To verify the reliability of Trulia's data we ran various MLS searches that confirmed the accuracy of their numbers concerning median market price and number of sales.

However, when it came to providing meaningful information on recent sales and "hot" areas, Trulia flunked in our opinion. We picked the Majors neighborhood in Lely Resort to compare Trulia's information to MLS information.

Trulia showed only three recent sales in the Majors neighborhood, several sales in other Lely Resort neighborhoods and several sales in completely different communities. The multiple listing shows eight sales in the Majors neighborhood for 2010.

While it may have some merit to look at pricing in surrounding communities, it is more appropriate to compare homes in the same neighborhood. To illustrate the point: One sale listed is in Eagle Creek, a golf community like Lely Resort. But there are major differences: Eagle Creek requires every residence to have either a golf or social membership. A potential buyer is looking at either $60,000 (60% equity) in initiation fees for the golf membership and $7880 in annual dues or $25,000 for the social/sports membership plus $5,000 in annual dues.

This compares to a $6,000 initiation fee (fully refundable) and $2,300 annual dues for the social/sports membership in Lely's Players' Club. Averaging the green fees you could play Lely's two public golf courses every 2.75 days year round to spend the equivalent of Eagle Creek's annual dues.

Another issue was the discrepancy in living area. Trulia shows our Major's listing with a square foot price of $164 based on a living area of 5,431 square feet. This information is incorrect. Our listing has 3,495 square feet living area which comes to a square foot price of $256. A cross-check of several other properties on Trulia's list revealed that none of the living areas or square foot prices were accurate. Our listing would be a real bargain compared to one of Trulia's sales with 3,885 square feet living area and a sales price of $960,000.

Trulia's heat map supposedly shows the most popular areas for home buyers. While it may be true that most potential buyers look in Naples' coastal areas, more buy in North, East and central Naples than in the Naples Beach areas.

In summary, Trulia is a great tool to get a first overview over any particular area. It's search function allows the input of keywords and allows to narrow down a search better than other sites.

But we would not rely on Trulia's search engine to truly find every available listing let alone rely on their information to determine if the listing price of a property is appropriate. Several customers wanted to see listings they had found on consumer websites, only to find out that their dream home was pending or sold. Not all listings show as a short sale or foreclosure that fall into this segment.