The real estate industry has experienced a rapid change in the past few years. This has greatly increased the competition among the real estate players trying to bring out the best websites to help sellers and buyers.
» Jump To:
- Rankings: 11 Best Real Estate Websites of 2022
- Reviews: 11 Best Real Estate Websites of 2022
- What is a Real Estate Website?
- Most Important Features of a Real Estate Website
- Which Real Estate Website to Choose?
Rankings: 11 Best Real Estate Websites of 2022
Best Overall | Houzeo.com ↗️ |
Biggest Database | Zillow ↗️ |
Most Accurate | Realtor.com ↗️ |
Best Mobile App for Buyers | Trulia ↗️ |
Best Discounted Brokerage | Redfin ↗️ |
Best for Foreclosures | RealtyTrac ↗️ |
Best for Finding a Home’s Value | Homes.com ↗️ |
Best For Sale By Owner (FSBO) | Houzeo.com ↗️ |
Best for Renting | Apartments.com ↗️ |
Best Home Browsing Features | HomeFinder ↗️ |
Best for Auctions | Auction.com ↗️ |
Reviews: 11 Best Real Estate Websites of 2022
1. Houzeo
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE
- Listing Fee: $349
- Available nationwide
4.9/5 (out of 3,171 reviews)
Houzeo is a technology company enhancing the real estate experience to make it simple for home sellers and buyers.
Houzeo.com is America’s #1 real estate website and provides an unmatched combination of cutting-edge technology, maximum savings, and 5-star customer support.
🏠 Selling your house with Houzeo
- Save 3% Listing Agent Commission: Houzeo’s flat fee MLS listing service typically costs $349, so you can save thousands of dollars in commissions.
- 100% Online Paperwork: The comprehensive listing paperwork has been intuitively digitized on Houzeo.com. You can finish the listing formalities in approx. 60 mins typically.
- Unparalleled Exposure to Possible Buyers: All Houzeo Listings are syndicated to the 200+ local MLS’, and hundreds of real estate sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia, etc.
- 5-Star Customer Support: Home sellers across America have rated Houzeo 4.9 out of 5 stars on major review sites like Google and Trustpilot.
- Mobile App:
With Houzeo’s nifty social media sharing tools, you can amplify the exposure for your listing
✅ List with Houzeo: Save money, time, and manual efforts with America’s Real Estate Super App
- Nationwide coverage
- Listings get syndicated to Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and 100s of other sites
- Quick listing (within a day with concierge)
- Savings on commissions
- 100% online – easy listing, fast changes, online showings, and online offers
- Mobile app availability
Houzeo has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Google & Trustpilot.
» More: Houzeo Reviews: Should You Sell With Houzeo’s $349 Package?
Houzeo is available nationwide.
Introducing the Houzeo Mobile App!
- View your listing
- Manage your showings online
- Review and compare offers
- Counter an offer
- NEW! Buyers can now search your property and save it in “Favorites”
2. Zillow
🥈 BIGGEST DATABASE
- Listing Fee: 3%(on MLS), Free on platform
- Available nationwide
- Listings Featured on Zillow App
Part of the top online real estate companies, sites like Zillow lets you search for homes and apartments, list yours for sale, tour the home through pictures and videos, connect with agents and lenders, and receive push notifications of updates to your search criteria.
The platform source listings from the MLS and also contains properties as part of foreclosures, auctions, and for sale by owner.
The platform hides FSBO listings in the “Other Listings” category which makes it harder for the buyer to find FSBO information. By default, Zillow only displays agent listings.
Zillow offers a robust suite of apps and guides. Features such as Zillow Zestimate, mobile app, 3D virtual home touring app, rental manager app, etc. has facilitated home buyers in their home searching journey. It is also the most downloaded mobile app and has garnered nearly 40M unique visits.
» Explore More: Should You List FSBO on Zillow in 2022?
- Biggest real estate website in the US
- Hides FSBO seller listings by default
- Solicitation calls from agents
- Poor customer service
3. Realtor.com
🥉 BEST MOBILE APP
- Highly Accurate Database
- Available Nationwide
- Listings Featured on Realtor.com App
The primary difference between Realtor.com and Zillow is that Realtor.com has listings from any of the regional MLS systems, operated as non-profits, and overseen by a board of local brokers.
