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Reasons to use Realtor.com
Housing and rental market overviews: Realtor.com describes specific real estate markets with simple language. Check graphic profiles under the “Local” tab for information on a city’s demand — an area might be described as a “soft buyer’s market,” for example — climate, cost of living and employment, as well as a gauge that indicates whether it’s cheaper to rent or to buy.
Lifestyle information: The site uses colorful charts to help newcomers learn about the age distribution of a neighborhood, as well as its residents’ typical marital status, household income and educational background. The crime index is another useful data point.
MLS access: Traditionally, access to Multiple Listing Services across the nation has been Realtor.com’s most powerful advantage. These databases stream information on local property listings to the site, allowing Realtor.com to claim “the most up-to-date and accurate” listings. However, the site’s competitive advantage in this area may be waning as Zillow gains MLS affiliations.
Apps: Realtor.com’s mobile app was rated the best in the business in 2012 by Clareity Consulting, an information and IT consultancy serving the real estate industry. However, in its most recent report, Clareity ranked Realtor.com’s app eighth, and
awarded top honors to Zillow .
“While those of us in the industry know that the Realtor.com app still has the most accurate content from the MLS, the consumer may not be as aware of that, and are more appreciative of the Zillow and Trulia interfaces and additional content, including listings from other sources,” Clareity says.
Finding an agent
Providing marketing services to agents is how Realtor.com — and other sites, such as Zillow and
Trulia — make money. Agents can pay for advertising, such as targeting their personal profile to the most actively searched ZIP Codes.
Like other home search sites, Realtor.com has a
search feature for local agents . Any real estate agent can claim a free profile on the site and have his or her name appear next to properties for which they’re the listed agent, but click on the “Find Realtors” tool and that’s exactly what you’ll get — Realtors and only Realtors.
What’s the difference? Not every real estate agent is a Realtor , and only agents who belong to the National Association of Realtors can use the trademarked Realtor moniker — and appear in the site’s search results . Realtors pledge to abide by the association’s ethical guidelines but most, if not all, of those principles are legally mandated by state real estate commissions, anyway.
A ccording to NAR, there are about two million active real estate licensees in the U.S. and just over one million members of NAR — or Realtors.
The bottom line
Realtor.com focuses on connecting Realtors to consumers, but the site is also a rich data source for house hunters. As with any home search engine, it’s a smart idea to compare its results and information with other portals, including Zillow and RealtyTrac.
More from NerdWallet:
Hal Bundrick is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:
hal@nerdwallet.com . Twitter: @halmbundrick .http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/mortgages/realtorcom-review/ 
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