selected interior design companies within the region, allowing customers to consult directly. This enabled comparing and selecting from various companies' portfolios.

On the other hand, Ajeongdang offered the simplicity of immediate connection with companies via phone consultation and quick quotation receipt. The consultation time was very short, about 13 minutes, allowing for swift progress.

The two platforms showed different strengths in the process of selecting an interior design company, confirming that choices could vary depending on customer needs.

Today's House introduced a standard contract, transparently disclosing raw material costs and labor fees, contributing to resolving the opacity in interior cost estimation.

Furthermore, it operates a responsibility guarantee system that compensates up to 30 million won for damages in case of construction issues or contractor disappearance, providing a safety net for customers. This helped alleviate anxieties about companies early in their platform entry.

Considering past controversies regarding responsibility related to interior platforms, strengthening such safety measures served as a crucial factor in increasing customer trust.

The filmed video is sent to moving companies to generate accurate estimates, and it was analyzed that this amount largely remains consistent if there are no changes to furniture or appliances. A moving expert in their 50s meticulously records the home's features, and if no new furniture or appliances are brought in, the move proceeds according to the estimate calculated in the video.

In this process, an expert who operated a moving company directly visited to explain the home's features in detail and reflect them in the estimate, enabling much more accurate cost estimation.

AI greatly helped in quickly comprehending information such as DSR (Debt Service Ratio) calculations or changes in loan regulations.

ChatGPT also assisted in organizing bank statements and supporting documents when preparing the fund procurement plan. AI significantly reduced decision-making time by simplifying and providing vast information.

Thus, AI assistants contributed to increasing efficiency in acquiring complex information and documentation processes.

Ultimately, even if initial information is confirmed through apps and AI, due to complex policy variables, the final decision must be verified through a person. Information such as individual account connection conditions or card usage conditions was not accessible to AI.

Therefore, the final loan decision could only be made through direct face-to-face consultation with a bank representative. This is because preferential benefits or additional interest rates can vary depending on the time of consultation.

In summary, even after going through the stages of obtaining information through apps and verifying content with AI, the ultimate decision-making and verification must be done through professional consultation with a person.