March 13, 2024
The Best Real Estate Listing Websites
Many helpful real estate websites are available for buyers and professionals alike. These digital resources come in handy for selling homes more efficiently since they often improve the discoverability of listings, both directly and behind the scenes.
In this article, we'll review the best real estate listing websites for selling a home. First, we'll discuss some common types of real estate websites, then review the best sites in different categories. Finally, we'll review some frequently asked questions about real estate websites.
Let’s dig in.
Types of Real Estate Websites
A few types of real estate websites are available to buyers, sellers, and their real estate agents. These range from sites to publish and browse listings to sites with tools for optimizing listings.
Some sites are geared toward providing customer-facing experiences, whereas others are more for managing things behind the scenes.
For example, sites like Zillow or Apartments.com are great for presenting listings to those looking for a home. Foreclosure.com and Auction.com are more valuable for wholesalers and real estate investors looking for properties for their portfolios.
On a completely different front, some sites, like Virtual Staging AI, offer tools for curating beautifully staged images to feature in your online listings.
The 8 Best Real Estate Websites of 2024
Now that you are more familiar with the different types of real estate websites, let’s review each category's best real estate markets.
1. Best Overall Pick: Zillow
(Many view Zillow as the best overall real estate website available since it offers an extensive database of over 135 million properties, a suite of mobile apps, and complimentary services for buyers and sellers. This site is the go-to for many potential buyers and renters, so real estate agents and sellers are wise to leverage it by using it to publish their listings.
Zillow is free to buyers. Realtors can list their properties for free but can pay for upgrades, like lead generation, listing boosting, or extended listing times. In addition to the optional upgrades for realtors, Zillow makes money through advertising fees.
Another cool feature of Zillow is the Zestimate tool. This feature provides the estimated value for sale and rent of most properties based on their specs and comparable properties. A basic Zestimate is provided for most addresses, but you can unlock a more detailed Zestimate if you claim a property as your own. This includes different Zestimate models, home value history, and tax assessments.
This site has both mobile and desktop versions. The mobile app has high ratings and popularity on Android and iOS platforms.
2. Most Reliable: Realtor.com
(Realtor.com is a listing site similar to Zillow but is known by many as the place to get the most accurate information on listings. It's garnered this reputation thanks to its affiliation with the National Association of Realtors and its direct access to MLS listings.
Like Zillow, Realtor.com has tools for owners that allow them to track critical data about their homes.
When choosing Zillow or Realtor.com, it all comes down to the preferred user experience. The interfaces are both very similar, but there are some slight navigation differences.
Realtor.com makes finding a real estate professional easy. Its mobile app is also very popular and highly rated.
3. Best Mobile Experience: Trulia
(Publishing homes on a site with a mobile offering is very valuable to realtors. It allows them to get their listings in front of people who are driving around neighborhoods and looking for properties in real time.
Trulia is a property listing site with mobile and desktop versions, but in this guide, we want to focus on the mobile app. Those who want to take advantage of mobile traffic are wise to use Trulia.
The mobile app is known for its user-friendly interface, personalized alerts, and neighborhood insights. In addition to its highly rated primary app, Trulia also offers an app specific to rental searches.
It's worth noting that Zillow bought Trulia in 2015. The merger resulted in an integration that enabled Zillow to leverage Trulia’s ad technology. Although the brands remain separate, Trulia specializes in localized searches for homes for rent and for sale.
Trulia only pulls information from the MLS, which means sellers have no tools to manually add listings. Prospective buyers may find this valuable as it ensures listings' accuracy.
4. Best for Virtual Staging: Virtual Staging AI
(Virtual Staging AI (VSAI) is a tool used to create beautifully rendered photos to optimize your online listings. This technology provides a low-cost way for realtors to virtually stage homes in minutes to optimize their online listings.
With VSAI, all you have to do is upload an image of a room, select the room type, and choose your preferred style. In seconds, the space will be virtually filled with furniture and decor. This is much more cost-effective and time-efficient than other staging methods, even virtual staging with a designer.
You can try VSAI for free, but a nominal upgrade unlocks a variety of premium features. For $12, you can generate six staged images without a watermark. Additional renderings are available for a slightly higher fee.
With this upgrade, it’s also possible to indicate the preferred style of staging. Aside from curating your online listings, this is an excellent feature if you’d like to create lookbooks to appeal to different prospective buyers’ styles.
Another valuable part of VSAI’s premium tool offering is the decluttering functionality. If the homeowner hasn’t moved all of their stuff out of the property, you can use AI to virtually declutter a photo of the room before virtually staging it.
