Ideas for an Android App

Discussion in 'Property Information Resources & Tools' started by telejazzer, 14th Mar, 2017.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
Tags:
  1. telejazzer

    telejazzer Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2016
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Hi guys,

    I just started writing Android Apps and thought it would be cool to do something towards property. Because I just started I would like to do some simple stuff and more towards investment or development not sales or management.

    This is something I would like to do for fun to start with but maybe serious down the line.

    Development Project Management comes to mind in the near future but I'm not skilled enough to do it yet.
     
  2. teetotal

    teetotal Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Nov, 2015
    Posts:
    736
    Location:
    Sydney
    Think of a simple database app for expenditure list in property buying process or renovations. And make it do automatic calculations too.
     
  3. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    would be cool to have an app that could decode what in the hell 6-10 percent return actually means in money value as well as something that you could add expenses to (Assuming the return percentage figure is excluding cost like landlords insurance rates and etc)

    wouldn't also mind having an app that can come up with median house price average time on market rental occupancy rates and etc too.

    If you could come up with a well rounded app like that I'd even consider buying it for five dollars or so.
     
  4. telejazzer

    telejazzer Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2016
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I'll see what I can do. There's an App called DIY Cost Calculator that's I'm checking out. We'll see how it goes.
     
  5. telejazzer

    telejazzer Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2016
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I can probably do the percentage return based on certain criterias and options.

    In regards to the median house price average, it actually depends on sample data and the calculations are not that simple. It would also be cool if overpriced (bought by overseas buyer) could be taken out of the equation. If only I can access rpdata's database but what's the chance of that happening?

    Having said that, I'll see how it goes down the line because there's a real need for it.
     
  6. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    Even just getting a weekly income figure based on the rental income yield percentage would be massively helpful as I don't really know what they mean by 6-10 percent rental yield and what that would mean as far as weekly rental in $$$$.
     
  7. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    Why not just buy a copy of PIA from Somersoft?
     
  8. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    Too expensive.
     
  9. spludgey

    spludgey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,483
    Location:
    Sydney
    I would love an app that would allow me to easily track my investment properties. Ideally with links to valuations (even if it's just a link to on the house) and ideally link to your Google drive and to Gmail.
     
  10. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    Buying the wrong property because you didn't analyse the numbers correctly is also too expensive.

    Do you also avoid paying for good advice when purchasing a property or structuring your finances because it is "too expensive"?

    EDIT: I should be more specific about my comments.

    Apps cost real money to develop - it's very much not a trivial exercise.

    But the public has become used to apps costing only a few dollars - and baulk at paying anything more.

    The potential market for a niche calculator app like this is pretty small - so charging $1 or even $10 isn't going to go even close to covering the likely development costs.

    A huge amount of work goes into developing and maintaining applications like PIA and even smartphone apps. It's unreasonable to expect to not pay much for something like this IMO.
     
    Last edited: 15th Mar, 2017
    BKRinvesting likes this.
  11. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    but 250 dollars is a bit steep when I my use would be for markets I understand.

    I've already kinda figured out how much rental income I'd need to be on top financially so all I need is something that convert rental yield percentages into an actual weekly rental income amount so I can do the maths.
     
  12. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    Why not use Google Sheets to create your own calculator?
     
  13. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    can google sheets convert a rental yield percentage into an actual weekly rent figure?

    I've never used google sheets before.
     
  14. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    12,394
    Location:
    Sydney
    Have you used a spreadsheet? Excel? It's just formulas.

    If you don't know how to calculate this for yourself, I suggest you learn how first. It's important to understand how the numbers work - an app isn't going to really help if you don't understand the numbers its giving you.
     
    leonard157 likes this.
  15. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,761
    Location:
    Adelaide & Sydney
    Cheaper than stamp duty on the wrong house, and a drop in the ocean as an expense compared to money made from investing.
     
  16. Skydome

    Skydome Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    68
    Location:
    Tasmania
    Not in depth. when I did an IT corse at tafe that had spread sheets but i never understood how to make them work.

    Hence why an app or something would be more useful for me because you can bet I'd be making mistakes with doing the formulas myself which could cause problems.
     
  17. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,679
    Location:
    Gold Coast, QLD
    Any spreadsheet program can:

    Assume the value is in A2 and the yield is in B2, the weekly rent is =(A2*B2)/52
    To go the other way, Value in A2 and Weekly rent is in C2, Yield calculation is =(C2*52)/A2

    All of my monthly budget and loan information is in Excel and all of my property analysis is done in Excel.

    For me personally, I don't have the need for an app to do this because I drive to work and outside of that I generally have access to a computer.

    If I rode the bus or train to work then I could see a benefit for an app like this, 2 hours a day for extra research :).
     
    Annaelsa and Perthguy like this.
  18. telejazzer

    telejazzer Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2016
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Melbourne
    That's exactly what I intend to create the App for, mainly tools for practice and I would even include the calculation behind it for teaching purpose. Better to practice yields than play games. ;)
     
  19. telejazzer

    telejazzer Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2016
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Melbourne
    All things considered, software like PIA is not expensive if you're using it for. Apps are more like tools and wouldn't be able to handle the type of calculations a software like PIA. But I will try to assist the best I can and as I said, I'm just starting to learn how to create the App so I will be making it available for free (no ads) during development for your review/s. I just want to do something useful while I'm learning.
     
  20. Dan Donoghue

    Dan Donoghue Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,679
    Location:
    Gold Coast, QLD
    Yes they can, PIA is just a spreadsheet possibly with VBA behind it (I haven't seen it before other than a screenshot).

    Android apps are written in Java, ANYTHING that can be done in VBA can be done in Java and ANY formulas in Excel can be replicated in Java. (You can develop android apps in C / C++ if you prefer but Java is the preferred language).

    It's an ambitious project that you are taking on as a beginner but the learnings you take from it will be invaluable and I commend you for it.

    If you need help with any of the formulas or structural stuff (I'm not a Java coder I am a VB.NET / VBA coder) then drop me a line, I am happy to help out.

    I can also help you by sending you the analysis tools I built over the 12 months I was researching before I purchased our first IP. It does projections, repayments, IO vs P&I comparisons, Yield analysis, lots of cost analytics.
     
    Perthguy likes this.

PFI can assist you with your investment strategies for your SMSF, Life Cover for your members and assistance with compliance. We provide the research to ensure your investment selections achieve the goals. This is the value of advice