Free Real Estate Listing Sites

It can get expensive to list your home. However, there are Web sites that offer free real estate listings. These can also be great places to visit if you are buying; you can get an idea of what’s out there — and what it costs.

1. Craig’s List is without a doubt the best place to go when looking for any online Classifieds. You can find real estate listing on Craig’s List as well. Search by metro area to see what’s available in the location you desire.
2. HomeBuyer.com offers anyone the chance to list their real estate for free. Agents and for sale by owner (FSBO) homes can be listed. This site also includes helpful links to homebuying and listing tools including appraisers, brokers, warranties, insurance and more.
3. FindMyRoof provides you with the ability to list your home according to category: real estate, lease purchase or FSBO. Additionally, FindMyRoof includes rental and apartment listings. FindMyRoof also offers a blog that contains some useful information.
4. PropertyWithaView.com has a state-by-state search that includes detailed photos of listings. You can find helpful details on homes for sale (as well as list your property for free) and even find rentals.
5. AllStatesFSBO.com is aimed mostly at FSBO sellers. You can list for free and get helpful tools on pricing, preparing your home and even understanding purchase agreements.
6. House-Hunting.comprovides state-by-state listings. Most of the homes are liisted by agents and brokers, though. This can be helpful for agents, who can also create a free page for their personal agency.
7. Just Real Estate Listings is a Web site devoted to helping sellers and buyers alike. For agents, it’s possible to set up automatic updates by adding your MLS feed. Buyers can get helpful information and local services for maintenance, personal finance, mortgages, moving and more.
8. HomeCheck.com is affiliated with Lawchek. This site offers real estate agents the opportunity to list for free, and provides useful information on the real estate business.
9. Home Advertising Network provides free property listing for those who are looking to sell or rent out their property — including commercial real estate. Great search tool for buyers as well.

Paid Real Estate Listing Sites

Paid sites help you reach more people and inclue some extra tools and features. Included here are some rental and property management sites for the real estate investor.

10. Yahoo! Real Estate offers you the ability to list a home for sale in the Yahoo! Classifieds. For buyers, there are a number of tools that include information on home values, foreclosures and finding a Realtor. For sellers, there is a Classifieds listing package for residential real estate that costs around $50.
11. Fizber provides resources and tools mainly for those involved with FSBO. Fizber places your ad for you on a number of sites, including Zillow, Trulia and Craig’s List.
12. HomeFinder.com offers paid listings for sellers. Buyers can look for free. The site also includes useful tools and information. There is also a mobile application for HomeFinder and a special section on green living and eco-friendly homes.
13. Wall Street Journal Real Estate can help you reach a number of discriminating and high-end buyers. Sellers can look for free. A great guide to all things real estate, and the lastest housing market news.
14. ThisProperty.com offers FSBO, agents and brokers the chance to advertise their properties for free. An easy interface makes it simple to get your ad up there. Includes commercial real estate in addition to residential. Buyers and renters can search a number of properties for free.
15. PropEx.com provides a comprehensive property search engine. List your property for a fee, or search for free. Includes lease and exchange options as well.
16. Rentomatic.comis geared mainly at those with a large number of properties to manage. It’s a property management site that allows you to manage your rental real estate portfolio. Comes with a free trial before you have to start paying.

International and Luxury Real Estate Listings

If you are looking for a home outside the country, or if you want luxury real estate, here are some links that can help you buy or sell international and luxury real estate.

17. International Listings provides a number of useful tools, articles and resources for both buyers and sellers of international properties. This site specializes in luxury real estate. LuxuryRealEstate.com offers the ultimate in luxury real estate. You can list a home, or search for luxury real estate around the world. Get information on vacation rentals as well.
18. Escape Artist is one of the best places for all things international real estate. Find homes overseas, and place them up for sale. Great information on living and working abroad as well.
19. Condo Domain offers listing of luxury condo real estate in a number of markets.
20. HomeSalez.com provides a way for you to list your property in a number of countries. You can also find solid information on the international real estate market, and how to buy and sell real estate across the globe.
21. WebList Properties offers a information and services associated with vacation and international real estate. You can list your international real estate, or find the perfect overseas home.
22. Jaidad.com specializes in bringing sellers and buyers of international real estate together.
23. LuxuryHomes.com provides information on luxury communities in addition to listings. You can list a home or look to buy; LuxuryHomes.com prides itself in marketing to an exclusive set.
24. Search-Villas.com focuses mainly on vacation homes. You can rent a home for holiday or buy an overseas villa. You can also list rental and for sale properties on this site.
25. IntoMountains.com specializes in mountain properties. These are luxury properties worldwide.

