Real estate has always been in great demand on the market. Who does not dream of their housing or working remotely in different parts of the world renting accommodation? A flat or house can be a nice fortress everyone wants to have. So, 'how to build a real estate website' may be the top business query in different search engines in 2022.

Many experts are optimistic about the significant growth of the real estate industry for the next few years. Over 7 million houses will be bought in the USA in 2023, and purchasing power will only increase (there are already 'burn spots' where the demand for real estate has reached its peak).

In our article we want to talk about the core functionality real estate website should have and the impact of these features on the cost of the project.

Core Features of Real Estate Website That Influence the Cost

After the downturn of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need to find housing has significantly increased along with purchasing activity. In October 2021, about 36 million users visited Zillow in the USA. In Europe, real estate sites have never been deprived of attention, and sites such as eBay and Immobilien almost always break traffic records.

If companies need to know how to build a real estate website with a large loyal audience, they don't need to waste their time. Now is the best time to start your real estate venture.

So, let's start our real estate features adventure with the basic functionality.

Functionality plays a unique role since it directly affects the interaction with customers and the website's revenue as a whole. To describe the critical functionality of real estate sites for companies, we have studied global market players and are ready to share information.

Registration

Many sites prefer to give free access to the listing to ordinary visitors. However, with the help of registration on the platform, certain hidden functions are added for many people, including access to correspondence with non-property owners or realtors. Many companies, for example, booking after registration and confirmed use of the platform, create a bonus system for users.

Log in: Trulia

Registration is the first and most important thing that an entrepreneur should pay attention to.

The improved registration function is already one of the best business ideas for optimizing the website, as it helps to get the correct input at the early stages of interaction.

Their email addresses are instantly stored in the website database when customers register. With such information in your CRM, you will create targeted advertising and an email marketing campaign with new products, promotions, or limited offers. In addition, companies will better understand who the target audience is, their preferences, expectations, etc.

The primary advice about registration is to make it as simple, fast, and comfortable as possible at the initial stage. It is essential that users quickly log in via Google, Facebook or Instagram. If the company registers only manually, it may scare away users.

Search

The second most crucial element is the search bar and its filters. Without a generalized search, replacing it only with an address bar, it will be difficult for companies to get a location because users will get too large a list.

Search panel: Zillow

Next, users should see simple and convenient selection options to sort the lists. At this stage, you should think about a simple but functional design, make filters not too simple and at the same time not too sophisticated. If clients search for a long time, they will likely be annoyed with their time.

What is necessary to include in the search:

• Price (from and to)
• Bedrooms and bathrooms (number)
• Type of house (at least two or three options)
• Square feet
• Lot size
• Year of construction
• Photos (sometimes, the property owner can add lots without photos on real estate sites, but this is not the most attractive option)
• Sort by (price, date of addition, relevance of the offer)

It's also good to allow users to save search settings and add lists to favorites.

Listing System

Building a satisfying real estate website is pretty simple - companies need a map of the desired object and a convenient list of properties. Sometimes companies choose a structured way to view properties - for example, a table and a short description with a photo.

Sometimes companies choose a structured way to view properties - for example, a table and a short description with a photo.

Creating a beautiful grid is what businesses need to think about. It is essential to make the listing not long and large-scale, and not too small.

Listing: Trulia

Property Listing Page

The property listing page should not be overloaded with information.

As a rule, the ad page should have:

• Images of real estate objects
• A map with a pinned address
• Facts and features
• Person or real estate company to contact with details (via the website, email, or mobile phone)

Although the real estate business is actively growing and developing: the global real estate market is predicted to grow to $3741B this year with an annual growth rate of more than 10%) to become competitive, companies need to have additional features. It is they who should attract visitors to their side.

Property Listing Page: Trulia

Additional features for the property page, such as:

• Apartment plan
• Building overview (using video or 3D model)
• Description of infrastructure nearby (school, kindergarten, supermarket, transport)
• Ratings and reviews of the area (although recently, American real estate sites have actively avoided this option to exclude discrimination of districts and increase profitability)
• Price trends (fluctuations in real estate prices over the past six months)

Property Posting

To create a successful real estate website, it is necessary to add the opportunity for realtors or private companies to add their real estate and managers. Adding real estate to the site should not be a lengthy process. It should include:

• Property and an address
• Cost and photos
• Necessary facts
• Contact information

Realtors who place a property should freely access the information they add - for example, to edit or further refine the data. To avoid fraud or false facts, the site should regulate the relationship with real estate owners.

A good option would be to

• provide documents on the ownership of the house or a realtor's license
• use a ban on posting low-quality photos
• have the inability to hide the actual price of the property

Reviews and Comments

It is impossible to ignore the review system along with evaluation and comments. Reviews and comments can get open feedback from users, improve the platform, and avoid interaction with dishonest homeowners or realtors.

According to many studies, visitors pay attention to ratings and comments when choosing something, especially if it concerns their place of residence, even temporary. It's a good option not to be afraid of nasty comments under the listings because this will immediately boost trust - the website does not hide anything from the visitors.

An excellent real estate website contains a review of property owners (companies), shows their ratings, and allows for evaluating the offer and writing comments.

Development Types for Building a Real Estate Platform

If a company has already decided to create its real estate website, it is necessary to understand how development can be done. There are at least two development options: custom or SaaS solution.

Custom Development

Custom development is a way to create a real estate website from scratch. For example, a customer company comes up with an idea and asks its software vendor to develop a real estate project without using ready-made template solutions. This development is more expensive than a ready-made solution, but it has several advantages:

• uniqueness
• better security
• great functions flexibility
• ability to create complex features

Usually, development should begin with the Discovery Phase, when the team

• works out the project vision
• studies competitors in the market
• explores the necessary and priority functions for the project
• creates design directives and wireframes
• selects the best technical stack for a particular project

Next, the business can create a minimal viable product (MVP) with key functionality or custom development with unique design and technical solutions.

An MVP development of a real estate website can cost from 25 thousand dollars. The price will depend on the size of the project, the chosen technology, the cost of developers, designers, and customer expectations.

SaaS Solution

SaaS development of real estate applications is an opportunity to create a project based on ready-made software serviced by a provider.

SaaS is the easiest way to develop, which allows a business to access a wide range of functionality through a browser or mobile application.

However, the supplier independently manages the application. Usually, companies do not need to download or install any software to work with a website since this solution is cloud-based. Global brands like Slack or Netflix were created with the help of this type of development.

This solution is suitable for those companies that want to release the project to the market faster and are also limited in funds for custom development. A ready-made SaaS solution for real estate starts from 10 thousand dollars.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic is subsiding, global business is rapidly recovering, and the real estate sphere is no exception. At the moment, millions of people are looking for sites to find rental housing and buy.

If companies are thinking about creating their real estate website, do not waste time. However, before starting real estate development, businesses should understand how much the project will cost and its functionality.

With proven real estate vendors, real estate companies will thoroughly analyze the market, develop the best solutions for their projects, and calculate all technical difficulties. Starting an excellent real estate website, do not forget about the development costs since creating the most straightforward website will cost at least 10 thousand dollars.