Where every row comes from

The license record comes first. Every state licenses its real estate agents and publishes who they are. That record is the spine of each file: name, license type and number, status, license dates and the brokerage the agent works under. Only active licenses go into a file.

Then business contact details. Some states publish email or phone themselves. For the rest we add the details agents publish for clients on brokerage and agent websites that allow collection, email addresses inferred from a brokerage's known address pattern, and matches from licensed data suppliers. Each step only works on agents still missing a detail.

Then verification. Every email passes through 2 independent verification services, and only addresses both accept are kept. Each row records its source and the date it was last checked. Opt-outs are removed, the file goes through a quality check, and only then is a state released.

Every month, again. Each state is rebuilt monthly, so new licensees appear, departures drop out and changed details are picked up.

We do not take data from consumer listing portals such as Zillow, Realtor.com or Homes.com, from any site whose terms forbid collection, or from any site that blocks automated access. We do not log in to anything to collect data, get around CAPTCHAs or disguise where requests come from.

Where a state's law limits commercial use of its licensee list, we do not use that list as a marketing source, and agents there come only from other permitted sources. We do not collect home addresses on purpose, and we never fill a missing detail with a guess.