This powerful quote by the popular writer, Paul Cookson, describes perfectly the importance of websites in today’s times. And in an industry like real estate, which works majorly on trust due to its high ticket transactions, having an online presence can help in number of ways. People who build a real estate website in today’s times have an advantage over people who sit back doing nothing.
What’s more surprising??? About 97% of people in the USA already consider online real estate websites before making a property purchase/rent decision.
Therefore, in this drastic change, everyone needs to be updated and catch the trend to avoid going out of business. Every realtor or agency needs to build a real estate website to have an online presence. This article is a complete guide on how to create a real estate website and includes major topics such as types of real estate websites, their business model, & some top home buying websites.
A real estate website is a platform for home sellers, buyers, agents, and realtors to buy/sell or rent their properties. The platform can be categorized further into different categories as per the functions it performs, but the object of the deal will be property. There are a lot of benefits to building a real estate website, such as better reach, more conversions, brand awareness, etc., for a realtor.
Image source – fitsmallbusiness.com
Zillow is the most popular real estate website globally and is a one stop solution for all your real estate needs. Statistically, Zillow has been downloaded over 10 million times on Play Store with rating of 4.7 out of 5. On Apple Store, six million people have rated the app 4.8 out of 5.
Interestingly, the app doesn’t charge any fees or charge from buyers & sellers. The earning model is advertisement revenue charged from lenders, agents, and realtors. If you are thinking to build a real estate website marketplace, then Zillow is a good bet for you.
Realtor.com is one of the top real estate websites that has used extensive technology on the platform. The platform lets you search & find homes and other real estate properties. Additionally, you can compare the property based on different measures, including noise levels, videos, finance available, calculator, etc.
Realtor is available on both Android & iOS and is now operated by Move Inc. The company is operating since 1996 and has an impressive rating on both the operating systems.
Acquired by Zillow in 2015 for $2.5 billion US dollars, Trulia has its back with best real estate websites behind it. The site is known to provide accurate data and updates the property details with 24 hours. The platform is known to let users know the neighborhood. Trulia lets users rate the neighborhood, including things they like and things they don’t like.
The app is free to use and is available on both Android as well as App Store. With over 233,000 reviews on Play Store and 1.3 million ratings on Apple Store, Trulia is one of the best real estate websites in USA.
Homes.com has a list of 120,000 properties listed, majorly taken from multiple listing services. A good feature is the ability to view the value history of a property in an area. The tool aids in solving the property valuation issue.
Homes.com also allows you to browse through the local shops, malls, schools, and hospitals as well as mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, etc. The platform is free to use for anyone and is featured on Android as well as iOS.
Founded by David Selingar, Michael Dougherty, and David Eraker in 2004, RedFin is one of the top real estate websites in USA. The app has several latest features including 3D home tour to let users understand the architecture. The company claims to save over $8400 per person on average after using their agents. If you want some inspiration from a UI/UX rich platform and thinking to build a real estate website, then RedFin is a good choice for you.
The app is available on iOS & android and uses the latest technology to enhance the process for sellers and customers. The platform has an excellent UI/UX that perfectly engages users and converts them to leads.
A real estate website will tap a whole new group of people who are inclined toward the online world. Most prominent real estate buyers now are millennials, and according to a study, millennials prefer searching for properties online over conventional ways. An optimized website generates way more traffic than a high-class office nowadays.
Another reason to create a real estate website is to make people aware of your brand. Home buyers’ top priority for any agent or real estate dealer is trust, and a good website helps show it. One can deliver his message to the mass with quality, design, and in a better way with a website.
RE agents invest a lot of time in commuting to the properties with clients, doing all the paperwork, and generating leads the conventional way. By including good quality property photos or a 360 ° view of the property, RE agents will be able to focus more on important activities and save time. A website can also be used to generate good-quality leads through emails or forms on the home page.
Real estate marketplaces act as an intermediary between hotels/property owners and guests. Property owners list their sites on the platform, and guests come on the platform to book the sites. A marketplace requires several features like a dashboard, photo uploading, a booking system, payment integration, etc. Some of the top examples of real estate marketplaces are Oyo, Airbnb, & Zillow.
