How to build a real estate website: 4 examples

Entrepreneurs today are increasingly pushed to digitize their businesses, and the world of real estate is no exception. From an agent offering virtual tours to a property manager with a host of buildings in their portfolio, an online presence is essential for any type of real estate business. 

But what makes many of these real estate websites so unique is the array of feature-rich attributes, which often includes special tools and settings for lead generation, featured property listings, and more. So if you want to launch a website for your real estate business, it helps to see some of these features in action.

4 real estate website examples

Find some inspiration for your real estate website project from these standout examples.

1. Compass

Compass

This nationally acclaimed real estate agency puts the home search front and center. Visitors immediately see a search field that allows them to look up properties to buy or rent by city, neighborhood, ZIP code, specific addresses, school district, or listing agent. From there, they can sort their options by price, amenities, days on market, and other essential information. Those who register get the added incentive of saving their listings and leaving comments on listings for agents.

2. REM Residential

Rem Residential

This New York City-based property management company serves a dual purpose: to market to potential property owners and to make important tasks easier for residents. Visitors to their website can quickly gain an understanding of what services REM Residential offers to condos, co-ops, and other types of multifamily properties. They feature testimonials from happy customers as well as an FAQ that covers information about the company’s properties and services. Residents of a property managed by REM Residential simply log in on the home page to access a portal for their building.

3. RE/MAX

RE/MAX

This international real estate agency also makes property searches the main focus of its website, allowing visitors to search by any number of location-based criteria to start their journey. They can then filter their search results for more specifics. For those who are browsing options, RE/MAX provides ready-made categories like new listings, open houses, and luxury properties.

The feature-rich homepage offers plenty of content to explore, including a portal to the blog that covers multiple real estate topics in depth. RE/MAX also include calls to action to help you find an agent and specific sections for international property searches. 

4. The Zamir Group

Zamir Group

Based in northern New Jersey, The Zamir Group is a real estate team affiliated with the Keller Williams agency. Led by agent Zohar “Zack” Zamir, this website puts the listings search at the top, similar to other real estate agency websites. But unlike those websites, The Zamir Group immediately puts the agents on the team at the forefront, quickly tying a face and a name to the listings the visitor is about to explore.

How to build your real estate website

With some fresh ideas in mind, it’s time to get to work creating your real estate website. These general steps can help guide you through the process.

1. Decide which features you need. A real estate website with tens of thousands of listings has different website technical needs than a boutique real estate investment firm. Knowing what you’ll need now can save a lot of time down the road.
   
2. Choose how you’re going to build your website. Do you want to create it yourself or work with a developer? This makes a difference in the platform you choose.

3. Secure your domain and hosting. Every website needs an address and a “home” online where content can be placed. If you’re going the free website builder route, the domain and hosting will come along with the package you buy. Otherwise, you’ll have to make these essential purchases separately and then connect them. Finding the perfect domain can be tough, so if you’re having any trouble, refer to our guide on how to choose a real estate domain.
   
4. Decide how you’ll upload your listings. For some smaller agencies, it’s doable to add the listings yourself as they become available, creating a landing page that features beautiful photos and rich details. For larger agencies, it may be more practical to pull listings from a central service and have them auto-populate on your website.

5. Incorporate local SEO. Local SEO refers to efforts you’ll take to rank organically for a certain city or region. This can be a particularly effective tactic in real estate, as it’s such a geography-driven service. Consider keywords and content that match the areas you’re targeting.
   
6. Don’t forget the mobile view. Close to two-thirds of millennials used their smartphones to look at home listings. A well-formatted and appealing mobile view improves the user experience and makes it a pleasure to keep scrolling through the information on your real estate website.

Key features of a real estate website

Some of the most common, essential features of a real estate website include:

• Property listings: These listings drive visitors to your real estate website. Laid out with attractive photos and important information, they are the gateway to the visitor’s home search journey, whether they’re looking to buy, rent, or invest.

• Advanced search filtering: Visitors need an easy way to narrow down their options by price, location, number of bedrooms, and other features. In addition to these advanced filtering options, consider offering two ways of displaying search results: as a map and as a list.

