Editor's Rating
2.5
User Rating (2 Reviews)Trulia, a Zillow subsidiary, is an online real estate marketplace for buyers and renters. They do not provide an MLS listing. Trulia only provides a database of properties.
Pros
Cons
Trulia is an online home-searching platform. Founded in 2005 by Pete Flint and Sami Inkinen, the company was later acquired by Zillow Group. However, Trulia is not an MLS listing service platform, instead, they display listings sourced from Zillow, MLS feeds, agents, and broker partners.
Over the years, Trulia has faced several legal challenges. In 2016, Trulia shareholders sued to challenge Zillow’s acquisition of the company. In 2019, another class-action lawsuit alleged that Trulia’s Premier Agent program confused buyers and directed them to Premier Agents instead of listing agents.
Trulia was also involved in a few other legal disputes. These cases primarily involved corporate, intellectual property, or business matters rather than problems with the home-search experience.
However, Trulia reviews highlight that buyers face issues like inaccurate listings and unresponsive customer support. Plus, many customers who were searching for homes to rent complained about scams, highlighting a lack of screening of landlords and rental properties.
No, not for most home buyers. While Trulia offers extensive property listings, neighborhood information, and search tools, many customers have reported issues such as misleading property information and unresponsive customer service.
Here’s a breakdown of these drawbacks:
- Misleading or Inaccurate Property Information: Some buyers have complained about outdated, inaccurate, or misleading information on property listings, including incorrect pricing, availability, or property details. Since Trulia aggregates listings from MLSs, brokers, agents, and other sources, the information may not always be updated immediately.
- Unresponsive Customer Service: Many buyers report difficulty getting timely or helpful responses when they encounter problems with listings or the platform. This can be frustrating when you need clarification about a property or want an issue with a listing addressed quickly.
- Not a Direct Buying Service: Trulia helps you find and research properties, but it does not represent you as a buyer or handle the transaction. You may still need to work with a real estate agent, lender, inspector, and other professionals to complete your purchase.
- Rental Scam Exposure: Trulia offers a large number of rental listings, but buyers and renters should still be cautious when dealing with individual listings. Limited landlord verification can leave room for fraudulent listings or misleading rental advertisements.
My suggestion: You can use Trulia as a home-search and research tool. However, explore and compare other real estate platforms that offer services with top-notch customer support, accurate listing information, offer management tools, and more during the home-buying process.
Key Takeaways
- What is Trulia? Trulia is a Zillow-owned real estate marketplace for buyers and renters.
- Trulia has a 1.7-star Trustpilot rating based on 28 reviews and a 1-star BBB rating from 2 reviews. They also have a 1-star Consumer Affairs rating based on 61 reviews and a 1.6-star PissedConsumer rating from 69 reviews.
- Trulia is not a BBB-accredited company but has an A- rating on the platform.
- Trulia extends services to all 50 states and D.C.
- Compared to Trulia, competitors like Houzeo provide digital tools for showings, offers, and transactions. Meanwhile, Realtor.com has a better inventory of MLS listings than Trulia. Redfin, on the other hand, combines home search with brokerage services for tours, offers, and negotiations.
What Is Trulia Real Estate?
Trulia is an online real estate marketplace owned by Zillow Group that helps you search for homes and rentals across the U.S. You can browse listings, compare properties, research neighborhoods, and connect with real estate agents through the platform.
Trulia serves buyers and renters rather than functioning as an MLS or a full-service real estate brokerage. Their listings come from MLSs, agents, brokers, and other partners, giving you a broad selection of properties to explore.
Is Trulia Legit?
Yes, Trulia is a legitimate real estate company headquartered in San Francisco. Pete Flint and Sami Inkinen founded the company in 2005. Nearly a decade later, Zillow Group acquired Trulia in 2015 for $2.5 Billion in stock.
This deal made Trulia part of a larger portfolio of real estate brands that included Zillow, StreetEasy, and HotPads. Meanwhile, Trulia’s co-founder and former CEO Pete Flint joined Zillow Group’s board.
The acquisition was intended to combine the companies’ expertise and expand their ability to provide home buyers and sellers with real estate information. Zillow Group also said the combined business would help real estate professionals reach a larger audience and create greater efficiencies through shared services and marketing platforms.
What Legal Issues Has Trulia Faced?
Trulia has faced several legal disputes over the years. This includes lawsuits related to patent rights, advertising practices, and their acquisition by Zillow.