A real estate investment website is not for property owners or buyers but for investors. It is a platform to attract investors for real estate projects and buy a share in the project. The investors can then earn passive income from the investment. An investor website generally includes a number of projects, and a user can choose any of them.
Property management sites work for home & property owners, helping them with operations & administration of the site. Real estate managers’ business relies majorly on trust, and a good way to build it is by creating a real estate website for clients.
A Real estate aggregator site gathers all the data and listings from other real estate sites and shows them in one place, just like an aggregator. It is a better & convenient option for buyers or people looking for rented properties as it facilitates a smooth comparison of price, photos, location, size, and condition in one place. Some examples of real estate aggregators are Apartments.com and LoopNet.
An agency website works well for individual real estate builders or a group of agents. It lists individual projects for people and is helpful in making people aware online. The site contains photos, a 360 ° view of the property, videos, a contact number, and a site plan. The site gives a more personalized experience to users and is garnering a lot of popularity these days.
Getting a user registered is a significant source of data and warm leads for any real estate website. Most real estate sites undervalue the importance of the registration process and miss a big chunk of their leads. When a user registers on a site, his information is immediately shared with the agent, and he can then follow up to convert the user.
Users should have the option to look at a property at the location of their choice. This can be followed up by providing the required filters to the user to narrow down his search according to his requirements. Apart from filters, an option to sort according to the user’s requirement is essential. Users might want to sort the listing according to their choice, like by price, newest/oldest listings, or most photos. Notably, some most common filters are –
According to a study, more than 90% of users find property photos useful when looking for a home to buy/rent. It is the easiest and most affordable way for people to visualize your property from their homes. Furthermore, with the help of AR/VR & 360 ° photography, it has become easier than ever for users to visualize the property and the house. If you build a real estate website with a site visualization feature, it will help you stand out in the crowd.
This feature is important for a real estate aggregator site and allows the users to get an approximate estimate of the property. The value is based on several factors, including location, property size, site age, and many more. A property value estimation site is great for customers to get the property price and building a real estate website with such feature builds trust & confidence among users.
The feature allows a real estate agent/seller to verify their profile and build trust in the minds of buyers. There are a lot of ways to get the profile verified, such as phone, email verification, social media log-ins, or a combination of them. It is an essential feature as real estate is a high-ticket industry and requires a lot of trust in every transaction.
Advertising or paid listings is one of the most popular and prominent revenue-earning models for many real estate websites. Real estate aggregators promote listings of paid users, which automatically attracts more users and charges the publishers mostly based on CPC (cost per click), CPA (cost per acquisition, or impressions. Zillow is a prime real estate site that uses this model.
It is the second most popular business model for real estate websites where the platform offers the core features for free to users but charges them for some additional features. Some examples of additional features include showing the contact number of the agent, evaluating property value, viewing full property information, or showing listings that aren’t public.
Some real estate websites also work on a subscription model where the site charges a fixed monthly or yearly amount from the user to offer extra services. This is unlike the freemium package, where the user has the option to pay separately for individual services.
This model allows the sites to charge a commission on every transaction between the buyer and the seller. This is the least popular revenue model for the real estate site as both parties connect outside the platform to transact, and the platform loses track of it.
Fun Fact – In 2023, the market value of US real estate sales brokerage industry is $223 billion approximately.
The first step to building a real estate website is researching the industry & studying the competitors. This phase is a discovery stage where we learn about the market and product development, dive into the industry, search for prospective niches, and study some popular real estate websites and understand their weak & strong points.
There are a lot of real estate website types, and you need to choose one as per your needs & requirements. The most popular types are –
The next step is to get domain & hosting registered in your name for the site. The step looks easy at first but can be tiresome. Your domain name should be easy, expressive, relatable, short, and, most importantly, available. Choosing a reliable hosting provider is also important as it affects the site speed, site backup data, and security of the platform.
