In the USA alone, there are around 5 millions homes sold every year. That is a staggering amount and a big reason why the real estate industry is so incredibly large. In addition to being large, the real estate industry is also changing. Many buyers start their buying journey online. 

Whether they search for an apartment through a website like The Urban Avenue, or reach out to local agents via FaceBook, buyers are spending a lot of time online. However, not to be outdone, many home sellers are using a wide range of different online tools and websites to help sell their home, as well.

However, with dozens of different online real estate tools and websites out there to use, which are the best for sellers? While different people may get different benefits from different sites, we have put together a list of 5 of the best real estate websites for selling a home in the USA.

So without any further ado, let’s look at 5 of the best real estate websites for selling a home in the USA.

1. Zillow

Zillow is without a doubt one of the biggest names in the real estate industry and is a site every seller should consider using. Zillow collects a ton of data and hosts a variety of listings from all across the country. It is a one-stop shop for real estate and has plenty of benefits to sellers as well as buyers.

Sellers can help you decipher the value of your home, can guide you through the selling process and can even set you up with an agent. Optimizing your listing is easy and it will make sure you have every ounce of data you need to make a great sale.

2. HomeFinder

If you are looking for an online platform to connect sellers and buyers with one another, consider HomeFinder. This website has millions of listings and millions of customers, so there is a great chance you will find a quality and interested buyer on the platform. The site is updated multiple times an hour, so your listing will go up very quickly.

The site provides a lot of value and information for buyers, which makes it a great place for sellers to post their listings. Just make sure to include as much valuable information and data about your home as possible. While the site has a monthly fee to use, they feel as if the features and benefits they offer are more than worthy of the fee.

3. Trulia

Trulia is one of the most visited real estate sites on the market and it is easy to see why. Beyond simply being a place to view listings, Trulia offers a variety of other types of data that are important to buyers. This includes crime stats, commute times, schools and more that give people an inside look at living in your neighborhood.

All of this valuable data, and the tens of millions of people that visit their site, make it a great place for sellers to post their listing. Be sure to know the appeal and major benefits of your neighborhood, and be sure to include them within your listing. This is one of the few sites where including information on your neighborhood is almost as important as the information on your home.

4. RedFin

This site is very different from many others we have mentioned, but still has a lot of value. It is an online real estate brokerage and helps to connect buyers and sellers. Sellers can benefit from RedFind’s estimate home sale proceeds calculator. This will help give an estimate how much you will actually make from selling a home after costs and fees.

The listing fee of only 1-1.5% is better than most in the industry and will help sellers save money. Another great thing about this site is that they also have an incredible mobile app. It is easy to use and provides a great user experience. Also, because RedFin offers a 3D walkthrough feature, potential buyers can get an inside look at your home as if they were there in person.

5. Craigslist

Believe it or not, Craigslist might be one of the best sites for selling a home in the USA. When many people think of a massive online marketplace that essentially exists everywhere, they think of Craigslist. It is an ideal place to find home buyers as real estate is a big part of Craigslist.

Putting your home on Craigslist is sure to put it in front of a lot of eyes, which is half the battle of selling a home. Millions of people use the site and your ad will likely get many views here. It is free to post, and while it may not be as feature-packed as some of the other options we have mentioned, it is still a worthwhile tool to use.

In conclusion, we hope this article has been able to help you identify many of the best real estate sites for selling a home in the USA. Kreyon Systems provides end to end real estate software solutions and portals for buying, selling homes in USA and managing your business online. Please get in touch with us for any assistance.

Author Bio: Wendy Dessler is a super-connector who helps businesses like The Urban Avenue find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing.

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Technology plays a major role in every area of society at this point. We connect with people on social media much more than we do in the real world now. We constantly spend time on search engines looking for valuable information that will improve our lives. And when it comes to finding Dallas apartments to rent or buy, we use online technology to make the process much simpler.

The interesting thing is technology and software impact the real estate industry in numerous ways. In fact, it’s becoming so prevalent that we barely realize the impact it’s having because this technology and software is now the norm. But this doesn’t change the fact that it is having an impact nonetheless. And if you’d like to learn more about it, we recommend reading on to discover the truth.

Impact #1: Using Big Data Collection to Sell Better and More Efficiently

Real estate businesses now have access to crucial analytics and massive amounts of big data that they’ve accumulated over the last 25 years or so. These companies now have the ability to better know and understand their potential clients so they can target the right people when looking to improve their business and performance.

This information helps them know who their customers are, when and what they want to buy, where they want to buy, and how to effectively reach them in the best manner possible. By harnessing and using this information, real estate agents now have an invaluable tool to target the correct buyers and sellers to improve their overall real estate selling process.

