Before you scrape a portal, ask whether you can license the data instead. Here's how MLS feeds work, when they beat scraping, and where proxies still fit.
If you qualify, the RESO Web API (the modern standard that replaced RETS) and IDX feeds are the best real-estate data source — structured, authorized, and free of anti-bot. Scrape public portals (Zillow, Redfin, Rightmove) only for coverage a feed can't give you — and then over residential/mobile IPs. Most serious pipelines combine both.
US MLS data has largely standardized on the RESO Web API — an OData-based interface that superseded the legacy RETS protocol and gives consistent fields across participating MLSs. Combined with IDX (Internet Data Exchange) feeds, licensed parties get clean, structured listings without fighting anti-bot. If you're an agent, broker, or approved vendor, this is the path of least resistance.
Scraping enters where feeds fall short: coverage you aren't licensed for, portal-only signals (like consumer-facing price estimates or time-on-market), or cross-region collection. There, you're back to the portal-scraping rules — real browser, trusted IP reputation, geo-targeting — within each site's terms and the law.
| RESO / IDX feed | Portal scraping | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Licensed (agent/broker/vendor) | Public pages, per site terms |
| Anti-bot | None (authorized) | Heavy (Imperva, IP blocks) |
| Structure | Standardized (OData/RESO) | HTML/JSON you parse yourself |
| Proxies | Not really needed | Residential/mobile, geo-targeted |
| Best for | Core licensed listing data | Coverage gaps, portal-only signals |
The RESO Web API is the modern, standardized way to access MLS data, defined by the Real Estate Standards Organization. It replaced the older RETS protocol and exposes listings in a consistent OData-based format across participating MLSs. If you are a licensed party (agent, broker, or approved tech vendor), it is the cleanest, most reliable source — no anti-bot, structured data, official terms.
If you can license it, use the feed. IDX (Internet Data Exchange) feeds and the RESO Web API give structured, authorized data with far lighter defenses than consumer portals like Zillow. Scrape public portals only when you cannot get a feed for the coverage you need, or to supplement feed data with portal-only signals — and then over residential/mobile IPs within each site's terms.
Less so for the feed itself, which is authenticated and authorized. Proxies matter when you supplement feeds with public-portal data (Zillow/Redfin/Rightmove) that the feed does not cover, or when you collect across regions that need local IPs. Many real-estate data pipelines combine a licensed feed with geo-targeted public collection.
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