Once we’re done with the domain & hosting, it’s time to get the front end of the site done. The site UI/UX plays a crucial role in converting and capturing audience attention. A real estate website is built for three major users, i.e., agents, homebuyers, and home sellers. It is also important to make your site optimized for mobile and web, both with smooth navigation and easy usability. Make sure to hire a good real estate web developer for the platform. One can also go for a real estate website builder if you’re a little tech-savvy.
The next step is to build the real estate website’s backend. This includes programming all the functionalities, designs, and features. Once the technical specification is issued to your real estate website developer, they will choose the required tech stack for the platform. You can also build your own real estate website using builders if you are looking for a basic site. You can take some inspiration from these real estate app ideas to get clarity about your platform.
Once we’re done with developing the website, it’s time to test the website’s functionality and user experience. The site should be able to deliver a smooth experience to the users and should be reviewed by a website quality tester. Make sure to get the site properly tested when you build a real estate website through a mobile app development company.
The next step is to add content on the site to attract users and boost site visibility. The major content for a real estate website is property listings but videos, blogs, website content, slideshows, and other content play equal importance. One can also add contact forms to target interested users or a log-in portal to attract regular clients. Content plays a major role in user conversion rate also.
Now that your real estate website is complete, it’s time to launch the site for the general public. It includes a cycle of interaction with real users and captures feedback from them to improve the site. All the possible suggested improvements and bugs are implemented and tested.
Popular real estate websites show search results based on size, location, and price. However, with technological advancements such as in AI & ML, search results can be improved based on personality traits, tastes, values, or user preferences. It can also predict future market valuations of a property using data & past data.
Big Data technology involves collecting user data from the website and analyzing & refining it to use to empower other platforms. Real estate website companies like Zillow use big data on their sites to improve user experience. One can provide users with information about the crime rate, number of schools, number of hospitals, and information about the neighborhood using databases.
AR/VR is the most popular tech trend in the real estate industry and enables the best user experience for users, especially home buyers. COVID-19 also brought a wave of virtual home tours, and a tech trend to make the content more engaging emerged. VR/AR also saves the spending time for users on the property.
The cost to develop a real estate website depends upon several factors, such as the developer’s location, the complexity of the platform required, the scope of work, and the tech stack chosen. The cost difference between using an already-made template and developing a site from scratch differs. Even if you go for the best real estate website builders, it will not have all the functionalities you need.
Further, if you go on to hire a professional real estate website developer; it will cost you around $30-50/hour. Therefore, a full-fledged website with complex features can cost you around $30,000 – $50,000. Notably, if you want a simpler version yet a customized website, the cost might go down to $15,000-$20,000.
Konstant Infosolutions can help you create a real estate website at an affordable cost. The company has a broad & diverse experience and is one of the best web development company in India. With over 250+ employees and 20+ years in the industry, we have an in-depth knowledge of the industry and have delivered dozens of successful products & platforms to clients. Notably, Konstant has been awarded as a top web development company in India by several publications and is a top-rated firm on sites like Goodfirms, ITfirms, Clutch, Business of Apps, and many more.
Today, every realtor should build a real estate website to be a part of the digital revolution. Having an online presence will only boost the business of an agency or realtor. However, it is of utmost importance to hire a top real estate website development company, like Konstant Infosolutions, to get a good website real estate developed like Zillow or Trulia.
Ans. It depends upon your requirement if you want to go for a website builder or a custom-made solution. Best real estate website builders like, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, etc. are good options to consider if you are on a limited budget, but if you want a custom-made site with better functionality, choose a good website development company like Konstant Infosolutions.
Ans. It takes about 350-500 hours approximately to build a real estate website. However, the figure is a rough idea and depends completely upon website complexity.
Ans. A real estate website can be built on many technologies, but the recommended ones are Java, JavaScript, React.js, Swift, and Ruby on Rails.
Manish Jain is the co-founder and Managing Director at Konstant Infosolutions. He is responsible for the overall operations of the company and has played a major role in bringing Konstant up from its humble beginnings and, with his immense energy and drive, transforming it into a globally trusted name in IT solutions.
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