Foreclosure Real Estate Listings

Foreclosures are increasing popular — especially for buyers. It’s possible to get a great deal when you look for a foreclosure. Here are some foreclosure real estate listing sites that can help you find some real steals.

26. RealtyTrac provides information on homes in foreclosure and also homes in pre-foreclosure. Additionally, there is useful information on how to buy foreclosures and where to find foreclosures in desirable locations.
27. Foreclosure.com is just what it sounds like: a Web site devoted to searching foreclosure listings. Find bankruptcies, FSBO pre-foreclosures, sheriff sales, tax liens listings and more.
28. FreeForeclosureDatabase.com offers you the ability to search foreclosure for free. You can find properties easily in top foreclosure states and get easy access to government foreclosures. Provides you the option with receiving email alerts when a new crop of foreclosures is listed.
29. Foreclosure Data provides an easy way to search for foreclosures. Includes helpful research tools and a way to contact agents.
30. AOL’s Real Estate section includes an area devoted to foreclosures. This offers helpful information on avoiding foreclosure (for those in danger), as well as a search of foreclosure real estate.
31. Bank Foreclosures Sale provides a state-by-state search of foreclosure listings. Included are government foreclosures as well as bank foreclosures.
32. Homes.com offers a foreclosure real estate listing section to help you narrow your search to foreclosures. Search by ZIP code and by price range — as well as number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Homes.com also includes information and tools to help you buy or sell a home.
33. The U.S. Government provides a Web site that allows you to look for property the government owns (including foreclosure) and surplus property. Commercial, agricultural and residential real estate is included.
34. BankOwnedBids.com is a niche site for Michigan. This site provides auction information and allows you the chance to buy from corporate sellers.

Real Estate Tools

Want to know how much a home is worth? Curious about where to find homes for sale? Want to know where your listing is being marketed? Find answers to these and other questions with a variety of helpful real estate tools.

35. Zillow offers an estimating tool called the Zestimate. It helps you get a rough idea of what your home (or a home you want to buy) is worth. It compiles local market data and more to come up with a ballpark figure. But be aware that it is no substitute for an appraisal.
36. Trulia offers real estate market guides for different areas. You can get trends and statistics on different areas, and see what the activity is like in different markets.
37. International Listings provides a great real estate marketing report card. This tool takes a look at how well your property is being marketed across the Internet, providing a look at how much exposure your listing is getting.
38. Homethinking has a great tool to help you compare neighborhoods. If you like your neighborhood, but are moving, you can find a similar neighborhood in a different city.
39. HotPads.com offers a buy v. rent calculator that takes into account the region you are considering. A number of other useful tools are also available on this site.
40. Google Base pulls information from Google Maps to help you figure out a route for our home search. You can also pull up sales information by searching for homes in a specific area.
41. HomePages.com provides aerial photos of neighborhoods that you are searching. It is a useful mash-up that combines visuals with market data. This site also includes other useful information on boosting your home’s appeal, making an offer on a home and more.
42. Real Estate ABC has a number of useful calculators that can help you figure out amortization, cost of living in different areas, comparisons of different mortgage payment scenarios and more.
43. JadeTools.com offers a free property suite aimed at helping agents present properties. Flyers, online publishing, database functions and more help you get your listings “out there.”

Real Estate Blog Posts

Here is a sampling of some real estate blogs and blog posts that offer information, tips and insight into the real estate market. For a more detailed list, check out these top real estate blogs.

