Gone are the days when we had to run around town trying to find a house that suited our budget and mood. Real estate agents were not easy to find, and there was too much labor involved in selling or buying a house.
Now things seem to be much easier, thanks to apps like Zillow that provide access to millions of properties at our fingertips. Zillow is a unique platform to sell, buy, or rent a home, with finding a mortgage and agent options as its top perks.
However, Zillow has a few flaws that are seriously worth considering. The very first thing it should improve on is its unrealistic evaluations of Zestimate, which it creates through an algorithm. Another thing is that agents can be a part of the listing after paying a premium, which creates lots of confusion among buyers who want to find the real agent behind the listing.
Taking these drawbacks into account, we took it up a notch and found the best Zillow alternatives for your every purpose. Let’s dive deep into the article.
Best apps like Zillow to buy, sell & rent a home
Realtor.com is the second most visited site for real estate listings in the U.S. with over 100 million active users and 10 million listings. Launched in 1995 in California, the Realtor has managed to remain on top in a cutthroat competition.
It offers a wide range of categories in real estate listings, making it easier for users to discover the best home for their needs.
With Realtor, you can sell, buy, rent, and find a realtor or agent to find the best listing for you. Furthermore, you can receive a mortgage loan at affordable rates to cover the cost of buying a home. It provides you with a mortgage calculator that removes the guesswork involved in calculating a payment.
When it comes to accurate real-estate state content, Realtor has got a solid reputation here. Unlike Trulia and Zillow, it is loaded into the MLS database, which tends to show an accurate market value for any home.
As a result, it may have fewer rentals compared to Zillow, since it doesn’t fetch its data from other sources and uses an indicator to gauge value-all you get is accurate data overseen by local broker agents.
Specialty-Rentals, selling and buying a home, mortgage loans, finding realtors.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Sell, buy, or rent a home. | Limited options in the app. |
| Correct home value with intuitive details. | |
| Extensive filters. | |
| competitive mortgage rates. | |
| Find realtors. |
Trulia is the one-stop destination for finding real estate listings all across America. It’s a subsidiary of Zillow, which launched in 2005 and now has more than 11 million active users who get insights on real-estate properties with comprehensive details.
When it comes to how listings are aggregated, there isn’t much difference between the two companies. You may find Trulia a bit simpler in providing information, whereas Zillow has more graphically detailed information, which generally tends to get more eyeballs. On the other hand, Trulia is more disposed toward rental listings.
And as far as the browsing experience is concerned, both offer a different design and navigation that one may like or dislike depending on their preference. However, if you’re fond of Zestimate, this platform may not satiate your needs as its estimates are determined by publicly available information and agent-recorded data.
Trulia has estimates of around 65 million off-market single homes, townhomes, and condos across U.S. neighborhoods. Another feature the platform presents is a Crime Map, which lets users see crime data on a map.
If you want to list your property here, you need to list your property through Zillow.
Specialty – Homes for rent, buy homes.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Seamless browsing | No Zestimate. |
| Detailed information about properties. | No mortgages. |
| crime map. | Buyers may get scammed due to a lack of verification evidence. |
| Over 11 million U.S. listings. | |
| Separate apps for buyers and rentals. |
Redfin is the Amazon of home listings, founded in 2004 and went public years later in 2017. With Redfin, you can buy and sell homes or get an estimate on your home. Besides, it’s a great place to find mortgages and real estate agents. It waives a 1.5% listing fee when you buy or sell a home.
It has a calculator for buyers that shows how much a buyer can afford by factoring in net income, monthly debts, down payment, home equity, and location. On the other hand, Redfin uses a different algorithm for calculating a home’s worth, unlike Zillow.
A seller can also get their home assessed for free by a Redfin agent. Its professionals will take a look at the home in person and give pricing recommendations after thoroughly evaluating the house.
Redfin uses MLS databases to find the estimated price of off-market listings in your area.
It has reported a highly accurate estimate of a 2.22% margin of error rate, a little more than Zillow’s 1.9%.
However, estimates for on-market and off-market homes may vary and can be highly inaccurate for states and neighborhoods.
Aesthetically, its website is quite pleasing to look at – the search box is placed right on the homepage, and filters are well-equipped with the necessary options. All you need to do is enter a school, city, or place to find listings across different locations.
It features detailed information about a home with a 3D walkthrough & video tour option, including a self-tour, sale history, tax history, nearby locations, and much more to explore. You can also download its apps and trawl through millions of listings on the go.
Specialty – Buy, sell, rent, mortgage, and find real estate agents.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A comprehensive tool to calculate a home’s worth. | Doesn’t deal with low-priced houses. |
| Users can talk to Redfin agents for free. | No hand-holding. |
| Less margin error for off-market homes. | |
| 1.5% listing fee. | |
| Extensive filters. | |
| Thorough listing details. |
Have an inexpensive home to sell or buy? OfferMarket has your back. Unlike other apps like Zillow, it lets you create a listing in a snap without having you pay any commission.
You get notified once your listing goes live on a map.
Offermarket matches sellers with preapproved buyers who are house-hunting – pick the most competitive offer and close documents, all through the website.
However, when a buyer agrees to purchase a house, a seller is required to have a PSA, or Purchase and Sale Agreement, as a legally binding document signed by both parties to sell a house legitimately.
Offermarket also provides rental property and bridge loans at competitive interest rates while charging a 1 to 2 points origination fee. However, getting a loan requires a solid financial situation with a minimum debt-to-income ratio and a decent credit score.
