Dec 2, 2014 2 min read

Movoto, an online real estate brokerage based in San Mateo, Calif,, is bringing its home-buying experience to Pittsburgh.

The company said Tuesday on its online site that the move is as part of a $20 million expansion to become the first brokerage to operate nationwide.

As of November, Movoto is now in a dozen new markets and its growth will continue into January, covering 30 new Multiple Listing Service regions, including West Penn Multi-List.

Prospective home buyers in Pittsburgh can now use Movoto to research homes for sale in the area, helping guide them to make an informed home purchasing decision.

Buyers also have free access to the Movoto Certified Agent network of top local real estate agents.

According to the company, its certified agents are hand-selected and can never pay to be certified.

Movoto said the arrangement differentiates its from other real estate sites including Zillow and Trulia that promote the highest bidder.

“Movoto firmly believes that home-buyers need to be paired with the best agents to make purchasing a home as easy as possible,” the company said.

This year, more than 60 million U.S. residents have used Movoto to search for information about cities and towns across the nation. These tools include unique and useful content, such as Movoto’s ranking of best places to live in Pennsylvania.

Movoto said its expansion will also aid consumers in Michigan, Kentucky, Idaho, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, California, Ohio and South Carolina.

Movoto has sold more than 16,000 homes across the U.S. since its founding in 2006 and is the only online brokerage to offer listings in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

For more information, visitwww.movoto.com/about/.