- Zillow Patent Lawsuit (2012): Zillow sued Trulia over their home value estimates calculator. The dispute centered on features behind Zillow’s Zestimate and Trulia’s home valuation tools feature. However, the issue was resolved as both the companies moved towards a merger.
- Trulia Stockholder Litigation (2016): Trulia’s shareholders sued the company’s director over Zillow’s acquisition of the company, claiming shareholders lacked important information needed to evaluate the deal. The Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed the shareholders’ claims and ended the litigation without a finding of wrongdoing.
- Premier Agent Class Action (2019): A lawsuit against Trulia challenged their Premier Agent program. The complaint alleged that the program pushed traditional listing agents down in search results and confused consumers about which agent actually represented a property or buyer. The case was dismissed in 2021 on jurisdictional grounds, without the court ruling on the allegations against Trulia.
Most of these disputes do not directly affect buyers while using Trulia or invalidate the listings. However, they highlight some of the legal and business concerns surrounding the platform.
Trulia Reviews
On Trustpilot, Trulia has a 1.7-star rating based on 28 reviews. They have a 1-star rating on ConsumerAffairs based on 61 reviews and a 1-star BBB rating from 2 reviews. Trulia also has a 1.6-star rating on PissedConsumer based on 69 reviews.
They are not a BBB-accredited company. However, Trulia has an A- rating on the platform as a result of failing to respond to one complaint.
| Website | Rating | Review Count |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 1.7-star | 28 |
| Consumer Affairs | 1-star | 61 |
| BBB | 1-star | 2 |
| PissedConsumer | 1.6-star | 69 |
We analyzed nearly 160 Trulia reviews, and found that most positive feedback mentioned:
However, the negative reviews highlighted:
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🚨 Important: Despite being a well-known home search platform that has operated for over two decades, Trulia has very few customer reviews, particularly recent ones. It’s also unusual that Trulia has no reviews on Google or Yelp, two of the most widely used platforms for customer feedback.
Positive Trulia Reviews
✅ Fast and convenient home search
Several buyers appreciated Trulia for making it easy to search for homes within their preferred price range. Reviewers described the platform as fast, convenient, and useful for finding properties that matched their home-buying needs.
Sharing their experience, Mark A. said:
I have had a good experience looking at houses through this website.
Source: Trustpilot
Here’s what Leslie Schauer had to say:
Great site to find homes!!! Fast and convenient to find homes your looking for in your price range!!!
Source: Trustpilot
✅ Easy-to-use interface
Buyers praised Trulia’s user-friendly interface, quick search filters, and detailed property information. Reviewers particularly liked the photos, map options, and useful details on taxes, mortgage payments, schools, and crime, which helped them decide which homes were worth viewing.
Linda shared their experience and said:
I like the how user friendly it is and the different map options. I am planning on moving within the next year and use it a lot. What I don’t like is every time you look at a house it opens up a new browser tab and before you know it, my tablet is slowing down. My least favorite feature is when you put in a city it doesn’t always let you look outside that area.
Source: Consumer Affairs
Praising Trulia, Eric said:
I like how easy it is to use because when I am searching for a home, I want to be able to filter quickly and easily. Additionally, I also find that it has a lot more photos and it considerably easier to use than any other real estate site. I also like how they give me details about the following items: Taxes, Expected Mortgage Payments, School Districts, Crime in the area. By getting all this information, I am better able to make a determination on whether or not to see a place in person. However, it might make it easier to use in Safari. Currently, the best way to browse it is through Internet Explorer which does not always suit my browsing needs.
Source: Consumer Affairs
Negative Trulia Reviews
❌ Outdated or inaccurate listings
Some users complained that Trulia displayed incorrect or outdated property information, including wrong addresses, prices, and foreclosure statuses. Reviewers also said that getting these errors corrected was difficult.
Sharing their experience, seller Janice said:
I had my property listed for sale. The adress was altered, but pictures of my property are posted. Whoever did this intentionally caused the price to drop despite comps showing higher prices. I have reached out to zillow and asked them to remove the fictitious address and they have ignored ne. I have Rea he’d out to trulia with the same info and request and they have ignored me. I cannot sell my property because of what trulia is doing and has allowed.
