How many websites does one industry need? The web is littered with real estate websites, most of which are either poor imitations or just plain unnecessary. So which ones are the wheat, and which the chaff (or is it vice versa)? Which ones are the real thing, and which are superfluous? How many websites do you need as a real estate professional?

Five, to be exact, and here they are, in no particular order:

Useful Real Estate Website 1 – Redfin

Redfin offers an interesting supplement or alternative to the MLS as a marketing platform, along with a great forum specific to some of the most active real estate markets in the country.

Useful Real Estate Website 2 – Active Rain

Active Rain is easily the best real estate networking and blogging website on the internet. With a massive user base and the best real estate blogs around (look no further than this outrageous real estate humor blog), Active Rain actually makes networking fun.

Useful Real Estate Website 3 – EZ Landlord Forms

As their name suggests, EZ Landlord Forms specializes in landlord forms, with their crown jewel being a custom rental agreement builder for all 50 states. Beyond just landlord forms, they also have a great online property management software system, and state-specific resources and landlord-tenant law summaries.

Useful Real Estate Website 4 – Craigslist

Most of us have used Craigslist to buy a cheap futon or ski rack, but no website offers more bang for your buck when it comes to advertising rental properties or real estate for sale.

Useful Real Estate Website 5 – NuWire Investor

NuWire Investor is among the best non-traditional real estate news, how-to articles, investing ideas, and other market information.

While there are probably more sites that are useful, depending on your specialization, the fact is it's easy to waste time digging through the mountain of useless real estate websites. Time is money, as my grand-daddy used to say, and that is doubly true if you're a self-employed real estate professional.

Happy surfing!