Zillow or Trulia, on the other hand, aggregate their listing data from individual broker sites and MLS. For example, Coldwell Banker’s listings automatically syndicate to Zillow and Trulia.
Realtor.com has a lot of statistical data because it sources listings from 800 regional MLS systems and this information is updated regularly, making it the most accurate real estate database. You can choose to register with a realtor since the NAR is a professional and trust-worthy place to find yourself an agent.
You can also use Realtor.com to find pre-approved, competitive mortgage rates, and plan an affordable home financing engagement.
» Explore More: Best Low Commission Real Estate Brokers in America (2022 Updates)
- Accurate local information from 800 regional MLS
- Mortgage and refinance calculators
- Trust-worthy realtor community
- No saving on realtor commissions (6% of the home sale price)
- Manual, offline process
4. Trulia
📱 BEST MOBILE APP FOR BUYERS
- Listings from Zillow
- Available nationwide
- Comprehensive search in Mobile App
Through Trulia, users can get a view of their potential neighborhood. It has advanced filters like narrowing your search based on price range, home style, number of bedrooms, and more. With an interactive map and versatile filters, Trulia’s app also provides information about schools, community centers, restaurants, and nearby stores.
Trulia is Zillow’s subsidiary and aims to be a one-stop-shop for buyers and sellers, with the backing of the biggest real estate database in the US. Trulia strongly focuses on educating and community engagement with an interactive, free mobile app.
Such features make Trulia as one of the top online real estate sites in the US.
- Accurate local information
- Mortgage, affordability, and refinancing calculator
- Tutorial guides teach you how to maximize app experience
- No option to list properties
- Need to maintain account for saving search criteria
5. Redfin
💰 BEST DISCOUNTED BROKERAGE
- Discounted brokerage
- Available nationwide
- Covers 90+ Markets
In contrast to Realtor.com, where you can go and find a realtor for yourself, here, you can find realtor-like tailored services at discounted rates. Redfin offsets its low prices by reducing operating costs with a salaried team and upselling current customers on add-on services and premium support.
Their agents handle a larger volume of customers per agent, so customer service quality is inconsistent.
The technology-first approach makes the entire process transparent, but the paperwork, follow-up, showing management, etc. still stays offline. Unlike Houzeo, which has digitized the paperwork and made the home selling a seamless journey, Redfin’s mobile app only allows browsing homes, listing, and contacting agents.
Overall, Redfin is considered to be among the top online real estate companies because of its reach and technology.
» Explore More: Is Redfin REALLY 1% Commission? Read Redfin Reviews
- Discounted commission rates
- Intuitive, user-friendly technology
- Safer than other discount brokers
- No free listings
- Unpredictable agent quality
- Offline, manual process
- Costly Partner Agents
6. RealtyTrac
👉 BEST FOR FORECLOSURES
- Foreclosure, auction, and bank owned properties
- Available Nationwide
- Paid plans to access full details of properties
Other resources teach you more about the benefits and risks of choosing properties, home buying, and home selling. The basic features are free and the premium subscription includes unlimited access to property addresses, auction dates and locations, and loan history.
If you are looking for a great deal and light to heavy remodeling doesn’t bother you, RealtyTrac is a great place to search for affordable properties. All the homes that are listed have a clean background and you will not have to be concerned about any liens or older taxes.
» Explore More: Who’s Buying Houses for Cash in 2022?
- Accurate information about foreclosed properties
- Detailed information about upcoming auctions, loan information, property details, and more
- Best mix of search and sort criteria
- Only for foreclosure and distressed properties
- Only paid subscription gives you access to property addresses and other details
7. Homes.com
🏠 BEST FOR FINDING HOME’S VALUE
- High traffic of home buyers
- Interactive App Features
- Snap and Search feature
It may not have the content, reach, or reputation as the others, but with millions of listings and home buyers, it’s definitely a good start.
An interesting feature is the chance to view the value history of a property and make a comparison with the histories of other homes in the same area. This is great for figuring out if a property is genuinely ‘good value’, which can be tricky to define and assess.
We also learn the property value variations and understand if the neighborhood is gaining value, stagnant, or is declining.
Homes.com’s flagship Snap and Search feature allows users to take snapshots of the home they like, and the app will match this snapshot with similar homes in the area to increase your options.