44. Bigger Pockets has a great post on reconciling cost, price and value when looking to buy real estate.
45. Bible Money Matters provides a helpful FAQ about the Making Home Affordable loan modification program.
46. Shak & Jill offers a look at D.C. real estate — and why it might worth it to rent instead of buy.
47. Real Estate Pro Articles warns that condo investing, while it seems like it could be a good idea, has a dark side.
48. My Wife Quit Her Job provides an interesting look at calculating the true value of buying right now. Just because prices and rates are low, doesn’t mean it’s a good time to buy for everyone.
49. Bargaineering offers an article about 10 real estate mistakes. Includes a link to his homebuying experience.
50. Lazy Man and Money compares stocks vs. real estate over time.

The results, listed below, provide real estate consumers and investors with vital, sage and pertinent information about the real estate market. The list is categorized, and each link is listed alphabetically below each category. This method assures our readers that we do not favor one resource over another.

Appraisals

Most home buyers want an appraiser who’s been seasoned. These bloggers are there, as they’ve been around a while.

1. Appraisal Scoop: Read articles about business management, appraisal technology, industry news and market analysis from a real estate professional who has been in the appraisal business for 25 years.
2. Matrix: This blog provides a stream of information and commentary relating to local, national and international real estate topics that were pouring out of the news media. Written by an appraiser and launched in 2005.
3. Soapbox: Soapbox is meant to be an industry resource, a repository of information that can help inform, annoy, educate and motivate, change the appraisal industry.
4. Table Talk with Apella: This site is an appraisal resource for homeowners, real estate professionals, lenders & Investors.

Real Estate’s Dark Side

Why a blogger would want to stick to the dark side of real estate for years is one question. While the answer may not be apparent, these bloggers have become expert at sniffing out the worst in real estate.

5. Another FB: A mortgage ‘insider’s’ view on the lending industry, the housing bubble and the loose credit standards that drove it all.
6. Blown Mortgage: One “mortgage insider’s” ongoing endeavor to cover the atrocities that still plague the mortgage industry, providing you with insight and understanding about the industry so you won’t get burned by a bad mortgage deal.
7. Bubble Meter: A housing bubble blog dedicated to tracking the continuing decline of the housing bubble throughout the USA.
8. Housing Doom: Articles and blog entries cover topics such as bailouts, “bubble horror stories,” housing bubbles and more.
9. Mortgage Fraud Blog: Rachel Dollar is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles fraud recovery litigation for lenders and secondary market investors nationwide.
10. The Housing Bubble: Ben Jones examines the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.

Good Reading

Even if you believe that no one really owns a piece of the earth, these blogs still might bring a smile to your face.

11. Big Time Listings: If you like anything that comes out of Hollywood, you’ll really like this blog. Check out celebrity homes, famous homes and market conditions around the stars.
12. Grow a Brain: Hanan Levin is the co-owner of ‘The Champion’ Real Estate Company in Riverside, California. They call him “The Human Vacuum,” and you’ll learn why after you explore his perspectives.
13. Sellsius: Sellsius covers all aspects of real estate, with a focus on marketing tools, new technology, innovation, and social media. Their goal is to inform in an entertaining way, which makes it a pleasure for consumers to read as well.
14. SpencerBarron.com: Spencer Barron is a entrepreneur, investor, and Realtor currently living in Denver, Colorado. He’s involved with many projects, which may be the reason why he has many rants and raves centered on real estate.
15. Unusual Life: Spend time here if you like unusual homes, amazing architecture, strange places and fascinating people.

Investors

If you view real estate as a portfolio, you might enjoy these blogs. You might trust them as well, as they’ve been around for awhile.

