In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner were presenting the case where real estate agents selling their own house were keeping their real estate on the market for an average of ten more days than they normally would for their clients. Even more, they would sell it for an extra 3%. Levitt and Dubner explain that this occurs because for every $10.000 that the agent can get for you he only receives $150 as his commission. This means, the agent has no real incentive to put in the hard work and not go with the first offer you get. So the agent will always try to make you accept the first "ok" offer that comes along, so he can move on to another sale. In most cases you will listen to your real estate agent and take the deal, losing thousands of dollars in the process. This is a direct result of information abuse: people who have the knowledge, in this case real estate agents, use it to their own advantage. 
The solution to this problem is... the Internet and its real estate web apps. These apps can help you sell and buy your own house, make an informed decision, get info and gain inside knowledge of the real estate market etc. 
AppAppeal has decided to give App Awards to some of these real estate apps that provide us with the knowledge and info necessary to gaining huge financial benefits.    

Best design: Apartment list

The first thing that made us go "Awww" was the mascot of Apartment list. The small robot that seems to be so happy to give you a listing of what you are looking for: proprieties. When we looked at the app more carefully we saw in the background the Google Maps apps. This was becoming quite interesting. The next thing that caught our eye was the header, where an "x-seconds-until-..." counter presents how many apartment are now within your reach through Apartment list. The real surprise was the search menu that presents a very clear and tidy display of its results on the left, while showing to the right their place in Google Maps. The site is simple, clear, and uncluttered, offering an enjoyable experience while you shop for your next propriety.