Source: BBB
Here’s what Ray W. had to say:
Trulia all of a sudden listed my property as a REO / post foreclosure when it is not. When I noticed it, I started doing research and they have done this to many homeowners. For someone that is 71 years old this is a very upsetting. I wrote to them, however many homeowners have said they didn’t have luck with them fixing it and even when it was fixed, they did it again for the same home. How can they get something so serious as posting someone’s home as a foreclosure when it is not? They need to be regulated and held accountable for the emotional toll this takes on homeowners seeing something that is so false, embarrassing and defamatory. I’m not sure how long they have been posting this, but I noticed it yesterday. Realtor.com can get it correct so why is Trulia so unreliable for such important information about someone that can have impacts that Trulia needs to held accountable for.
Source: Trustpilot
❌ Lack of screening and verification of homes
Many buyers and renters raised concerns about the lack of verification behind certain property listings, including rental properties and homes with undisclosed issues. Reviewers claimed that problems with properties were not apparent from the listings, highlighting the importance of independently inspecting a home and verifying its condition before buying or renting.
Complaining about Trulia, Phil said:
We rented this house for five months last winter. There were landscape people working in the yard for two weeks after we moved in. We could not sit outside for 3 months because of the odor from the pool and hot tub which had algae and rotten debris in them. We never were able to use the pool or the hot tub because the owner never got the boiler working for us. 24 dishes were chipped and no cushions on patio chairs. It took over 6 weeks for the owner to replace them. The furniture in this house is a disgrace. Torn cushions, legs off sofas, fabric coming off bottom of chairs, chair backs broken, all furniture is worn out. The owners had an employee come into the house when we were out and did not notify us. All the windows in the house were filthy. All the blinds have pinholes in them.
Source: Consumer Affairs
Craig shared their experience and said:
Hello, We saw a house for sale on Trulia several years ago that we bought. This house was listed by them was not screened very good and turned out to be a rodent, snake home. We were connected up with Remax Realty in Paducah, Ky. and they had a friend inspect the house and they found no defects in the home. Their friend plus the house flipper and realtor covered all the problems up about this home to sell it! We paid cash for this home and we still live at this house but we got rid of the rodents and snakes getting into the house from the crawlspace under the home. There were a lot of other problems with the construction that we fixed ourselves to save money on repairs. Please beware of Trulia. They list homes that are not screened for problems like this so be careful if you buy a home on their website!
Source: Consumer Affairs
❌ Unresponsive customer service
Some users reported difficulty getting help from Trulia when they encountered problems with the platform or property inquiries. Others said their requests to tour or learn more about properties received no response, making it difficult to move forward with homes they were interested in.
Here’s what Lora Premo had to say:
I was using it for weeks and it was giving me great properties to look at and then all of a sudden it decided I was a bot and it told me to press and hold something to prove I wasn’t a bot but no matter how long I press and hold it it doesn’t work. It’s probably their way of trying to force you to put their app onto your phone, which is then going to start stealing all your data. realtor.com has all the same listings exactly without any of the problems. You can’t even unsubscribe because they want you to prove you’re not a bot. Clearly, the whole website is a big fat scam. There is also no Customer Service. When you Google trulia contact us, you get a contact us page for about 4 1/2 seconds and then vanishes and it says whoops this page doesn’t exist. So they don’t want you to ever reach out to them and tell them anything about anything. That is terrible Customer Service.
Source: Trustpilot
Zoe, who faced similar issues, shared:
Don’t waste your time trying to find a home to rent or buy on this site. It seems no reputable agents work with Trulia because you will never hear back on requests to tour properties. Your requests simply disappear into the void. If you are actually interested in renting or buying a home, stay far away from Trulia.
Source: Consumer Affairs
Trulia Pros and Cons
Trulia gives you access to millions of property listings across the U.S. and makes home searching convenient with their website and mobile app. However, Trulia also comes some limitations that you should consider before relying on it to find your next home. Here are their key pros and cons to know before you get started.
✅ Pros
- Extensive Listings Database: Trulia features more than 3.5 million homes for sale, giving you access to a broad selection of properties across most of the U.S. You can search by location, price, property type, and other criteria to narrow down homes that fit your needs.
- Easy-to-Use Interface: Many buyers praised Trulia’s user-friendly interface, saying it makes browsing listings, comparing properties, and exploring neighborhoods simple and convenient.
- Free Mobile App: Trulia offers free mobile apps for both iOS and Android, allowing you to search for homes, save properties, and receive updates while you’re on the go. The app also makes it easier to browse listings and compare potential homes from your phone.