Impact #2: Virtual Reality Home and Apartment Tours

Real estate agents are now using virtual reality (or VR for short) to give customers the ability to tour existing or pre-development homes no matter where they happen to be located throughout the world. This provides agents, hoteliers, and real estate developers the ability to showcase their new and existing properties to faraway clients.

As an example, let’s say a family plans to relocate to San Francisco from London, England because one of the heads of the household got a new job in the tech industry. Well, it would be very difficult for this London-based executive to fly back and forth from London to San Francisco to find a new home or apartment. Instead, this person and their family can use virtual reality tours to discover amazing homes and apartments in San Francisco that easily fit in within their budget. They can use this exciting and innovative technology to their advantage to avoid spending thousands of dollars in airfare and hotel fees while searching for a new apartment in person.

Whether you realize it or not, virtual reality tours are very effective in this regard. It makes it much easier for people relocating to find their dream home before ever stepping foot inside the place.

Impact #3: Building Technology Improves the Development Process

Low-cost housing is in serious demand. Housing that doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment is also held in high regard right now. So real estate developers work diligently to find exciting and innovative ways to build low-cost, environmentally friendly housing in Kenya and other parts of the world.

Modular construction and prefab building material are often used to construct these homes off-site. But assembly will take place on-site and building technology plays a major role in making this all come together correctly.

Believe it or not, a company in China 3D printed a house in 2014. This is incredibly exciting because they were able to cut labor costs by 60% and construction costs by 80%. This is an innovative and exhilarating way to build new homes using a budding form of technology that has existed for more than 40 years but has been perfected to become a viable solution in many different areas.

Final Thoughts

As you can clearly see technology and software solutions for real estate are clearly having a major impact on the industry. With updated and innovative building technology, the ability to provide virtual tours, and big data powering the market, it’s no surprise that the real estate industry bounced back so quickly from the 2008 housing crisis. And from the looks of things, it’s going to continue to get better in time as software and technology improves for the better.

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Real estate companies like most other businesses are now relying on technology for operations. The digital transformation of real estate is moving at a rapid pace. Online buying and selling of homes, rentals for properties is driving these changes.

As per Forbes, 95% of buyers use the internet to look for homes, and 51% buy homes that they have found using the internet. Apparently majority of the people are choosing online options for buying, selling & renting their homes. The digitisation of real estate is creating transparency in property deals, facilitating easy access to property buyers, tenants & making things easier for the agents.

Here we look at how real estate companies are undergoing digital transformation:

1. High Quality Virtual Tours:

The digital technologies have made it easy to create high quality virtual tours for the properties. Real estate companies are creating dynamic portals with the property listings and virtual tours. These virtual tours provide 360 degree view of the property and its surroundings. It is as good as viewing the property on the site.

Users can mark properties as favourites, take virtual tours and even compare various property listings. These technology enabled tours enable a wider range of property portfolio for agents and real estate companies.

2. Google Maps:

One of the most fascinating developments around the real estate is Google maps. Today the advancements in mapping allow you to virtually visit the house on your device. The street views, vicinity, nearest landmarks and the property are all mapped with very high accuracy. The street   view of the property is where you can take a virtual ride and walk around the property you want to buy or rent.

The real estate portals with advance mapping capabilities allow users to choose regions via markers. All properties in a given location can be listed as per user preferences. These capabilities allow advanced property selection for users. So, you can locate properties in a chosen area of your choice.

3. Smart Home Automation:

The smart home automation is growing fast, more and more homes are now equipped with automation systems. The smart home automation allows sensor based locking, remote locking systems, light control and even tours without anyone at the property. The IoT based systems allow people to show their properties remotely without involvement of agents to be present at the site.

4. Quality listings with IDX:

The internet data exchange allows real estate companies to manage quality property listings up to date with real time information. The IDX data can be integrated on your real estate portal to display the latest property listings. The multiple listing service allows real time data from multiple agents and companies to be exchanged real time.

This data is useful for displaying a wider range of properties with up to date details about property, its past transactions, official records and other details.  The quality IDX listings ensure that you reach a wider range of customers and manage your real estate services online.

5. Instant Valuations & Estimates:

The real estate companies are now offering instant valuation services with real time IDX data. Many companies use online tools for estimating the value of a property and provide quick estimates to users. The online estimates for property are improving all the time.

The property inspections and site valuations can also be requested by users online. The real estate company can get leads and enquiries for valuations, which can then be taken up by valuers to provide valuation report for the property.

