In order to grow successfully in real estate, you need to have a lead generation strategy. Real estate lead generation websites can be invaluable tools to bring qualified, ready-to-buy leads right to your inbox. We examined many of these platforms based on ROI, lead quality, and customer service, and chose the six best real estate lead generation websites.
Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best Overall) Agents who want to leverage the largest real estate website to get qualified leads | |
Agents, teams, and companies who are members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) | |
Agents who want to use a website featuring a customized algorithm for highly qualified leads | |
Agents wanting to build their reputation in their neighborhood for the lowest price | |
Agents seeking placement on a lead generation website with access to a personal adviser | |
Real estate agents looking to build their own easy-to-use IDX website to generate leads |
How We Evaluated Real Estate Lead Generation Websites
There is no shortage of real estate lead generation companies and websites. Each of them provides you with a different method of generating and converting leads. We evaluated the best websites for real estate lead generation based on price, lead quality, lead exclusivity, advertising, customer reviews, and customer support to determine the best investment for real estate agents.
We evaluated the best real estate lead generation websites based on:
- Potential return on investment: Although the lead generation websites listed won’t give you an exact dollar amount for each lead, we carefully selected platforms that have a proven track record of giving agents a high potential return compared to cost.
- Lead quality: Not everyone who clicks on your profile or an advertisement is going to make a real estate transaction. There is a huge benefit in focusing your lead generation strategy on people who are actively searching for an agent and have hard plans to buy or sell property soon. The lead generation websites included put you closer to leads who are highly qualified and more likely to convert.
- Advertising opportunities: Websites should offer advertising capabilities as an option for proactive lead generation. This allows agents to funnel qualified, targeted traffic to their profile or website. We chose tools that provide you with the option to run ads.
- Customer reviews: It’s important to get an idea of how previous users have fared with these websites. In some cases, we could only find reviews from buyers and sellers, but it’s still extremely important to recognize what your potential clients might experience.
- Customer support: Agents can run into challenges when connecting with leads and making transactions. That’s why each inclusion on our list needed at least one customer service channel (phone, email, or online form).
However, while all of these websites are great ways to connect to potential clients and establish your brand, there are a number of other ways to generate leads in real estate. Check out our free guide to learn more.
Zillow Premier Agent: Best Overall Real Estate Lead Generation Website
Zillow Premier Agent (ZPA) is a real estate lead generation tool offered by Zillow, the No. 1 real estate site in the U.S. The service puts your contact information on listings, making you more accessible to buyers and sellers. It also includes a free IDX website and customer relationship management (CRM) software. ZPA is best for real estate agents and brokers seeking leads secured primarily through placement on Zillow.com.
Zillow Premier Agent Strengths | Zillow Premier Agent Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Includes extensive agent training | Lacks robust follow-up tools like drip campaigns |
Offers exclusive placement on listings | Leads are not qualified |
Allows you to reach buyers on multiple real estate websites in addition to Zillow | Can become expensive |
Zillow Premier Agent Pricing
- $20 to $60 per lead on average, although the cost can go well above $100 per lead
- Pricing depends on ZIP code, housing prices, and competition from other agents
- Additional charges for advertising
Zillow Premier Agent Features
- Featured placement on listings
- Reach your audience on Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, and Hotpads
- Integrated CRM with lead tracking
- IDX lead capture website with a custom domain name
- Customer Experience Report helps your track your performance
- Access to a blog, agent toolkit, leave conversion scripts, training, and support either by phone or text
How ZPA members appear on Zillow.com
What Users Think About Zillow Premier Agent
Reviewers have noted that Zillow doesn’t qualify leads before they send them to you. Others report frustration with ZPA’s customer service and unavailable ZIP codes. That said, Zillow dominates the market, and agents who take advantage of ZPA’s features report a great return on investment (ROI). Learn more about how Zillow Premier Agent works for real estate lead generation.
Realtor.com: Best Lead Generation Website for NAR Members
Realtor.com is a real estate marketplace website and app where National Association of Realtors (NAR) members can create a profile. It also boasts being visited by as many as 86 million unique users in June 2020, meaning it is a great place to be seen for improved credibility. However, Realtor.com also offers multiple lead generating products, as well as high traffic, which is why this is a great lead generation website for agents and teams who are NAR members.
Realtor.com Strengths | Realtor.com Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Multiple lead generation products and options | Many ZIP codes are unavailable |
One of the most-used real estate apps | Can get expensive |
Only available to real estate agents | Customers don’t know who you are before reaching out |
Realtor.com Pricing
Prices are not listed on Realtor.com, and lead prices vary by ZIP code. Third-party sources report that leads can cost anywhere from $200 to $1,000.
Realtor.com Features
- Connections Plus allows agents to purchase exclusive or non-exclusive leads within their ZIP code
- Local Expert allows you to create paid advertisements on Realtor.com and Facebook
- Advantage Brand displays your branding on your Realtor.com listings
- Top Producer Real Estate Websites and CRM provide you with free single-property websites and a CRM to manage leads
- Ability to automate lead follow-up
- Customer support is available via online form or phone
How NAR members appear on Realtor.com
What Users Think About Realtor.com
Realtor.com’s lead generation tools have a 4.0 rating on G2. The majority of customers who left reviews were extremely happy with the service, functionality, and ROI, stating that leads from Realtor.com are more likely to convert and the interface was easy to navigate. Other users said the costs added up quickly and that sometimes data from the MLS isn’t accurate.
