Realty Resources

One national realtor Web site, the official online presence of a national real estate trade association, is providing a lot of competition for newspaper real estate advertising online vehicles. In many markets in the United States, this realtor Web site has more real estate listings than the local newspaper’s Web sites. Included in this product are links to local realtors, and peripheral information such as advice on obtaining a mortgage loan with links to lenders, and news on the latest mortgage rates.

The biggest competitive advantage a realtor Web site has in comparison with other real estate online directories and sites is the agent or broker’s access to the local and national multiple listing services (MLS.) This is perhaps the most important asset when it comes to bringing home buyers to a realtor or other real estate Web site.

A realtor Web site is not simply the home of a real estate agent, broker or other real estate professional, however. A realtor is a very specific real estate professional. A real estate agent becomes a realtor, and her or his site a realtor Web site, when s/he joins the 98 year old National Association of Realtors. Membership includes a commitment to adhere to strict code of real estate ethics. More than one million real estate agents and brokers are now realtors, as members of the NAR.

Members of this association create many thousands of realtor Web sites offering commercial and residential real estate, property management services, appraisals, counseling, and real estate marketing and information tools and services.