» Explore More: Top Discount Real Estate Brokers in 2022
- Property Assessment
- Interactive home searching features
- Great “How-To-Hub” repository for in-depth knowledge
- No realtor commission savings
- Limited market visibility
- Rigid platform, limited feature set
8. FSBO.com
💰 OLDEST FSBO (FOR SALE BY OWNER) Website
- Listing Fee: $99.95 & $399.95
- Wide coverage
- No Mobile App
The $399.95 package includes an MLS listing and is of good value containing a few add-on features.
The platform is built on outdated technology and most processes are manual (printing, scanning documents, etc.). You’ll be referred to a local broker who covers your state to be listed on the MLS. With FSBO.com, brokers are not onboarded on the platform and so you won’t have control over your selling experience.
There’s no mobile app, social media sharing, or any advanced features of any kind provided by FSBO.com.
» Explore More: Should You List on FSBO.com in 2022? Read FSBO.com Reviews
- Access to MLS
- Local broker referral
- Decent savings on commissions
- Weak customer service
- Listing can take 2-4 days
- No control over selling since it is a offline process
- No mobile app, or advanced features
- Manual listing updates
- Unpredictable broker quality
9. Apartments.com
🏢 BEST FOR RENTING
- Listing Fee: No listing fees for rentals
- Available in 30+ U.S. Markets
- Local Property Verification
With over a million properties ranging from houses, condos, townhouses, and apartments, pretty much any property type, Apartments.com is the one of the top apartment websites for renting.
A professional research team visits and photographs the property to verify the home information, policies, and rates.
The website has a ‘Polygon’ tool feature that helps users mark a specific area on the map and search properties in that area. The commute planner helps users to find a home close to their work place.
The website has features like Walk Score and Bike Score for understanding neighborhood transportation and noise levels. This helps users in getting to know the neighborhood better. Apartments.com also offers advertising properties to landlords and property management companies making it a full-fledged platform for renters.
- Personalized community reviews
- Walk-through video demonstrations for renters
- Mobile app with search and contact feature
- Comprehensive searching criteria: Search by more than just geography, for example, search “Pet Friendly Apartments”
- Works for rental properties only
- Missing community information like “crimes stats”
- User frustrations with sorting capability and app updates
10. HomeFinder
🕵️♀️ BEST HOME BROWSING FEATURES
- Foreclosure, Rental, and Rent to own properties
- Available nationwide
- HomeFinder App
With a relatively user-friendly interface, the website is fairly easy to use. You can search for properties for rent and sale and also that are off the market making it a holistic platform.
HomeFinder can also be viewed to find the local mortgage rates for each state, making it a tool that accurately calculates your costs in case you want loans.
» Explore More: How to List Your House on the MLS
- Nation-wide coverage
- User friendly interface
- Offers property type – sale, rent, rent to own, foreclosures
- Limited traffic
- Lack of inventory
11. Auction.com
👉 BEST FOR AUCTIONS
- For acquiring foreclosed and bank-owned properties
- Available nationwide
- Invariable auction fees
Auction.com has 16K+ properties up for sale on their platform. The bulk of the properties that go up for auctions are foreclosure deals or bank-owned properties that end up getting sold to investors. As part of the website, you get the option to save your favorite listings which further helps to show up similar properties.
Auctions may be held online or in-person. Winning at an auction can be of two types. If it’s a lender confirmation auction, the lender does not have to accept your offer, even if you are the highest bidder.
In an absolute auction, the highest bidder gets the property. The bidder then needs to work with the closing and contracts team to complete any formalities and bring the deal to closure.
You need to understand that properties listed on Auction.com are aimed at investors rather than those looking for a residential home, so consider evaluating and visiting the property before bidding!
- Thousands of Auction-able Properties
- Available Nationwide
- Hefty Earnest Money Deposits
- High reserve costs and hidden costs
- Deals falling out last-minute
What is a Real Estate Website?
Real estate websites bring buyers and sellers on one platform. They provide convenience in finding the next home for the buyer while giving exposure to the seller.
Buyers can view hundreds of property images, videos, and features before they agree on scheduling a live tour. Sellers who post their homes on these sites benefit for the same reason; thousands of prospective buyers can view their homes online without a walk-through.
Real estate websites also serve as a marketing channel for the professional stakeholders that contribute to the transaction. Realtors, mortgage professionals, banks, and inspectors can advertise on these websites to generate leads.
