Every once in a while I like to look back on articles that I have published in past years and see if there is something that I’d like to update. I ran across an article that I published in 2008 that I thought should be updated. Here is the link to that article: https://realtytechbytes.com/the-top-10-web-sites-that-every-realtor-should-know/ First published on March 16, 2008. I’ve since added a few new sites and deleted a few others!
What was true then and is true now, is that there are a bewildering number of web sites out there. Which ones are worth your time?
What follows is my 2021 list of sites that I think are worth your time to investigate. Take a look and see what you think.
I’ve broken the list into several categories. Sites in each category are randomly listed.
Sites for REALTORS®
www.Realtor.org – This is NAR’s site just for members. It has a wealth of information on law, marketing, technology, how to do something, scripts, publications, discounts and the list just goes on. You will need to know your NRDS number to log in.
www.CAR.org – This is the California version of realtor.org. The site is hosted by the California Association of Realtors® and serves much the same function as Realtor.org, but with a California slant. Be sure to check out he legal Q&As … they are MUST reading for every California REALTOR®. If you are not a California REALTOR®, check your own state association web site.
www.narrpr.com – Realtors Property Resource® delivers on-the-go access to an all-encompassing real estate platform, available exclusively to REALTORS®, and offered at no additional cost. Easily accessed through desktop, iOS, and Android devices.
The site has information on nearly every parcel in the US, both residential and commercial. It has a robust CMA and property report tool, and is friendly enough to use that most people will not require training. It is my go to tool for property research.
www.dre.ca.gov – This is the web site of the California Department of Real Estate. You can learn everything you need to know about obtaining a California Real Estate license, renewing your license, checking the license status of other licensees in the state and also bone up on the latest in the laws regarding real estate.
Property Search Sites
www.Realtor.com – This is the grand-daddy of them all. If you believe their claims, this is where most people start their search for property. Even if you discount the hype, this is still a web site that you should be familiar with. You should always check your listings on R.com to make sure that they are displayed properly, and it is a great idea to purchase the enhanced features as they help to keep consumers on your listings for a longer period of time than non-enhanced listings.
www.Trulia.com – Trulia bills itself as a real estate search site. Their ambition is to have ALL real estate listings on their site for the public to search. They allow you to place your listings on the site for free, but perhaps their best feature is that you can register on the site so that you can be available to answer real estate questions from the public. You can choose what kind of questions you want to answer, and how often you want to be notified of new questions. This is a great way for you to create new relationships with people who are interested in buying and selling real estate. Trulia is owned by zillow.
www.Zillow.com – OK, ok, I can hear you now saying that I have gone off of the deep end by recommending this site. After all, we “know” that Zillow’s zestimates® are not accurate. But is that always true? No, it’s not, and Zillow has gone to some lengths to improve the accuracy of its data by allowing you to go in to the site and “claim” your listing and improve the data. You also NEED to know what Zillow says about a particular property before you get asked about it by a prospective buyer or seller. Go look now!
Real Estate News Sites
www.TheClose.com – The Close is a new kind of real estate site designed to give agents, teams, and brokerages actionable, strategic insight from industry professionals. They cover real estate marketing, lead generation, technology, and team building strategies from the perspective of working agents and brokers who want to take their business to the next level. They ALWAYS have something of interest to you on their site. This is a must visit web site.
www.fitsmallbusiness.com/real-estate/ – Fit Small Business is the leading digital resource for small business owners. We provide clear, comprehensive, and actionable content they need to succeed. Small business owners are passionate and driven about what they do, and so are we. They have sections on Marketing, Financing, HR, Retail, Online Buisness, Real Estate and Office. The link will take you to the Real Estate Section.
www.keepingcurrentmatters.com – At KCM, their mission is to change the way real estate advisors educate and serve their clients. They publish blog posts which they encourage you to share with your clients. You can also purchase, via subscription, the same posts that are branded to you. They have a wealth of other materials that you can use for your own social media needs. Worth checking out!
www.rismedia.com/ – RISMedia was founded in 1980 by CEO and Publisher John E. Featherston, as the residential real estate industry’s definitive source for news and information for real estate’s most profitable and productive professionals–and all those looking to gain a competitive edge. Initially, it was via a magazine, which is still published today, but they have grown into a digital media provider. Their ACE Social offering will auto post branded to you content on your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts on a daily basis for a reasonable price. I’ve used them for years.
www.engage121.com – This site offers to perform Search Engine Optimizations services for all small businesses. That’s ok, but it is not the reason that I include them here. The reason that I think you should know about them is because the provide a service that will give you free content that YOU can post on your social sites. They do this via a daily email that comes Monday through Friday.
They call that service HotContent and you can learn about it here: https://dashboard.engage121.com/signup_hc_mktg/
www.Inman.com – Inman says that they are “The First Word in Real Estate”. They always seem to have a good handle on what is going on in the business of real estate as well as plenty of articles and advice on how to do the real estate business. A subscription here is worth the price many times over. If you hold the CRS Designation, an Inman News Subscription is included as a membership perk.
Obviously there are many more great sites with a real estate focus, but these are the ones that I pay attention to on a regular basis.
Spend a little time checking them out and see if any of them will be useful to you, your clients and your business!