6. Public Data & Quality Indicators:

The real estate companies can now manage quality indicators for properties using the online data and aggregation tools. Some of the key quality parameters that can be tracked for property are as follows:

i) Walk Score:

The walk score indicates whether the property has a walking space and its quality. A high walk score is a good sign for those who want to go for walking and aerobic exercises etc.

ii) Greenery & Surroundings:

Another quality indicator is the greenery and surroundings of the property. The greenery score and surrounding areas can be evaluated by users before they opt in for the property.

iii) Nearby Locations:

The nearby locations can be used to find out the nearest schools, gas stations, shopping malls, gyms, restaurants, parks and other points of interest.

iv) Land Records & Registration details:

The digitisation of land records, ownership details and previous registration details etc can be availed using MLS listings. The property records are getting digitised, which will increase transparency in property dealings further.

v) Median Sales Price & Value Score:

The average sales and rental values for regions are available with online real estate portals. The value trends for property for historical data are also available. In short, the value score for investment in a property can help the customers to buy the property to maximise their returns from it.

7. Mortgage, Rent or Buy Options:

The online portals offer tools to suggest the best options based on your current incomes, loans needed for buying or renting property, availing mortgage loans, EMI options, value investments etc.

The online real estate platforms can perform the role of automated advisory based on the data inputs. It will be able to tell you whether you should go for a rental home or buy one based on your income, current liabilities and other goals.

8. Real Estate Advisory, Leads & Services:

The real estate portals offer a convenient way for customers to avail services from real estate companies. Whether you’re looking for a luxury home for your family or an investment for maximising ROI, real estate companies can now use technology for assisting their customers.

The valuation requests, home value added services, maintenance and advisory can all be driven with online real estate portals. Real estate companies can organise their contacts, leads for properties and services from the portal itself.

9. Real Estate business:

The administration of real estate business can be done quite effectively with a dynamic real estate website. The multiple data sources can be aggregated to create an integrated portal with all property listings for rentals and sales.

The data for agents can also be organised. These agents can also get leads from the integrated property portal. For e.g. if an agent lists the property on a portal and customer makes an enquiry, the lead will be routed to the agent. The real estate company will also have centralised leads for all properties.

The real estate software solutions on web and mobile are creating new business opportunities.

Conclusion:

The marketing, communication and administration for real estate business can be driven with an integrated web platform. The new developments and technologies offer great opportunities for real estate companies to win their customers and generate more business.

Kreyon Systems is a software company with global real estate expertise. If you are looking for any assistance for creating a property site for real estate, please get in touch with us.

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Real estate business is dynamic in nature. It requires handling various processes like handling multiple projects, tracking different locations, keeping up to date inventories, selling property, finding tenants, getting investors on board for new developments among many others. The real estate business is complex involving various processes, which are often interlinked to each other. Automation and use of technology improves communication and reduces friction for managing business for real estate companies. A look at how the leading real estate companies are using business process automation to take their organisation to the next level:

1. Property Management:

The way people search properties has changed with the ever increasing use of technology. Finding properties often starts with a search query to find suitable listings on internet. Real estate businesses are now managing their property listings online. They use integrated web applications for listing out office space, warehouses, agricultural, commercial, residential properties for sales & renting. For every property listing, the users can also view google map for locations, images, age of property, floor plans, amenties and associated documents etc. The prospective customers are able to search properties & make online enquiries.

2. Business Processes & automated workflows:

The real estate services can be managed using an integrated web interface. Tracking the property constructions, progress of ongoing projects, property details, renewals of agreements, tasks, emails, documents and all other associated activities is centralised. Automated workflows can help real estate companies to manage the staff workloads efficiently. Regular reminders and notifications can be sent to the staff as well as the management for various activities. These activities can be configured as per the requirements of the business. The system can aggregate data and send automated reports to the managers & executive.

3. Leads & Marketing for properties:

One of the key tasks for real estate companies is to manage their marketing & sales activities efficiently. Generating high quality leads from various campaigns is critical for improving sales. Campaigns can be managed from an integrated web application. The property listings can be uploaded on a dynamic website with images, google map integration for locations and other documents. This results in enquires and qualified leads from the web. The other campaigns, for e.g. radio/tv ads, social media marketing, exhibitions and expos etc can also be managed from the integrated software. The ROI from various property campaigns, their results and business impact can be aggregated and analysed.

4. Projects, Inventories & Assets:

Managing projects and inventories at different locations can be very taxing for administrators. With integrated online software, multiple locations can be managed effectively. The inventory position at any given point of time can be accessed from any place. The project milestones, important events, expenses, budgets, inventory, and manpower can be accessed remotely. The consumption status of various projects can be compared to check for any inconsistencies or variations. The cost & quality control can be done proactively. Companies can also look into the execution details of a project and analyse the bottom line impact of the same. With an automated system, the inventory wastage & asset utilisation also result in increased profitability for projects.