As for design and user experience, the site is quite out of fashion, as you can’t compare it with its alternatives, Zillow or Redfin. There is no cutting-edge feature like a 3D tour or detailed descriptions available on the product page.
Specialty – Sell, buy, loans.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to create listings, commission-free. | No rent. |
| loans with traditional interest rates. | 1% fee to offset the cost of closing the transaction (optional). |
| low-cost private real-estate properties. | dated user interface. |
| No mobile apps. |
Another alternative is Movoto which is a boon for homeowners and buyers looking for sumptuous yet affordable real estate homes across the United States.
It’s a subsidiary of OJO, which means users will get tools and personalized guidance on home buying. Besides, they get access to the agent network, where a team of vetted professionals tailors suggestions for homes and negotiates the cost.
Much like Zillow, this company lets you buy, sell, rent, and provide mortgage loans for homes through lenders. It has a top-notch calculator tool to know one’s buying power, helping people borrow mortgages they can afford to pay back.
It has millions of house listings, from condos to townhouses, you can lay your eyes upon. You see in-depth proper details and highly coveted features like a 3D tour and virtual tour on a listing page.
You can also schedule a tour in person with an agent or fire up a video chat for a personal house evaluation. Movoto is also available on Android and iOS.
Specialty – Home loans, rent, buy & sell.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Find nearby homes for sale and rent. | Agents may charge a 5%-6% fee or even more. |
| Borrow home loans. | Buyer’s agent commissions range from 2.5 to 3%. |
| Hire professional agents. | |
| Extensive real-estate data with showy features. | |
| home affordability calculator. | |
| Has direct access to the MLS. | |
| Smartphone apps. |
Century21 has been around for over five decades now, expanding into over 86 countries and territories worldwide.
It’s the keeper of the most luxurious real estate listings, houses for sale, and elite agents. Not only is it the oldest and most ample company, but also it has the most satisfying user rate.
With Century21, you can look up several estimates of your home’s value by just putting in your email address. Or You can vouch for interactive tools or agents to do the estimation part for you.
Like most brokerages, it offers mortgage loans at lower rates than most standard firms. It has a bevy of free tools to calculate a mortgage, affordability, amortization, and refinancing.
Unlike most alternatives, Century21’s agents levy a 3% listing fee which is a reasonable and fair percentage, excluding the closing cost and other fees. Anyway, if you want to save up to 50% in commission, you can go with brokerages like Clever, where agents work for a flat fee of 1%.
The platform has advanced filter options that include property type, property details, styles, and much more.
Speciality-Hire Realtors, sell, buy, mortgages.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A hoard of luxurious real estate listings. | Most houses have no 3D tours. |
| Free calculation tools. | Lots of fees. |
| solid marketing structure that attracts more buyers. | |
| Pre-approve for home loans. | |
| Extensive filters. | |
| Has varieties of property types. |
Hotpads is a family of the Zillow Group, founded in 2005, in Seattle. It’s the destination for the most trusted and largest rental houses across the U.S. The platform lets you explore a wide range of real estate and verified rental properties.
To find the best rental apartment, all you have to do is enter the city name, set the price range and number of bedrooms, and tap ‘Search’. It will display all the listed apartments, perfectly laid out in a list view based on your requirements.
When clicking on a house, you reveal yourself to all the general information about the house, such as floor plans, commute, amenities, pet policy, and so on and so forth.
On the flip side, it lacks a 3D view; instead, it offers a gallery, a map, and a street view of a few listings.
If you’re interested in any rental listing, you can schedule a viewing by filling out a form, and they’ll contact you soon.
Unlike Zillow and Trulia, it is solely a rental platform that allows renters to list their units and collect rent through the Zillow Rental Manager—all in one place.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Largest selection of rental listings. | Can’t buy/sell apartments. |
| verified and trusted properties. | No 3D tour. |
| Detailed rental information | |
| Flexible and extensive filters. |
In our list of the best Zillow alternatives, Loopnet takes a unique spin. It’s the hotspot of commercial real estate for lease, auction, and sale currently active in the U.S. That said, Loopnet may burn a hole in your pocket since it only houses commercial houses, and many of its listings go under auction.
Here is the kicker: you can lease a house and give it on rent for a specific period as per a legally binding contract. Not only does Loopnet allow users to own a home through a sale or bidding agreement, but it also has business property for sale. Simply enter an industry type (Office, Health Center, Sports), and city, and you’ll have all the listings on the screen.
Whether you’re a buyer, seller, or broker, the platform has a place for everyone. With 3D tours, high-quality pictures, and researched content, it is one of the best commercial real estate marketplaces.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| an array of commercial real estate. | Users may experience glitches, inaccurate listing, and price inflation. |
| Buy, sell, auction and lease. | |
| Hire a broker. | |
| 3D walk-through and comprehensive details. | |
| Instant alerts | |
| huge network. | |
| Highly accurate MLS data. |
You might want to know Why Zillow app is not working on your device.
Wrapping it up.
We’ve stacked up the best real-estate apps like Zillow to help you buy, sell, or rent a home with ease. With the click of a button, you can get a home loan, calculate your home’s estimated value, and hire agents.
From navigating properties to closing documents, these brokerages have got you covered. However, if you’re not in harmony with agents who work for these companies, you can go for any third-party player and save thousands of dollars.
