Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and the Rest: Which Real Estate Site to Trust in Central Florida
Most house hunters end up with two or three real estate apps open at once. It helps to know that the apps aren’t independent sources competing on accuracy. In most of Central Florida, they draw from the same few multiple listing services. What really differs is who gets your phone number when you tap “contact agent.” Since 2025, some homes also stay off certain sites on purpose.
Short version: Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin, and Homes.com get most Central Florida listings from the region’s multiple listing services:
- Stellar MLS covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Polk, and West Volusia.
- Separate MLSs cover the Daytona Beach area and Brevard.
The sites mostly differ in where your inquiry goes:
- Zillow and Trulia send it to an agent who pays Zillow for leads.
- Redfin sends it to its own agents.
- Homes.com sends it to the listing agent.
Since 2025, not every home appears everywhere. New listings can be held off public sites for five days, and Zillow blocks some homes that were marketed privately first. Automated value estimates are usually within 2% for homes on the market, but for homes that aren’t listed they miss by about 7% or more half the time, and they do worse on land and new construction. Before you make an offer, check the county property appraiser’s free records for the parcel.
Where the listings come from
Agents enter listings into a multiple listing service (MLS), which sends them out to the consumer sites. Stellar MLS, which says it serves more than 80,000 real estate professionals, is the main MLS for Central Florida. Its member associations cover Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, and Polk, plus West Volusia and New Smyrna Beach.
The two coastal areas are different:
- Brevard listings go into the Space Coast MLS.
- The Daytona Beach area uses the Daytona Beach MLS.
Those two share data with each other and with Jacksonville-area MLSs through a 2024 agreement. Each MLS feeds the big portals, so homes from all seven counties show up on them. But if you work with an agent, one who belongs to the right MLS will see listings sooner and in more detail.
Why some homes aren’t on every site
Since 2025, a few rule changes mean some homes legitimately don’t appear everywhere:
- Delayed listings. Under a 2025 national Realtor policy, sellers can choose to keep a new listing off public websites for a short time. Stellar MLS allows five calendar days. During that window, agents in the MLS can see the home, but Zillow and the other sites can’t.
- Office exclusives. A seller can also keep a home off the MLS entirely, so only agents in the listing brokerage know about it.
- Zillow’s listing rules. Under Zillow’s Listing Access Standards, a home that was marketed publicly to some buyers but not entered in the MLS within one business day can be barred from Zillow and Trulia for the life of the listing. In 2026, Zillow added “Zillow Preview” for coming-soon homes.
- Coming-soon listings elsewhere. Some brokerages now show pre-market homes on Redfin instead.
In practice, search on at least two sites, set up alerts, and if you’re serious about an area, ask an agent about coming-soon homes.
Zillow and Trulia
Zillow bought Trulia in 2015, and the two share the same listings. Zillow is the bigger marketplace, with saved searches, mortgage tools, and agent matching. Trulia leans toward neighborhood information.
When you tap “Contact agent” or “Request a tour,” Zillow’s program for agents passes you to a partner agent who pays Zillow for the connection. That agent usually isn’t the listing agent, and Zillow then shows them as “My Agent” on every home you look at. If you’d rather choose your own agent, contact the listing agent or your own agent directly.
Realtor.com
Realtor.com is run by Move, Inc., which is majority-owned by News Corp. It operates under a license from the National Association of Realtors, according to News Corp’s annual report. It pulls listings from MLS feeds. Like Zillow, it sells buyer leads and referrals to agents, so an inquiry may reach an agent you didn’t choose.
Redfin
Redfin is both a listing site and a brokerage with its own agents. Rocket Companies, the mortgage lender, bought Redfin on July 1, 2025. Inquiries go to Redfin agents. Redfin and Rocket also offer mortgage discounts to buyers who use both a Redfin agent and a Rocket Mortgage loan. Compare that offer with other lenders before you take it, as you would any rate.
Homes.com
Homes.com, owned by CoStar, works differently. Its annual report describes a “your listing, your lead” model: agents pay a flat subscription, and buyer inquiries go to the home’s listing agent. If you want to reach the person who knows the house, that’s useful. Keep in mind that the listing agent represents the seller, not you.
Here’s how the sites compare side by side:
| Site | Owned by | Good for | Where your inquiry goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zillow | Zillow Group | Broad browsing, saved searches, alerts | A partner agent who pays Zillow for leads |
| Trulia | Zillow Group | Neighborhood information | Same as Zillow |
| Realtor.com | Move, Inc. (News Corp) | MLS-fed listings | Agents who pay for leads or referrals |
| Redfin | Rocket Companies | Working with a Redfin agent | Redfin’s own agents |
| Homes.com | CoStar | Reaching the listing agent | The home’s listing agent |
| County property appraiser | County government | Official parcel, sales, and tax records | Nobody; no agent involved |
Ownership from each company’s SEC filings, checked October 2026.
How accurate are home value estimates?
Automated estimates compare a home with recent nearby sales, so they’re only as good as the comparable sales they can find. Zillow updates its Zestimate accuracy figures every month. As of September 30, 2026, the nationwide median error was 1.77% for homes listed for sale and 7.20% for homes not on the market. A median error means half of the estimates land within that percentage of the final sale price and half miss by more. On a $400,000 home that isn’t listed, 7.20% is $28,800.