❌ Cons
- FSBO Listings Are Separated: Trulia does display FSBO properties, but they appear under the “Other Listings” category rather than alongside agent listings. This can make it less convenient if you’re specifically looking to compare homes being sold directly by owners.
- Agent Costs Vary: Trulia can connect you with real estate agents, but there is no single standard cost for using an agent through the platform. Your commission and other costs will depend on the agent and the services you agree to.
- Inconsistent Agent Service: You may experience inconsistent service from agents connected through Trulia, with some customers reporting issues with communication and professionalism. For example, Krishawna alleged that an agent referred through Trulia was unprofessional and failed to present their offer and preferred closing timeline to the seller.
- Inaccurate Property Information: Some users complained about incorrect information appearing on Trulia listings. For instance, Galina R alleged that homes were sometimes listed under the wrong property type, making it harder for buyers to find properties that matched their search criteria.
- Rental Scam Risk: Trulia does not independently inspect rental properties or verify every landlord before listings appear on the platform. This can leave you exposed to fraudulent or misleading rental listings.
How Does Trulia Work?
Trulia works as a home-search and property research platform. You can use it to find homes, compare listings, explore neighborhoods, and connect with real estate agents. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to search for a home on Trulia:
- Set Your Search Criteria: Enter your preferred location and set filters such as price, property type, number of bedrooms, and other features. Trulia will show you homes that match your requirements.
- Browse and Compare Listings: Review property photos, prices, descriptions, estimated mortgage payments, school information, neighborhood details, and other available data. Save homes you like so you can compare them later.
- Check the Property Details: Before contacting an agent, review the listing carefully and look for important information such as price history, property taxes, estimated monthly payments, and days on market. Since listing information can change or contain errors, verify important details with the listing agent.
- Contact the Listing Agent: If you find a home you’re interested in, use the contact options provided on the listing to reach the agent or request more information. You can also use Trulia to connect with an agent if you don’t already have one.
- Tour the Property: Schedule a showing and inspect the home in person. Since Trulia may not screen properties, a thorough inspection can help you avoid issues with the property’s condition that some buyers have reported.
- Make an Offer: If you decide to purchase the property, work with your agent to determine an appropriate offer and submit it to the seller. Your agent can also help you negotiate the price and terms.
- Complete the Home Purchase: Once your offer is accepted, you will typically move forward with the inspection, appraisal, financing, title work, and other closing requirements. Trulia helps you find the property, but the actual transaction is handled by you, the seller, agents, lenders, and other professionals involved in the sale.
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👉 Important: Trulia is primarily useful during the home-search stage. Once you find a property and connect with an agent, you’ll need to rely on other professionals to handle the offer, negotiations, financing, inspections, and closing.
Trulia for Renters
Trulia also helps you find rental homes and apartments across the U.S. You can search by location, rent, number of bedrooms, property type, and other preferences, then compare listings and save properties you like.
Once you find a rental you’re interested in, you can contact the landlord or property manager through the listing and arrange a viewing. However, Trulia does not handle the lease or rental transaction, so you will need to verify the property, landlord, rental terms, and availability before signing a lease or making any payment.
Trulia’s Fees
Trulia does not charge you to browse property listings. The platform is free for most buyers and renters searching for properties. However, if you connect with a Trulia Premier Agent, you will have to pay them a commission.
The Premier Agent is an independent real estate professional. Therefore, Trulia does not set or control the agent’s commission, which can vary depending on the services they provide.
What is Trulia Estimate?
Trulia Estimate was Trulia’s automated home-valuation tool that gave homeowners and buyers an estimated value for a property. The estimate used factors such as recent sales of comparable homes, property characteristics, and information provided by homeowners to calculate the property’s estimated worth.
In 2012, Zillow sued Trulia for patent infringement, claiming that Trulia Estimates copied technology covered by Zillow’s patent for their Zestimate valuation system. The dispute ended in 2014 as the companies moved toward their merger.
Trulia’s Coverage
Trulia offers its home-search and rental services across all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. The platform receives listings from brokers, agents, MLSs, and other partners throughout the country, giving you access to homes and rentals in markets nationwide.
Trulia’s Alternatives
The best alternatives of Trulia are Houzeo, Realtor.com, and Redfin. We evaluated these real estate platforms based on digital home-buying service, MLS listing inventory, and end-to-end support. Here’s how they compare with Trulia.
We conducted a comparative analysis to identify Trulia’s top competitors based on key factors like digital home buying service, MLS listing inventory, and end-to-end support. We aim to provide a fair and data-driven comparison.
