Bottom line: LoopNet is a commercial real estate app that searches properties to buy or lease. Its large listing database has a range of search filters, but lacks tools users might expect from a real estate app.
Best app for commercial propertiesLoopNet
Full LoopNet review
Pros
- Buy or lease commercial properties
- Browse listings with comprehensive filters
- Save searches and share listings
- Get key property details and contact agents
Cons
- Can't search businesses for sale in the app
- No in-app real estate agent directory
- No calculators or other tools
At a glance
| iOS app rating | 4.8/5 stars |
|---|---|
| Android app rating | 4.7/5 stars |
| Cost | Free |
What is LoopNet and how does it work?
The LoopNet app is the mobile version of the popular commercial real estate listing platform. It displays more than 50,000 listings for commercial properties for sale, lease, and auction. Unlike the LoopNet website, however, the app doesn't show businesses or franchises for sale.
Like most real estate apps, the LoopNet app filters listings by city, price, property type, or tenancy (single or multiple). You can save searches for quick reuse, as well as mark favorites and share listings.
The information in the listings varies by listing broker, but most include at least a few photos and basic property information like square footage and build year. However, while you can find information on the listing broker, searching LoopNet's broker database requires popping onto the full website.
Top perks
Buy or lease commercial properties
Unlike most other real estate apps, LoopNet focuses on commercial real estate. LoopNet includes listings for sale and for lease, as well as commercial properties up for auction. This includes:
- Offices
- Industrial buildings
- Retail space
- Restaurants
- Shopping centers
- Multi-family units
- Specialty properties
- Healthcare facilities
- Hospitality properties
- Sports and entertainment properties
- Land
- Residential income properties
The only listings for residential properties -- properties where people can live -- on LoopNet are those targeted at investors and potential landlords. LoopNet isn't where you can find your next single-family home, but you could find an office for your growing business, or a retail space to start your dream store.
Browse listings with comprehensive filters
Any decent real estate app offers robust search filters, and LoopNet includes a lot of options. Not only can you search by basic property type -- like office space, retail, or restaurant -- you can narrow it down even further. For example, you can look at any office space, or look more specifically for a live/work office unit or a loft/creative space.
Some of the search filters are the same you'd find in a residential real estate app, like price, square footage, and build year. Other filters are exclusive to commercial listings, such as property use and cap rate percentage (an estimate of the potential investor income). Lease searches include similar filters, as well as filters like annual or monthly lease rate. And all searches can include keywords.
LoopNet lets you save searches once you've tweaked all your search filters. This eliminates the hassle of repeatedly filling out search criteria.
Besides saving searches, you can also mark favorites to keep track of the properties that stick out. And, because finding real estate -- particularly commercial real estate -- is rarely a solo game, LoopNet makes it easy to keep everyone in the loop. Click the Share button to send a listing to a business partner or investor through email or another supported app.
Get key property details and contact agents
A real estate app is only as good as its listings. LoopNet's listings come from commercial real estate brokers, and the information they include varies. Some listings offer lots of details and extensive descriptions, while others are more bare-bones.
Most listings include at least one or two photos and basic property details. Some also offer extras like 3D tours and marketing brochures. Neighborhood data also varies by listing, with data ranging from nearby airports to the Bike Score.
If you want more information than the listing provides, you can reach out to the listing broker. Each listing includes the broker's name and phone number, plus a button to send an in-app email to the broker.
What could be improved
Can't search businesses for sale in the app
The LoopNet app includes many of the features found on the website -- with a few notable exceptions. For instance, the LoopNet site lets users search businesses for sale. This can be useful if you want to purchase a local franchise or an established business. Unfortunately, you can't do that with LoopNet's mobile app.
No real estate agent directory
Another noticeable absence in the mobile app is LoopNet's broker database. On the website, users can search thousands of commercial real estate brokers, including LoopNet's featured brokers.
With the mobile app, while you can see information on individual brokers for a listing, you can't search the database -- you have to head to the website.
No calculators or other tools
One thing that helps residential real estate apps stick out from the crowd is the inclusion of extra tools. These might be mortgage calculators or anything else to help buyers plan ahead. Some apps even include up-to-date mortgage rates and industry insights.
LoopNet has a basic news feed that reads more like a blog, but it doesn't provide calculators or other tools. You need to look elsewhere to do things like calculate your potential monthly payments or figure out the best mortgage lender.
Alternatives to consider
If you want an app to buy residential property: Zillow is the go-to app for millions of folks buying residential real estate. The app offers millions of listings, easy-to-use search filters, and a host of handy calculators and tools. Zillow is primarily a residential tool, though, so if you're looking for a commercial property, stick to LoopNet.
If you want an app to rent residential property: Trulia is solid for searching residential rentals. You can find everything from a studio apartment to a single-family home to rent, and the map search makes it easy to find rentals exactly where you want to live. Trulia is limited to residential rentals, however, so if you want a live/work combo space, LoopNet might be a better fit.
What are the costs?
The LoopNet app is free to download and use. You can also contact a listing broker for free from the app.
How are LoopNet's rates compared to the national average?
Unfortunately, LoopNet doesn't offer users any kind of mortgage tools for commercial real estate loans. This means you can't see local mortgage rates or check out mortgage lenders. You won't even find a mortgage calculator to estimate your potential mortgage costs.
The lack of mortgage tools makes sense when you consider that commercial real estate loans have very little in common with residential (home) mortgages. They differ in everything from who can get one -- commercial mortgages are generally obtained by companies, rather than individuals -- to the loan-to-value ratio requirements (business real estate loans usually require much larger down payments than residential loans).
This app is right for:
The LoopNet app is good for anyone looking for commercial real estate for sale or lease. It has a lot of search features and makes it easy to save and share listings. That said, a few of the features LoopNet offers on its website, such as searching businesses for sale or brokers, aren't available in the app. Anyone looking to buy a business may need to go elsewhere.
FAQs
LoopNet doesn't offer any mortgage tools, including rates or calculators, so you can't use LoopNet to compare rates for commercial real estate loans.
LoopNet doesn't have any way to compare or apply for mortgages. You can't use the site or app to find a commercial real estate loan.
LoopNet doesn't offer mortgage tools of any kind, either for purchasing or refinancing. So, you can't use LoopNet to find or apply for a refinance loan for your commercial property.
Since LoopNet doesn't have any mortgage options, there are no qualification requirements.
LoopNet doesn't offer any mortgage options, either on the site or in the app. You'll need to go elsewhere to find a commercial real estate loan.