5. Contracts & legal documentation:

When managing multiple sites and locations, it is important to have access to important documents remotely. The contracts and legal documents for properties are prepared with extreme care. The compliance requirements are critical for every project. Licenses, agreements, sale deed, subcontractor agreements, loan related documentation can all be aggregated with an integrated software. Searching and finding information for any property like age of the property, location details, floor plan, title deed etc can be simplified a great deal with digital document management.

The real estate software development involves a system where all contracts for leases, title deeds and compliance are stored with automated reminders for renewals etc.

6. Manage tenants, agents & marketing agencies:

To manage lease renewals for tenants for various facilities across multiple locations can be tedious. The profile of the tenants, rental agreements, renewals of agreements and payment collections can be managed using integrated software. Automated reminders to tenants, designated staff members are sent for these business transactions.

Real estate companies also rely on agents & marketing agencies for selling/renting their properties. It is important to manage these agents and marketing agencies effectively for expansion of the company. The automation can also be used for managing various agents & agencies across different locations. All these agents are connected with the centralised system and can access required information remotely with their mobile devices. The on-boarding of agents and the marketing agencies, their commissions and performance analysis can be done with the centralised software.

7. Vendors, Subcontractors and Bill of Materials:

It is critical to have a system that can help to streamline all communication with vendors, subcontractors and bill of materials information. All vendor profiles, inventory details and rate history can be tracked with the centralised system. This system can also be used to invite the quotations from vendors and subcontractors or for placing purchase orders for different projects. The subcontractor agreements and progress for various projects can be done with the system. For any project, the consumption status and bill of material is accessible, resulting in increased transparency & right use of the inventory. The workflow automation can be configured to pick up any drastic variances in material costs or quantity and immediately notify it to the management or supervisors.

8. Valuation & Advisory Services:

It is crucial to know the worth of your assets. Estimating the right costs and value of your assets can have big financial implications. The current value of the assets determines the costs for selling, renting or leasing the properties. The companies employ valuation and advisory services for determining the worth of their properties. The valuation of the property typically involves valuers for this process. The whole process of property inspection, valuation and finally preparation of the valuation report can be automated. The valuation process enables companies to estimate the value of their real estate assets. The valuation process helps them to prepare a roadmap and financial analysis for properties. The companies can take decisions whether to rent, lease or sell assets and costs for the same depending on these valuations.

9. Analytics for core business services:

The integrated system enables key data points that are essential for thorough analysis. A real estate business has many dynamics and correlating different data points is crucial for taking key decisions. An example of some core business services where analytics is helping these companies:
a) Hold/Sell analysis: The hold/sell analysis enables a company to decide whether to sell the property or hold it. The financial implications of the sales coupled with its impact on tax. These numbers can make or break the company.
b) Bill of materials & costs: The rates at which materials are purchased, their variances across projects and comparison with previous years can be analysed. These data points help in determining the best times to buy material at low costs.
c) Project profitability & ROI: Managing multi site projects is hard. However, when these projects are consolidated with a centralised system, it is easier to analyse them. The project milestones, tasks, material and man power consumption can be compared with previous years and other projects. The project profitability and ROI for investors can also be calculated using these figures.
d) Rentals: The variance of rentals across various properties, total rental amount collected, trend for rentals in various locations can be compared. The rental analysis for different types of properties over a given time period are used for financial projects & planning too.
e) Property Sales: The property sales data enables the estate companies to study timing, trends for various locations. The companies can identify the home value trends, price their properties according to market trends & even hold up sales for getting the best deals. The property data information and algorithms help in providing recommendations and insights to businesses.

10. Accounting & Financial analysis:

A centralised and online accounting system is an absolute must for a real estate company these days. The budgeting & forecasting can be done for various projects. The procurement can be driven from a centralised system resulting in optimised procurement to maximise the cash flow for the business. All material billing, machinery, vehicle deployments and man power costs for projects are tracked. All accounts payable and receivable are maintained at one place. Taxation, compliance and regulatory standards are also enforced as part of this system. For controlling costs, workflow settings can be enabled to notify the designated authority for purchases & approvals for any transactions.

Business process automation is driving the real estate companies to new heights today. The capabilities of technology are redefining the way people transact and manage things. Real estate industry is also benefiting from these developments. The core business activities for selling properties, finding qualified leads for properties, managing projects, portfolio and asset management can be simplified a great deal with automation. Improved service delivery, communications, time to market and new avenues for growth is driving the real estate businesses to  adopt technology.

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