5. Best for Foreclosures: Foreclosure.com
(Foreclosure.com is a website designed to find foreclosed properties. It offers an extensive listing database that makes it easy for interested buyers to find the perfect property with detailed search criteria.
The platform is updated twice daily and specializes in short sales, foreclosures, city-owned houses, and other distressed properties. It also offers an extensive learning center with educational resources regarding foreclosures.
Foreclosure.com has both web and mobile versions.
6. Best for Listings by Owner: FSBO.com
(Although using a realtor is typically the most efficient option, some sellers opt to list their homes themselves. When a property is listed for sale by the owner, FSBO.com is the best site to use.
The main benefit of listing a property on FSBO.com and not listing with a realtor is that it saves you the commission and fees when a third party facilitates the transaction.
The basic plan for listing on FSBO.com is $99.95 for six months. For a flat fee of $399.95, you can list your property on FSBO.com and the MLS for six months. The MLS package also distributes listings to the other top sites we’ve mentioned.
Another valuable feature of this site is that FSBO.com has an online store for ordering property signage.
Investors who are interested in buying a foreclosure can check out the FSBO x Foreclosure.com database.
7. Best for Rentals: Apartments.com
(If you need a site for listing rental properties, Apartments.com is the way to go. It offers a database of rental listings and similar search functionality to Zillow and Realtor.com.
Like Zillow, Apartments.com has a dedicated rental hub for the individual or realtor listing the property.
One exciting feature of Apartments.com is a rental calculator that enables users to input personal information, such as monthly income and the percentage of their budget they intend to put towards rent, to calculate how much they can afford each month.
It's entirely free to list a rental on Apartments.com.
- Best for Home Auctions: Auction.com
(Auction.com is a bit different than the sites we’ve covered so far since it is specifically used to find homes sold in auctions. Homes often go to auction when they are foreclosed or being sold as is.
The typical buyer for auctioned property is an investor prepared to buy with cash. However, someone planning to inhabit the space can also buy it as long as they have cash in hand.
If you’re unfamiliar with real estate auctions, a minimum price is set, and prospective buyers can bid on the property. The property goes to the person who makes the highest bid.
Auctions are great for sellers who want to find a buyer quickly. The nature of an auction creates a sense of urgency that forces buyers to act fast. Auctions also help raise the selling price above the asking price, since there is often a clear sense of demand.
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Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve covered a lot of ground relating to real estate listing sites, so you may be left with a few questions. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about real estate websites.
How did you determine the best real estate websites for each category?
We chose the best sites in the real estate industry for each category by considering features and comparing reviews of some of the most popular real estate sites on the market. We’ve also emphasized the different functionalities of each site since they aren't all created equal.
Where do real estate listing sites get data from?
Many listing sites pull information from the MLS, but others allow users to input information manually.
If you’re looking to buy or rent a property, it's always best to contact the realtor or seller whose contact information is on the listing directly to confirm the facts. The listing site is merely a guide for initial discovery.
How accurate are real estate listing sites?
The accuracy of a real estate listing site depends on where information is sourced and whether it allows for manual information edits. If the MLS is the data source for a listing site, you can typically trust that the information is accurate as long as it was submitted to the MLS correctly.
As we mentioned, Realtor.com is typically regarded as the most accurate listing site.
How much does it cost to use real estate websites?
As we’ve covered, some real estate sites have fees for selling agents, but most consumers can use them for free. Zillow, for example, only bills agents for upgrades to premium services.
Specialized sites, like VSAI and FSBO.com, are priced a little differently, as we indicated in each review.
Which site should I post my property on?
When distributing your listings, you should post them on any site that accommodates that type of listing. This approach will help you increase the visibility and discoverability of your property.
For example, someone listing a property for rent is wise to post on Zillow, Realtor.com, Apartments.com, and Trulia. On the flip side, if you’re a realtor, you wouldn’t post on FSBO.com, and you wouldn’t post a rental property on Foreclosure.com.
Wrap Up
There are plenty of websites and tools to streamline the home-buying experience for all parties involved. Whether you’re helping your client buy or sell a home, you’re a homeowner looking to sell, or you’re hoping to purchase your first home, real estate sites will come in handy. We recommend exploring each site we’ve reviewed to see which makes the most sense for your unique needs.
If you’re looking for a tool to virtually stage images for your online property listings, look no further. VSAI is a powerful tool that makes it possible to stage photos of rooms in seconds. Head over to the VSAI home page and upload a picture to try the staging tech for free!
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