How much will it cost to develop a decent real estate website?

I got a very, very decent domain name in that area... Can someone enlighten me how much time and money can it take to make a neat website? How much of help a decent domain name can give ?

 

My husband and I use Go Daddy for our business and we didn't hire anyone. Our site isn't online right now, as we are working on it. We're doing it ourselves, and you might be able to as well. It's very easy to use and no programming is needed. I don't have the exact figures, but they are very reasonable, and often offer discounts.

 

You can buy generic pre-built templates that can do what you need if you want something fairly simple. Custom work will always depend on the job but it's probably simple database work, $10-25 an hour.

 

There are many free templates to get you started, and you can always upgrade to a custom template later on. Have you worked with WordPress before? If not, then you might want to pay someone to get you set up with a template and all necessary plugins.

Having a custom theme isn't 100% necessary, especially in the beginning. Just make sure to load in all the content and focus on the on-page SEO. Once you get the traffic and it makes you some $$$ then it's time to invest in a custom theme for sure. PM me if you need help setting up WordPress.

 

Agree with cronik.
You can find some good themes at WordPress.org (free) or buy it from premium themes markets such as ThemeForest.net. You can find some good plugin as well on WordPress.org.
Depending on your exact requirement, look for the right themes. You might require just a site with a contact form.

Useful links:
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/columbus
http://profiles.wordpress.org/Placester/

 

Thank you guys. The main question for me right now is where to draw all the info about new property listings. Do MLS-like agencies let you upload their database ( like at realtor.com , zillow, yahoo, etc? )

 

If you are a licensed real estate agent and a REALTOR you should be a member of your local association. You can get the data from your MLS using a RETS feed. You will need some programming to show this on your website.

There are also services that will take your MLS data and show it on your website for around $40 per month. That is the easiest way to get MLS data on your website. Your MLS might also have some sort of system that will give your website users an interface to search your MLS for data such as a portal. You sign up users, they search for property and you can track what they are looking for.

If you do not want to do your own realty website there are a number of companies that will provide one for you such as point2agent and others. You can easily set it up to show with your URL.

Depending on who you are associated with, Century 21, Keller Williams, etc. they will provide you with a branded generic web site.

If you give some more details of your situation and your budget, I can give you better direction. If you are outside the US there are other problems and solutions.

Good luck...

 

There are many ways you can go about building yourself a realestate web site..

You can get a fully customizable web site / template and pay in the hundreds and possibly thousands to a designer / programmer and they can developer a whole site fitting to your needs and requirements along with wants.

Or you can go with wordpress blog installation software and purchase a decent price theme to use or go with a free theme as stated above.
I am not sure how to go about getting a retail site how another member suggested but you should look more into that before going with anything..

Best of luck , also godaddy isn't as good as everyone thinks they are really. Trust me just search reviews about them you'll see what I mean. They are good for domain names.

 

But I am not an agent. I am just a guy with a website looking to facilitate real estate search and transaction costs for other people. So what do I do then? look elsewhere, getting something craigslist-like?

 

It could cost you $100 or less. I use fiverr to outsource my work. There are some really good web developers/designers. I use fiverr users "entpress" and "payworks" to create my pages and do all the extra stuff.

 

Dont go for custom development for real estate site, it would cost you a lot depending on features list. I would recommend you to use free existing script.

 

One place i really have fallen in love with is BRILLIANTAGENT.COM. They are a complete web based platform that has all solutions very cheap. They have custom templates that offer optimization. I would definitely check them out they are pretty cheap to!

 

The real estate search that you want to do is going to require some data. The best place to get that data is your local MLS which requires you to be a REALTOR to access. Maybe you have another source for the search...

 

If you're looking to create a legitimate site I wouldn't bother with templates or do-it-yourself sites. Hire a proper developer/designer and find a real estate site with an API (which will allow you to pull their data) or something similar.

 

There are a MILLION variables.

How complex is the site?

How much existing data do you have?

What type of features do you want?

It's literally impossible to give you a quote without additional information.

(If you want a really cheapo real estate site it could be $50. If you want a very advanced site with lots of backend database development it could cost well over $10,000).

 

You can find php real estate scripts online for as low as $25 and as high as $600. You can buy a relatively good php script for as low as $100 and if you have some experience with cpanel, php and MySQL you can install and make it run in no time.

 

If I were you I would get started right away putting up your initial framework. That way you can develop as you go and slowly get presence with google. It`s a slow process getting ranked afterall.

 

depends on the name. Send me a PM with your domain name, I will give you a better appraisal

 

It depends on what kind of functions/design you want to have for your site.

It is hard to give a general price as different people have different standard. The best is
you to find a bunch of websites that you like, and note with their designs and their functions then talk to a programmer or developer for quote.

 

@thesickearth In addition to my comment above, I have also tried point2. Its a complete package shall I say. You should choose a membership package then you will be provided tools to create agent and property website, listing syndication as well as lead management system. Please check them at point2.com