Most Important Features of a Real Estate Website
The 3 most important features of the best real estate websites are Maximum Exposure, Strong Technology, and Responsive Customer Service.
Feature | Description |
---|---|
📣 Maximum Exposure | The site should provide an MLS listing option, social media sharing features, and a yard sign customizable with the seller's phone number. |
📲 Strong Technology | Site should allow home sellers to do things that agents do all the time: advertise open houses, add virtual tours, negotiate offers by allowing a seller to counter an offer or ask for highest & best offers, and manage showings. |
☎️ Responsive Customer Service | Site should have 5-star reviews online for being responsive to home seller concerns and issues. |
Which is the Best Real Estate Website to Choose?
Multiple real estate websites and top online real estate companies have come up in recent years because of the boom in the real estate industry. Buyers can search for their dream home comfortably through web and mobile apps. On the other hand, sellers can list homes and negotiate offers with a single click on real estate websites like Houzeo.
Selecting a real estate website that suits your need requires thorough digging as far as the features provided are concerned.
Whether you want to list your home for sale taking the help of a realtor, sell your home without a realtor, or rent an apartment, these 11 real estate websites help you in achieving your concerned goal. In this list of top online real estate companies, Houzeo stands out as the best housing platform for sellers and buyers considering the plethora of features it has.
Houzeo is also one of the best Flat Fee MLS and For Sale by Owner (FSBO) platforms in the US. With the ease of use spanning across the web and mobile apps, Houzeo makes a mark as one of the top real estate sites.
» Explore: Why realtor commissions are declining?
Check out the following Houzeo reviews and decipher why Houzeo is the best real estate platform out there:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Is A Real Estate Website?
Real estate websites are a synonym for convenience when it comes to exposing your property in the market. Be it a buyer or a seller, you can explore properties online and list your house for sale.
This not only expands your reach but also helps you reduce traditional realtor commission costs.
The other purpose of real estate websites is to cater to professional real estate service providers. Realtors, mortgage professionals, banks, and inspectors can advertise on such platforms to get more leads.
2. Are Real Estate Websites Accurate?
Some websites provide extreme accuracy while some are still figuring out this part. When it comes to Houzeo, we strive to provide you with factual information, a seamless interface, and uninterrupted customer service.
With updated information and the latest industry trends, Houzeo is a highly preferred real estate website for FSBO and Flat fee MLS.
3. Where Do Real Estate Websites Get Data From?
While some websites enter data manually, other websites are also populated by traditional realtors by uploading the necessary documents and photos of the house.
In the case of Multiple Listing Service providers, their algorithm collects their database from the users who trust them.
4. Do These Real Estate Websites Charge?
Buyers or renters can scroll through and explore options for absolutely no cost.
However if you want to avail yourself options like save the property for later, get push notifications, be intimated when a property lowers its price, the website may ask for your details such as name, contact details, and email address. By agreeing to fill in these details, you’re opening yourself to dozens of sales calls.
In the case of sellers, websites charge them listing fees. Some websites have varying charges while some work on a Flat Fee MLS model.
With Houzeo, you will experience a coherent Flat Fee listing service on multiple real estate websites
5. How To Choose The Right Real Estate Website?
After reviewing hundreds of real estate websites, we’ve compiled these 11 best websites that are user-friendly and can get you effective results.
Some key points to keep in mind while choosing a real estate website would be – your purpose, the services you expect, the pros and cons of listing or buying through them, customer reviews, and of course, the money.
Still confused? Get in touch with our customer service and get all your doubts cleared.
6. Which real estate website is most popular?
Zillow is the leading real estate and rental website. However, if you are looking for a website which has superb technology and gives you full control of your listing. MLS listings are syndicated on Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Redfin, and hundreds of other websites with flexible and affordable plans, you can choose Houzeo.
7. What are the best property websites?
These are the best property websites:
Houzeo
ZIllow
Realtor.com
Trulia
Redfin
RealtyTrac
Homes.com
FSBO.com
Apartments.com
HomeFinder
Auction.com
8. What is the difference between Zillow and Trulia?
Each of these websites is a real estate database that provides for-sale and rental listings to the general public as well as connecting people with real estate agents, and they have a number of characteristics that are similar. They are now a part of the same corporation as well: Trulia was acquired by the Zillow Group in February 2015 for $3.5 billion in cash.
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