• Contact info forms: Leads are the name of the game when it comes to real estate, so websites need a place to gather visitor email addresses or phone numbers. Sometimes, collecting this information will “unlock” a certain feature on the website, further incentivizing folks to register.

• About Us page: An About page serves an important purpose on a real estate website. It’s where you share the story of the “why” behind your agency, marketplace, or investing company. This information is key to building a relationship with your potential customers and clients.

• Team bios: Buyers and sellers want to know that their transaction is in good hands. Bios offer a chance for each agent to personalize their connection to the real estate industry and begin to build trust between themselves and their potential clients.

Types of real estate websites

The category of “real estate website” covers a wide swath of business types. Here are a few of the most common real estate website examples.

Property listings

Have you ever looked at photos of a home for sale, viewed its details, or watched videos about a specific property online? Then you’ve likely stumbled upon a property listing website. A property listing website displays all homes for sale or rent in your desired area. You can filter these results by price, size, amenities, location, and endless more options. If something strikes your fancy, you can submit a request to speak to an agent or book a tour through that site. Popular examples of property listing websites are Realtor and Zoopla.

Agency website

An agency website is utilized as a marketing tool for an entire real estate agency. While property listings are at the heart of an agency website, you’ll find additional content that talks about the agency’s mission and vision as a company, an About Us page, bios of all their agents, contact information, and additional marketing material like a blog.

Prudential, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams are examples of agencies with a presence across the U.S. and even around the world. These agencies use their websites to display current listings and agent bios while promoting the agency as a whole.

prudential.com.au

Real estate team website

A single agent or a group of agents may opt to create their own website, even if they’re affiliated with a larger agency. This group, called a real estate team, works together to help clients find their dream homes. They often specialize in a certain area, region, or neighborhood, and have in-depth knowledge of the quality of life in those areas. These websites feature property listings and agency information just like an agency website, but they place an additional focus on the team.

Real estate marketplace

A real estate marketplace acts as the “middleman” between property owners and buyers. Through a real estate marketplace, a property owner or their agent can list a property and manage bookings, while sellers can view properties from many sources in one place. On some real estate marketplaces, you may also find handy tools like mortgage calculators that can help you determine if you have enough money to purchase a certain property. Zillow and Redfin and two popular examples of real estate marketplaces.

Real estate investor website

A real estate investor website has different goals than a marketplace or an agency, as their target audience is not homebuyers or renters. A real estate investor aims to market their services and available opportunities to those looking to earn passive income by investing in real estate. An investor can browse available opportunities and search by desired property type and other conditions. Additionally, these websites typically include content used to market the investor group itself as a trustworthy authority in the space so investors know their money is safe with this agency. 

Property manager website

Property managers play an important role in the day-to-day operations of a multi-family dwelling like an apartment building, and property management websites help with the management of those tasks. In addition to marketing the property manager as reliable and trustworthy, this type of website serves as a central portal for residents.

Why do real estate companies need websites?

It may seem obvious why any company needs a website, but professionals involved in the real estate world can particularly benefit from a well-designed, fast, and informative website in the following ways:

• A website helps real estate agents reach potential buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors, 97% of home buyers use the internet at some point in their search to buy a home. Furthermore, 65% of younger millennials use a mobile device to look for properties. Simply put, real estate agents that rely on classified ads will miss a significant portion of their target market.
  
• A website can help manage day-to-day operations. From processing rental payments to requesting service, a website helps streamline all the essential tasks necessary to properly manage the upkeep of a property. This is helpful both to the company that needs to keep these tasks streamlined and a resident who needs a simple way to submit and complete requests.
  
• A website makes any real estate transaction more trustworthy. Buying and selling real estate is a big deal. When there’s so much money on the line, buyers and sellers alike need to feel confident in their choice. A real estate website is the perfect place to showcase testimonials, case studies, more information about the brand and how they brand themselves, and other tidbits that can help build consumer trust and manage reputation.
  
• A website reaches more people. Gone are the days when real estate professionals relied solely on the classifieds to reach their audience. A website opens up opportunities to a global group hungry to buy property or invest their money in real estate.

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