Best real estate websites for buyers – best online home buying sites – discover the best websites for house hunting today!
Buying a home is a massive decision that requires a lot of research. You should start looking for a property as early as possible so that you have enough time to find the perfect one.
If you don’t want to wait too long to move in, there are websites that allow you to scout for houses way before visiting them in real life.
While these websites keep you up-to-date with listings, price trends, and availability of properties, they also come packed with plenty of benefits.
Here’s a list of the best home buying websites that will help you land your dream home without getting into debt or running out of options.
What Are Real Estate Websites?
- Real estate websites are a great resource for home buyers and sellers of real estate.
- Real estate websites bring potential buyers and sellers together, providing listings and property images for buyers to find their next home.
- The best real estate websites have robust features for users to have an easy and great user experience.
- Professionals in the real estate industry, such as realtors, mortgage lenders, and home inspectors, can also advertise on these websites to generate leads.
- Home buyers can find real estate listings and see home prices, negotiate rates, view a variety of properties online. They can also use real estate websites to stay up-to-date with market trends and search housing information by location or type of property.
Home buyers can also access real estate information through real estate agents and brokers who help them navigate the real estate market.
Best Real Estate Websites For Buyers
It’s a big decision to invest in a home. It might be the most costly and life-altering decision you’ve ever made, and finding a home might be challenging. Thankfully, with the help of the best home buying websites, you may find a house!
The greatest real estate sites can provide you with the reassurance to take the next step towards ownership, whatever your needs and wherever you are in your home search.
These are our recommendations for the greatest residential buying websites, whether you’re looking for a house or comparing neighborhoods:
1. Zillow: Best overall
Zillow is the most popular home search website in the U.S., with an average of 70 million monthly visitors per month. It offers features such as walkability scores, nearby schools, and commute times to local businesses.
These features help home buyers easily find information about a given area. The “Zestimate” tool provides an estimate of a home’s value based on market conditions and local housing trends.
This estimate is intended to provide a relative price range for each home, but it’s not always reliable.
For home buyers, Zillow provides access to real estate data and housing market information that can be helpful when researching homes and making buying decisions.
It also offers real estate education resources for consumers interested in learning more about real estate financing and buying a home. Overall, Zillow is a great resource for home buyers who want access to real estate information and resources online.
2. Realtor.com: Best for parents
– Realtor.com is the best website for house hunting for parents looking for the best options in highly-rated school districts.
– It provides a unique search function to help parents find houses in great school districts, making it easy for them to find listings that best fit their needs based on specific criteria such as home value, bedrooms and schools
– Realtor.com has a number of statistics and data available to home buyers, such as information on home values, market forecasts, schools and businesses, commute times and crime rates
– This website also offers real estate agents access to valuable marketing tools and resources, which makes them more productive and efficient when selling homes
– Additionally, realtors can use its website to access additional real estate information quickly and easily.
Finally, Realtor.com is linked to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), making it the most accurate website for home hunting. With so much information at your fingertips, there’s no reason why you can’t find great options in highly-rated school districts on Realtor.com
3. Trulia: Best for first-time buyers
If you’re looking to buy your first home, chances are you’re using a website known as Trulia.
This website is designed specifically for first-time homebuyers and provides detailed market trends, school information, community information, and real estate search tools to help guide the home-search process.
Trulia’s mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices, providing buyers with access to real-time market information and access to real estate search tools anywhere.
By using this website, you can save a list of homes interested in, write notes on favorite homes, and subscribe to email alerts.
One of the great features of Trulia is its Voices feature. With this feature, buyers can post questions regarding the home-buying process, including questions relating to housing market trends or housing affordability.
The local community members can then answer these questions in real time.
4. Real Estate Witch: Best for saving money
Real Estate Witch provides information about the home buying and selling processes. The website’s content is thoroughly researched and written plainly to clarify real estate jargon. Users can learn about financing, home buying tips, search terms, property inspections, and much more.
– Real Estate Witch is partnered with Clever Real Estate, a free agent matching company. Eligible buyers can get cash back from Clever through its partnership with Real Estate Witch. This cash back lets users save money on their house search.
– Through its partnership with real estate agents like Keller Williams and RE/MAX, users can find the perfect home for their needs. When looking for a house, it’s important to do your research and use resources like Real estate Witch to find the best house for you.
5. Homes.com: Best for comparing homes
Homes.com is a great website for comparing properties of all types. It features a comprehensive search tool for comparing properties from different cities, with side-by-side comparison to easily compare properties from different cities.
There’s also a Snap & Search tool which allows users to take a picture of a house they like and find similar homes nearby.
This provides detailed property history, including value appreciation trends for neighborhoods, as well as school quality ratings to compare schools within the same area.