16. Altos Research Real Estate Insights: This company’s real estate data and local real estate reports are used by financial firms, investors, and thousands of real estate professionals around the country.
17. Bloodhound Blog: This is a national real estate industry marketing and technology blog written by, for and about real estate professionals.
18. Future of Real Estate Marketing: The Future of Real Estate Marketing blog examines the impact of Web 2.0 and the Internet on real estate and real estate marketing. Consumers can learn much about how to shop for real estate on the Web through Joel Burslem’s writings.
19. Housing Derivatives: Applications and economics for the U.S. housing market, brought to you by Traditional Financial Services, Inc. a broker of OTC housing and commercial real estate swaps and options.
20. Lending Clarity: Marc Brinitzer has been in his business for years, and his blog brings many years’ worth of wisdom about lending, markets and investment moves.
21. Mike’s Corner: This blog exists to bridge the gap between perception and reality as it applies to Real Estate 2.0. Mike is geared to help the real estate professional, but the real estate customer can learn much about new sales strategies here.
22. Real Estate Dispatch: Mortgage lenders, real estate agents, commercial real estate experts, or other real estate professionals contribute to this blog for real estate investors.
23. Shaun’s Real Estate Adventures: If you want to get into real estate investing, you might want to follow Shaun’s adventures. He will tell you that “it’s not really that difficult or scary.”
24. The Real Estate Bloggers: This blog strives to bring a reasoned analysis of the real estate industry to professionals, pundits, buyers and sellers, voyeurs, and the curious.
25. Real Estate, Investment, Finance: This blog will interest real estate professionals (lender, Realtor, banker, etc), investors (landlord, flipper, wholesaler, etc.), consumers, renters or homeowners interested in the world of real estate.
26. Zillow Blog: Geared toward both consumers and real estate professionals, the Zillow Blog provides timely news, advice and information about the ups and downs of real estate investments.

Real Estate News

After delivering news for a few years, these bloggers have learned how to bring it on – especially in the real estate market.

27. Hot Property: BusinessWeek editors Chris Palmeri, Prashant Gopal, Peter Coy, and Dean Foust chronicle the highs and lows of the housing and mortgage markets on this blog.
28. Inman Blog: Inman News is the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike.
29. Real/diaBlog: “Boldly saying what others won’t about Real Estate.” Brought to you by Tony Arko, a real estate professional in Loudoun County, Virginia.
30. Real Estate Schmoozer: Ladin Ventures, LLC shares their extensive knowledge and experience in real estate, business and marketing.
31. Realty Times: This is a real estate news network that covers nationwide market conditions.
32. The Real Estate Tomato: The Real Estate Tomato is a destination for real estate news, e-marketing, Internet insight, services and products.

Site-Specific Blogs

While we wish every major city had a top real estate blog, that hasn’t happened. The following bloggers might serve as role models, though.

33. 360 Digest: Seattle Real Estate Blog for those interested in Seattle real estate, popular culture, tech, news and opinion.
34. Curbed: In New York City, it comes back to real estate, rent and neighborhoods. Curbed also extends to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
35. Property Grunt: This is a blog by a “soldier in the trenches of the Manhattan real estate war presenting information and commentary on the market.”
36. Rain City Guide: This blog is a leading resource for information on the Seattle area real estate market.
37. the Front Steps: This is one of the most popular real estate blogs in San Francisco, written by an active licensed real estate agent.
38. Urban Trekker: Tracking urban living, urban-suburban revitalization, redevelopment, green real estate and trends throughout the nation and in metro Washington DC

Niche Markets

These blogs have stood the test of time for their unique qualities, because they focus on niche markets.

39. Condo Blog: This blogger is fixated on condominiums, luxury real estate, urban city centers, home buyers and technology.
40. New Condos Online: This blog focuses solely on new condos, luxury condos and vacation and resort properties.
41. No Limits Ladies: Want financial freedom? Do it through investing in paper, real estate and building business with women of all “ages, shapes and sizes” who offer ideas, resources and fun.
42. Overseas Property Mall: OverseasPropertyMall.com is an international real estate investment blog that has been offering free & reliable international property research, news and interviews since March 2005. Its longevity attests to its popularity, validity and compelling content.
43. Real Sage Advice: Lisa Dunn a licensed real estate agent working in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; however, her main interests are seniors, senior housing and aging issues.
44. The Islomaniac: Cheyenne Morrison is the founder of the Islomaniacs Society and an obsessed island property specialist.

The Green Life

Going green is the focus here, and these blogs are tops in the green real estate market.

45. Green Buildings NYC: gbNYC is published by Stephen Del Percio, a construction and real estate attorney admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey. Commentary, however, tends to lean toward green building in general.
46. Inhabitat: Inhabitat.com is devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
47. Jetson Green: This is a daily updated magazine that focuses on green building and everything related to it, including sustainable architecture, good design, green prefab and more.
48. Sustainable Green Communities: This blog is all about sustainable green communities, environmentally-friendly building design, climate change, flood control, storm-water recycling and much more.
49. The Sustainable Cities Blog: This blog is maintained by the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities in New York. Learn more about their mission and projects here.
50. Treehugger: One of the leading media outlets dedicated to driving sustainability. This blog is on the cutting edge for green solutions and product information.

