In addition to what @William Simpson posted I would add the following platforms: - Roomies.com - Spareroom.com- Roomster.com Beware, as some of these are not free, but they can greatly complement the free ones already mentioned. 

If you just want the investment benefits of real estate, consider passive real estate investments like syndications, notes, funds, and crowdfunding platforms.

Hello All,
I was wondering if any of you can comment on Batchleads vs Flipfinder.ai   

.- Set up systems to regularly keep in touch with (and add value to) the folks you connect with whether they're local contacts or virtual contacts from BP.Happy to see you here... looking fwd to seeing how the BiggerPockets platform contributes to your journey.All the best,Abel

So many just think they can post on various social media platforms and build their biz, off the back of those that have already done it, not going to happen.

I'm fully licensed agent and tbh, I've seen some things where agents barely make any effort on properties, so yeah I hope some get out of the business and leave it the market share to the ones who actually know about real estate.I do think Redfin/Zillow and big platforms are waiting on something like this to happen to fully take control of the market which IMO is more scare then the latter.

@Lane KawaokaWould you not consider it as a potential starting platform?

Or, if it's really necessary for the sake of argument, I'll bring my best source @ Pemco to the platform to confirm this template.

At Real Estate Skills, we’ve witnessed and participated in successful deals closed without ever accessing the official MLS, utilizing platforms such as Zillow and Redfin.We strive to ensure that our interactions uphold the highest standards of integrity and transparency.

I used there platform/CRM to get the place under contract but went about it my own way to find the buyer, therefore the speed of the closing was not representative of the companies ability.