Finally, Homes.com offers property listing agents access to its user database, making it easy for users to find and contact agents for property listings of interest. This website is a great place to start when looking to compare properties of all types.
6. NeighborhoodScout: Best for neighborhood stats
NeighborhoodScout is a great website for home buyers looking for neighborhood stats and information. It offers reports for any neighborhood in the US, with over 600 data elements and exclusive insights for potential home buyers.
The crime data and demographic analytics derived from hundreds of raw inputs, indexed against national averages for comparison, help you make informed decisions about where to invest your time and money.
– Its predictive analytics let you analyze historical data to forecast future trends, which can help you make smart home buying decisions.
– It also provides foreclosed properties with exclusive access to foreclosure addresses, loan histories, and dates and locations of auctions. This provides valuable insights into how property values have changed over time, providing valuable context when making home buying decisions.
– Subscriptions start at $39.99 per month for an annual subscription, or $49.99 for a month-by-month basis. With so many valuable features and insights to offer home buyers, it’s easy to see why NeighborhoodScout is a popular choice among online housing market researchers.
7. FSBO.com: Best for FSBO listings
FSBO.com is a website that allows home sellers to list their homes for sale “for sale by owner” via an easy-to-use website.
The website offers a package that includes the option to list on the MLS and syndicated real estate websites, such as Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia.
The entry-level package for FSBO.com is $99.95 and includes unlimited photos and the ability to post a video. This is a great way for home sellers to reach more potential buyers and ensure their property gets plenty of exposure on the market.
– With FSBO.com, home sellers can easily create a listing on the website and include all of the essential information about their property, such as price, size, and location.
The website also provides plenty of tips on how to best market your home, such as creating a powerful title statement or creating enticing listings with photos and descriptions that highlight the features of the property.
Home sellers can also take advantage of the website’s advanced search features to find potential buyers quickly and easily. This will help them attract more interest in their property and ultimately increase sales revenue.
Overall, FSBO.com is a great place for home sellers to find for-sale-by-owner properties and get exposure on multiple real estate websites at once without having to spend money or time on it themselves.
8. RealtyTrac: Best for foreclosed properties
RealtyTrac is the largest database of foreclosure properties, offering access to foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, auction properties, and bank-owned homes.
With a subscription-based model, RealtyTrac provides access to listings and the ability to participate in auctions. This service is suitable for homebuyers looking for great deals on affordable properties.
– Customers have rated RealtyTrac 4/5 (79 reviews) on Sitejabber.
Overall, RealtyTrac offers a reliable service that lets home buyers search foreclosed properties with ease. Besides, the service is user-friendly, so customers can find foreclosure listings with ease.
If you are looking for a reliable service provider for foreclosure property listings, RealtyTrac is worth considering.
9. HomeFinder: Best for off-market homes
HomeFinder is a great website for homebuyers looking to find properties that are currently for sale or were sold without being listed on the MLS. It offers a search that lets you filter properties based on price, type of home, or location.
You can search by keyword, area, and price range to find the perfect house for you.
– On HomeFinder, real estate agents can list their properties free of charge. This is known as an FSBO listing. These listings could include exclusive properties not listed on other real estate websites.
HomeFinder also has a section for first-time homebuyers, offering a simple user experience that provides essential information for making a homebuying decision.
With HomeFinder, home buyers can easily view available homes from various real estate agents and get detailed property information and viewing options. It’s the perfect website for anyone looking to buy a house!
10. Homes for Heroes: Best for service members
Homes for Heroes is an organization dedicated to helping service members with their real estate transactions.
They provide a number of valuable benefits, including access to home loans and home buying assistance programs.
– Their online housing search tool provides buyers with access to home listings near military bases and information on the best mortgage rates, terms, and rates of appreciation for each area.
In addition, Veterans can use their service-connected disability income to qualify for reduced-interest mortgage loans from banks and mortgage lenders.
Finally, Homes for Heroes partners with businesses across the country to negotiate special deals for service members. These unique discounts make it easier than ever for them to buy a house or property of their own.
Homes for Heroes is the best choice for service members looking to buy or sell a home. Not only do they offer great benefits, but they also make buying or selling a home easy and hassle-free.
Benefits of a home buying website
- Home buyers can use real estate websites to browse listings and access properties that would not be available to the public otherwise.
- Real estate websites provide listings of residential properties for sale, as well as property listing agents, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers.
- Users can search for houses by location, type of house, price range, etc.
- Real estate websites also provide home search tools like map views, property search components and tags, property categories, and advanced search options.
Real estate websites have various housing market tracking services like realtor.com, RealtyTrac, and FSBO.com. These websites provide real-time information about housing market trends such as home values and sales data.
Real estate websites also provide home buying guides for buyers of different experience levels or housing needs. They help users research different topics related to buying a house such as mortgage rates or home financing options.