The first article I read, No Cheap or Free Government Land at About.com, was pretty discouraging.

No matter what you may have heard or read, there is no such thing as “free land from the government.” There is no federal homesteading program and public land the government does sell is sold only at market value.

Ouch. Well, I wasn’t quite ready to give up hope yet. The GetRichSlowly article referred to Kansas, so I figured, even if the Federal government wasn’t giving land away, maybe state or county governments were.

“It’s good to own land.” [Stewie Griffin]

So another search led me to KansasFreeLand.com, which got me excited. Looks like we’ve hit paydirt! The site linked to several county/local Web sites in Kansas which are apparently offering free land. I clicked on to one of them: Discover Osborne.com. Sure enough, there was a link to a “get free land” application for the City of Osborne. Of course, the program has restrictions (but what government entitlement program doesn’t?):

The City of Osborne is excited to offer no cost residential housing lots in the Sunset Addition, north of Main Street. To be eligible for these lots, you must fill out this application for review by the City of Osborne. Once the application is completed and returned, the applicant will be required to meet with the City to form an agreement. Once the agreement is signed, construction may begin within the timeframe designated in the agreement.

Rather than summarize each of the cities’/counties’ programs, I suggest you just check out the Web site yourself: Kansas Free Land.com. You can also read more about getting free land in Kansas in this CNN article, or skip to the end of this article for even more resources.

There’s a Reason It’s Free, Right?

You’re not going to get free land from the government in Manhattan. Or in Boston. Or in LA, Chicago, Miami, Key West, or even Columbus, Ohio. Normally local or state tax breaks (well, free land isn’t a tax break, but it’s the same principle) are given by areas with depressed economies and job markets. Think about it: if they’re bribing people to move to a certain place, that means demand to live in that place must be pretty low.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to live. The article at GetRichSlowly which I referenced in the introduction discusses at length why it may actually make sense to live in Kansas. And before you make fun, or claim that a lower salary in another state would more than cancel out the cost of living decrease, please read about the top 10 most hated financial tips at FreeMoneyFinance:

1. Moving to a lower cost-of-living city — This one really puzzles me. Not only is it that people don’t like this idea, but they REALLY don’t like it. As in “you’re the stupidest financial blogger ever” sort of don’t like it. But what do I care? I still have my day job.

It must be the fact that, in general, people love where they live. They like the area of the country, their job, and the fact that they have family nearby.

However, if you move from a high cost-of-living city to a lower cost-of-living city, you can literally save MILLIONS over the course of your lifetime. And yes, that accounts for the fact that you’ll probably make less money in the new city. But your living expenses will drop so much more that you’ll be way better off financially. I know — you don’t want to hear that. I’ll shut up now.

Enough about that. Either you’re open to the idea of moving, or you’re not. If you are, please read on.

Additional Resources for Getting Free Land

It’d be impossible for me to categorize each and every state or local free land offer in the United States. (Plus, I’m guessing a lot of the information on the Web is out of date–I’d recommend contacting the city or county government to confirm that offers you read about online are still in effect.) So, this list of resources isn’t intended to be exhaustive, but hopefully you can get an idea of what kind of grants and offers are out there.

• Alaska Government to Distribute Free Land: A news story at Wayodd.com with information on a free land offer in Alaska.
• GovernmentLand.com: This site claims to have a way to get you free land. They do charge a fee, though, so I’d recommend investigating further before handing them any money.
• KansasFreeLand.com: Links to various city and county Web sites that have free land offerings in the state of Kansas.
• Con artists are peddling bogus lists of ‘free’ government land or property for sale: This article on the LA Times’ site exposes that a lot of the ‘free land’ content out there, is, indeed, pretty scammy. You may want to read this one first!

That’s it for now. If you have any experience investigating free land offers–whether they turned out to be legit, or a scam–please let us know in the comments!