HomeLight: Best Real Estate Website for Prequalified Leads
HomeLight is a website that uses a proprietary algorithm to match homebuyers and sellers with the best real estate agent in their area. This algorithm makes it great as a real estate lead generation website because it ensures the leads you receive are not only looking for a real estate professional, they have specifically chosen to contact you. That makes HomeLight the best choice for agents who only want the most highly qualified leads.
HomeLight Strengths | HomeLight Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Leads are highly qualified | Referral fee decreases agent profits |
No upfront costs | Most likely receive a smaller number of leads |
Reduced competition |
HomeLight Pricing
- 25% broker-to-broker fee at closing
HomeLight Features
- Create a customized agent profile with highlights, recent transactions, and certifications
- Mobile app
- Customer support available by phone
How professionals are featured on HomeLight
What Users Think About HomeLight
On Sitejabber, HomeLight has a 4.71 rating from 171 reviews. However, most of those reviews are written from homebuyers and sellers. Most customers raved about the real estate agent they found through HomeLight, but others had a negative experience with a HomeLight real estate agent. We were unable to find any third-party reviews from agents.
Nextdoor: Most Affordable Real Estate Lead Generation Website
Nextdoor is a networking website and app that helps connect you with people in your neighborhood. The social platform does this by letting you create a free Nextdoor business page or sponsor your neighborhood to position yourself as the go-to real estate expert in your local area. This makes Nextdoor a great real estate lead generation website if you want to focus on free or organic ways to gain visibility in your area.
Nextdoor Strengths | Nextdoor Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Easy to use | Up to 5 agents can sponsor one neighborhood |
Easily get in front of your target audience | Customer support is only available by online contact form |
Multiple free ways to promote yourself |
Nextdoor Pricing
Nextdoor does not publish their advertising or sponsorship prices online because they vary by ZIP code. However, creating a real estate business page on Nextdoor is free.
Nextdoor Features
- Ability to sponsor your neighborhood to increase visibility
- Paid advertising
- Creating your real estate business page is free
- Post local deals
- Each ZIP code is limited to five sponsors
- Customer support is only available by online contact form
Real estate listings on Nextdoor
What Users Think About Nextdoor
Nextdoor has a 2.7 rating on Trustpilot. The customers who gave it a high score stated that the platform can be extremely useful, but just like other social networks, there is little to no control over what content is shared in each community. The majority of negative reviews are not directed toward the functionality or effectiveness of the platform, but the community inside of it.
Even with these negative comments, Nextdoor should still be considered a valuable real estate lead generation website. There are so many free methods of promoting your business to the people in your area.
UpNest: Best Lead Generation Website With a Personal Adviser
UpNest is a real estate platform where homebuyers and sellers can search for a real estate agent and maximize commissions. However, what makes it unique is that it is also the only real estate lead generation website on our list to provide you with an adviser to help you optimize your incoming leads. This makes UpNest best for agents who want the expertise of an adviser for more personal online lead generation.
UpNest Strengths | UpNest Weaknesses |
|---|---|
No upfront costs | Referral fee decreases agent profits |
Personal UpNest adviser | Competition for the lowest commission price |
Prequalified leads |
UpNest Pricing
- 30% referral paid at closing
UpNest Features
- Free to join
- Dedicated UpNest adviser helps you connect with clients and increase your conversion rate
- UpNest app helps track potential clients
- Large agent knowledge base to answer questions
- Customer support is available by phone and email
How UpNest encourages buyers and sellers to contact you
What Users Think About UpNest
There are currently 153 UpNest reviews on their Facebook page, with a total score of 4.6. Again, many of these reviews are from previous buyers and sellers who worked with an UpNest agent. However, the overwhelmingly positive reviews from clients show that UpNest has a proven system that allows positive and successful transactions, whereas HomeLight had many more unhappy customers.
Placester: Best for Building Your Own Lead Generation Website
Placester is a simple, all-in-one real estate website builder and marketing platform offering IDX websites with a CRM, marketing tools, and lead magnets. It is also a great real estate lead generation service as Placester allows you to easily create a real estate website that generates leads without being dependent on any other platform. NAR members get preferential pricing, making this a great choice for real estate agents looking for more control in terms of lead generation or those launching a brokerage and who need a branded website.
Placester Strengths | Placester Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Affordable | Limited design options |
Easy-to-use platform | Lacks built-in SEO optimization |
Unlimited pages and posts | Add-ons get pricey |
Placester Pricing
- 30-day free trial
- Starter Plan: $64 per month plus setup fee for NAR members with annual commitment*
- Advanced Plan: $120 per month plus setup for NAR members with annual commitment*
- Office Builder Plan: $160 per month with annual commitment*
- Setup costs waived for yearly plans; discounts for multiyear plans
- $50 per month add-on for content library access
- $50 per month add-on for access to premium themes
* Month-to-month billing is available, but costs extra. Plans for non-NAR members cost 20% more.
Placester Features
- Easy-to-use interface
- Mobile-friendly website with IDX integration
- Plug-and-play design
- Lead capture capabilities
- Integrated CRM with lead nurturing features like drip campaigns
- Customer support is available by phone and email, and you can schedule a live demo
Placester’s lead generation and management tools
What Users Think About Placester
Reviewers noted that Placester was easy to use on both the desktop and the app. Users liked the free trial that allowed them to create and preview their IDX site before signing up for a paid subscription. Negative reviews focus on poor customer service and the simplicity of the platform; there is little ability to customize website templates or alter the design.
Bottom Line
The best real estate lead generation websites allow agents to find and connect with leads who are likely to make a real estate transaction in the near future. The ROI of these websites and previous customer reviews are key factors when selecting which sites are the best for you and your real estate team.
