Realtor
Scraping Teardown
Find out everything you need to know to reliably scrape Realtor,
including scraping guides, Github Repos, proxy performance and more.
Realtor Web Scraping Overview
Realtor implements multiple layers of protection to prevent automated data extraction. This section provides an overview of its anti-bot systems and common challenges faced when scraping, along with insights into how these protections work and potential strategies to navigate them.
Scraping Summary
Realtor is a widely popular real-estate website that offers comprehensive information for buying, selling, and renting properties. A treasure for data enthusiasts, it offers voluminous data for scraping which include property details, price, location, size, and seller's information. However, Realtor uses stringent anti-scraping systems and frequently alters its webpage structure, which could obstruct web scraping. The properties data lie behind search queries, making it challenging to gain access and increasing the scraping complexity. Navigating this, a data scraper must likely use an evolving manner of scraping implementation. Considering the dynamic CSS and the fact that they use content spoofing to misguide scrapers, data parsing would be difficult and require an advanced level of web scraping tool or technique.
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Best Realtor Proxies
Proxy statistics and optimal proxy providers for scraping Realtor. Learn which proxy types work best, their success rates, and how to minimize bans with the right provider.
Realtor Anti-Bots
Anti-scraping systems used by Realtor to prevent web scraping. These systems can make it harder and more expensive to scrape the website but can be bypassed with the right tools and strategies.
Realtor Data
Explore the key data types available for scraping and alternative methods such as public APIs, to streamline your web data extraction process.
Data Types
No data types found
Public APIs
API Description
Realtor provides a public API that offers access to extensive real estate data. The data includes detailed information about properties, transactions related to real estate, and location-specific data.This API is most beneficial for users seeking insights about the real estate market, such as property developers, investors, and researchers. A wide array of data related to the property market can be extracted and analyzed to glean useful insights.
Access Requirements
Access to the API requires subscription-based payment. You need to register on their website and select a suitable subscription plan.
API Data Available
Why People Use Web Scraping?
Although Realtor offers a public API that covers a broad range of property-related data, there might be situations where web scraping is utilized instead. The API might not cater to certain specific types of data required by developers.Another factor that might cause developers to turn to web scraping is the cost of API usage. While the API does provide a wealth of information, it requires a subscription-based payment which might not be affordable to all developers, thus making web scraping an attractive alternative.
Realtor Web Scraping Legality
Understand the legal considerations before scraping Realtor. Review the website's robots.txt file, terms & conditions, and any past lawsuits to assess the risks. Ensure compliance with applicable laws and minimize the chances of legal action.
Legality Review
Realtor.com's robots.txt file and Terms of Service illustrate a restrictive approach to automated access, marked by Disallow: / directives and a clear prohibition on scraping. Nevertheless, these documents primarily serve to establish the platform's expectations and don't necessarily enforce an absolute legal boundary to scraping accessible public pages. The rule remains consistent that as long as not violating access controls or logins, scraping public content can qualify as allowable in most jurisdictions.
True legal risk often arises when there's scraping involved behind logins, where handling personal information, or in instances of sidestepping access controls—all significantly represented in Realtor.com's case. Particularly relevant when an account exists, as users are then bound by the site's conditions, and any infringements could result in more rigorous legal action. While dealing with public pages, it's advisable to respect crawling limits, avoid fenced off sections, and process any personal or copyrighted material cautiously. Also, without a public API, possibilities of obtaining authorized access to data on Realtor.com are less.
Realtor Robots.txt
Does Realtor robot.txt permit web scraping?
Summary
The robots.txt file for realtor.com indicates a varied set of instructions for automated interaction with the website. Notably, there are multiple Disallow: / instructions applicable to common web scrapers, effectively limiting crawlers' access to some areas of the site. These directives appear to apply predominantly to all user agents, with only a limited number of exceptions specified for a few whitelisted bots.
Despite the restrictive directives, the file also features Allow: /for-sale and Allow: /config/ instructions, thereby providing some access to regular crawlers apart from the whitelisted ones. The presence of sitemap references, such as Sitemap: https://www.realtor.com/robots.txt, allows for guided exploration of the website. In essence, realtor.com's robots.txt file presents a mixed bag for general-purpose web scraping, facilitating limited access under certain conditions while also maintaining restrictions on significant portions of the website.
Realtor Terms & Conditions
Does Realtor Terms & Conditions permit web scraping?
Summary
The terms of service for Realtor.com explicitly prohibit scraping and automated access. The site's robots.txt includes the following statement:
LEGAL NOTICE: Per https://www.realtor.com's Terms of Service, scraping data from this website is unauthorized without the express written permission from Move, Inc.
This prohibition covers automated data extraction, crawling, and bots, and is presented as applicable to any user accessing the site, whether public or logged-in. The enforceability of this rule can be higher for users who have made accounts, but the notice is intended to apply universally.
Realtor.com does not offer a public API for accessing property listing data. The terms and ancillary notices warn that attempts to bypass protections such as logins, rate limits, or CAPTCHAs may lead to consequences including IP blocking, account suspension, or legal action. Unauthorized scraping of the website is not permitted under any standard conditions, with only written permission allowing exceptions.
Realtor Lawsuits
Legal Actions Against Scrapers: A history of lawsuits filed by the website owner against scrapers and related entities, highlighting legal disputes, claims, and outcomes.
Lawsuits Summary
Realtor has not been involved in any known legal disputes related to web scraping.
Found 0 lawsuits
Realtor Github Repos
Find the best open-source scrapers for Realtor on Github. Clone them and start scraping straight away.
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Stars
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Realtor Web Scraping Articles
Find the best web scraping articles for Realtor. Learn how to get started scraping Realtor.
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Realtor Web Scraping Videos
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