For the Orlando metro area, Zillow reports a 1.76% median error on listed homes, with about 84% of estimates within 5% of the sale price and about 95% within 10%. Redfin’s published figures are similar: 1.89% for listed homes and 7.41% for off-market homes.
The on-market numbers look better than they really are for a buyer. Zillow measures them using the last estimate before the home goes under contract, after the estimate has already seen the asking price and the listing details. The off-market figure is the better guide to how well an estimate knows a home on its own. The error also grows for:
- vacant land and rural parcels, where comparable sales are scarce
- new construction and unusual homes
- homes with recent renovations the records don’t show
Use an estimate to spot overpriced listings, not to set an offer. For a real number, look at recent sales of truly similar homes, ask an agent for a comparative market analysis, and remember that a lender’s appraisal will decide what the home is worth for the loan. Sellers can get a rough idea of what they’d walk away with from the seller net proceeds calculator. Land buyers should start with the vacant lot checklist.
The free records most buyers skip
Every county’s property appraiser publishes free parcel records: owner, sale history, assessed and market value, homestead status, building details, and often the zoning. The county clerk’s official records show the actual deed, mortgages, and liens. Consumer sites are built for browsing, and the county sites are the official record, so check both before you make an offer.
| County | Property appraiser (parcel records) | Clerk (deeds, mortgages, liens) |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | ocpafl.org | Comptroller official records |
| Seminole | scpafl.org | Clerk official records |
| Osceola | property-appraiser.org | Clerk official records |
| Lake | lakecopropappr.com | Clerk official records |
| Polk | polkflpa.gov | Clerk official records |
| Volusia | vcpa.vcgov.org | Clerk official records |
| Brevard | bcpao.us | Clerk official records |
Official county sites, checked October 2026. Polk’s property appraiser moved from polkpa.org to polkflpa.gov.
Three things to check on the appraiser’s site:
- The sale history. When did the seller buy, and for how much?
- The taxes. The current bill reflects the seller’s homestead exemption and capped value. Yours will likely be higher, and the true monthly cost calculator estimates it.
- The zoning and land use. The zoning guide explains what they mean.
The property tax rates by county and homestead exemption guides explain the tax side.
Ready to start? The buying a house in Florida guide covers the whole process, homebuyer mistakes to avoid covers the common traps, and what it costs to buy a home in Central Florida compares the seven counties.
Frequently Asked Questions
From the regional multiple listing services. Stellar MLS covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Polk, and West Volusia, while Brevard uses the Space Coast MLS and the Daytona Beach area has its own MLS. Each MLS sends its listings to the major real estate sites.
Since 2025, sellers can keep a new listing off public sites for a few days (five in Stellar MLS), and Zillow bars homes that were marketed privately before being entered in the MLS. Some brokerages also show coming-soon homes on Redfin but not Zillow. Search more than one site to see everything.
No. Zillow has owned Trulia since 2015, and both use the same listing data. They differ mainly in layout and in the neighborhood information Trulia shows.
Usually a partner agent who pays Zillow for buyer connections, not necessarily the listing agent. Zillow then shows that agent as your agent on other homes. If you want a specific agent, contact them directly.
As of September 30, 2026, Zillow reports a nationwide median error of 1.77% for homes listed for sale and 7.20% for homes not on the market. In the Orlando metro, the median error on listed homes is 1.76%. Half of estimates miss by more than the median, and estimates are least reliable for land, new construction, and unusual homes, so treat them as a starting point, not a value.
Not by much either way. Redfin publishes a median error of 1.89% for listed homes and 7.41% for off-market homes, close to Zillow’s 1.77% and 7.20%. For a home that isn’t for sale, both can easily be off by tens of thousands of dollars.
Rocket Companies, the mortgage lender, completed its purchase of Redfin on July 1, 2025. Redfin still runs its listing site and its own brokerage.
Yes. It’s the official, free record of a parcel’s owner, sale history, assessed value, homestead status, and often zoning. Remember that the seller’s tax bill reflects their homestead exemption, so your taxes will likely be higher.
Sources
- https://www.stellarmls.com/about
- https://www.stellarmls.com/about/shareholders
- https://www.stellarmls.com/DelayedDistribution
- https://www.spacecoastmls.com/about-us/about-the-association
- https://realmls.com/wp-content/uploads/Four-MLSs-in-Florida-Launch-New-Coast-2-Coast-MLS-Data-Share-Final.pdf
- https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-introduces-new-mls-policy-to-expand-choice-for-consumers
- https://www.zillow.com/news/zillows-new-listing-access-standards/
- https://www.zillow.com/premier-agent/
- https://zillowgroup.mediaroom.com/2015-02-17-Zillow-Completes-Acquisition-of-Trulia-for-2-5-Billion-in-Stock-Forms-Zillow-Group-Family-of-Brands
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1564708/000156470825000419/nws-20250630.htm
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1805284/000162828026013283/rkt-20251231.htm
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057352/000105735226000020/csgp-20251231.htm
- https://www.zillow.com/z/zestimate/
- https://www.redfin.com/redfin-estimate
- https://www.zillow.com/
- https://www.trulia.com/
- https://www.realtor.com/
- https://www.redfin.com/
- https://www.homes.com/
This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t financial, legal, insurance, or tax advice – for guidance specific to your situation, talk to a licensed professional.