Is mls.com a good place to look for houses?

i'm a college student ( therefore newbie @ buying houses) and like everyone else i wanna move to los angelas but i don't want to fall into the trap of losing money through paying sky high rent for an apartment. the only kind of credit i have is student loans and a little bank credit card through a federal credit union (but i hardly use it). umm....is mls.com free cuz i don't wanna sign up then be billed for something a month later. are there any other good websites for looking for a house that's FREE?