Home buyers can also use real estate websites to search real estate agent listings by geographical area or keyword. They can find the perfect agent based on their preferences and housing needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best home buying websites for first-time buyers?
There are a wide range of websites out there that can help you find and purchase a home. Some of the best websites for first-time home buyers include Trulia, Homes.com, and RealtyTrac.
These websites offer great value to first-time buyers by providing information on neighborhoods and property prices in a user-friendly format.
They also have detailed property information and reviews from local residents to help with decision-making. Besides, they have side-by-side comparison tools that allow users to compare properties quickly and easily.
Other great websites for buying a home directly from the owner or buying foreclosed homes include FSBO.com, RealtyTrac, and Clever.
These websites have numerous resources to help you find the perfect home at a price that is right for you.
What are the most accurate home value websites?
The most accurate home value websites of 2021 are Redfin, Zillow, and Realtor.com. Zillow is the most popular real estate website with over 36 million monthly visitors looking for homes.
Zillow’s home value estimator, the Zestimate, provides an approximate value for your home based on public and user-submitted data.
Property search tools like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin are the best home buying websites because they allow users to search for specific properties or search by price range.
HomeFinder offers a $39 monthly plan with priority sorting, multiple photos, and direct contact with buyers or renters. It allows users to find the perfect home quickly and easily.
What are the best home buying websites to find FSBO or foreclosure properties?
Two of the best websites to search for FSBO properties are RealtyTrac and FSBO.com. Both of these platforms are great resources to find foreclosure or bank-owned properties that can be purchased directly from the owner at a discounted price.
FSBO.com is a website that allows homeowners to list their property for sale without paying listing fees. Other websites that list FSBO properties include foreclosure.com and realtytrac.com.
When searching for FSBO properties, it’s important to hire a real estate agent who has access to the MLS, which allows them to search for available properties in real time and generate more leads for potential buyers.
What are the best MLS websites?
MLS.com is a free real estate search engine that provides listings for sale, new construction, and investment property.
It features resources such as a mortgage calculator and real estate FAQs to help home buyers and sellers make the best decisions about their purchase or sale.
MLS.com is advertised by real estate agents across the US, which means it has access to a large database of potential home buyers and sellers.
This website is a great place to start your search for homes in your price range and neighborhood of interest. It features detailed information on each property, including listing details, location, and photos.
Whether you are buying or selling a home, MLS.com is a reliable source of information about current market trends and properties for sale.
What are the best real estate websites similar to Zillow?
When it comes to real estate websites, Zillow is the most popular. It has an average of 70 million monthly visitors and allows users to filter home searches by price, location, features, and property type. Additionally, Zillow has a “Zestimate” feature that is often inaccurate.
Instead of using Zillow as your only source of information when looking for real estate, it’s best to use other websites like Realtor.com, Trulia, and Redfin as well. These websites screen their partner agents and offer more accurate information about real estate listings.
Is Zillow or Redfin better?
When it comes to home-buying websites, Zillow and Redfin are both highly regarded.
Zillow’s property search tool does not display for-sale listings in locations where Redfin agents do not exist. This gives Redfin a slight edge over Zillow when searching for homes.
In addition to this search advantage, Redfin offers additional search filters (like the crime filter) that may be of great use to buyers.
However, Zillow does have the advantage of being one of the first websites to list properties online, making it easier for buyers to get familiar with the home-buying process.
Finally, Trulia offers an interactive map feature with crime filter, commute times, nearby schools, median age ranges, home affordability scores, and more. This additional information can be helpful to buyers when making a decision on which home-buying website to use.
Is Realtor.com or Zillow more accurate?
There is no correct answer to this question as it depends on the specific needs of the individual. However, here are a few factors to consider:
– Zillow’s home value “Zestimates” are often inaccurate. In fact, only 25% of homes that receive a Zestimate from Zillow actually sell for more than the listing price.
– Redfin’s property search tool does not display for-sale listings in locations where Redfin agents do not exist. This is due to Redfin’s exclusive deal with real estate agents across the United States.
– Zillow’s tools are easy to use and allow for comprehensive listing information. This includes detailed photographs, street level videos, interactive map search, and more.
– Zillow offers Zestimates on many listings. This allows buyers an idea of what a home is worth without having to deal with agent commissions or other hidden costs.
Conclusion
To purchase a home, it is essential to search for the best websites that offer quality information, efficient service, and competitive prices. While there are many websites that provide helpful information when buying a house, using a website that provides detailed images of the property and user-friendly design is vital.
Also, be sure to look for websites that offer an agent or representative who can answer your questions and respond to your concerns in real time. If you’re looking to house hunt online, our team of experts has reviewed the best websites for buying homes. We’ve also provided price comparisons so you can find the best deal.
Shery