- Market Comparison: We evaluated different types of home-buyingsolutions, their services and company policies.
- Pricing Structure Assessment: We evaluated the true value of each platform by breaking down upfront fees, potential hidden costs, and percentage-based commission structures.
- Consumer Feedback Review: We analyzed reviews from Yelp, BBB, Trustpilot, and Google to understand satisfaction levels and common concerns across platforms.
- Support and Assistance Evaluation: The level of transaction support was evaluated by measuring the availability of helpful customer support.
- Selection Criteria: We chose the competitors based on how they differ from Trulia’s model to ensure a balanced mix of alternatives.
Trulia vs. Houzeo
Trulia helps you search for homes, research neighborhoods, and connect with real estate agents. You can browse listings, save properties, and request information, but the platform mainly serves as a home-search tool.
Houzeo goes further by combining home search with digital tools like IntelliSearch, DigiTransact, etc. You can search listings, schedule showings, and submit offers online through the platform, giving you a more streamlined way to move from finding a home to making an offer.
Trulia vs. Realtor.com
Trulia receives listings from brokers, agents, MLSs, and other listing providers across the U.S., along with FSBO listings through Zillow. Trulia currently reports having more than a million listings, giving you a broad selection of homes to search.
However, Realtor.com has a strong advantage if you specifically want to search MLS-listed properties. Realtor.com describes their service as a comprehensive source of MLS property listings, and their research database is built from MLS-listed for-sale homes. This makes it a useful alternative for buyers who want to focus on properties represented in MLS data.
Trulia vs. Redfin
Along with searching for homes, you can also find an agent through Trulia. However, the platform does not provide the full brokerage service needed to complete your purchase.
Redfin goes beyond property search by combining their online platform with brokerage services. You can use Redfin to search for homes and then work with a Redfin agent for services such as property tours, offers, negotiations, and other parts of the buying process. You can even apply for mortgage through their affiliate Rocket Mortgage.
Is Trulia Worth It?
Trulia is worth using if you want to browse homes and explore neighbourhoods. However, we advise against relying on it as your only source for current listing information. Many buyers have reported inaccurate property details, a lack of proper verification of homes and owners, and difficulties getting customer support.
If responsive customer support and a more comprehensive digital home-buying experience matter to you, consider alternatives like Houzeo. Houzeo showcases over 1.5 million homes for sale and provides tools like IntelliSearch, DigiTransact, mortgage calculator, and more to make your home-buying process a breeze.
We implemented a rigorous multi-platform evaluation framework to provide an objective, fact-based analysis of Trulia’s services. This review avoids single-source bias by analyzing verified customer touchpoints across primary consumer intelligence networks.
- Cross-Platform Aggregation: We gathered raw review data across Consumer Affairs, Pissed Consumer, Trustpilot, and BBB to eliminate platform bias. Each platform weights sentiment differently, so aggregating across all four corrects for the blind spots any single source would introduce.
- Verified Customer Sampling: Our analysis evaluated 160+ specific consumer touchpoints to ensure statistical relevance, filtering out unverifiable or duplicate accounts to protect data integrity.
- Temporal Weighting: Reviews were time-stamped and weighted so recent feedback (last 6–12 months) carries more influence than older reviews, ensuring the analysis reflects current service levels rather than historical performance.
- Customer Service Analysis: We scrutinized customer interactions with customer service, identifying communication gaps.
- Alternative Cross-Referencing: We compared Trulia directly with competitors to baseline their market value.
- Category Tagging: Each touchpoint was coded against recurring themes like pricing transparency, agent responsiveness, closing timeline, etc., so the review speaks about specific, actionable dimensions of service rather than a single blended star rating.
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Reviews
(2 Reviews)
Billy Rose
Verified Reviewer
Mary Lee Kelly
Verified Reviewer
26th Jan 2024
It is just about impossible to post for sale by owner with these companies. They are trying to get their money by suckering agents into advertising on their site and therefore really ignore owners. Avoid if at all possible. They steal agents listings through their local boards, that the agent is paying dues to belong and then rout inquiries to agents that pay for advertising who know nothing about the property. Really too bad that there is no place for owners to advertise their property. No humans to speak to, only AI.
8th Feb 2024
It was a rental that was filthy, owner would not provide heat and verbally abused women and the elderly as well as threatened the tenant’s life twice in 5 weeks. This is an unsafe environment for any renters.