Simple web site for real estate.

Wants up front creation and setup.

Wants to be able to maintain the site themselves.

Anybody interested whats your rate.

10/11/2006 11:15:55 AM

i would venture to say any decent site for real estate will never be "simple".
The very nature of real estate basically ensures a heavy database backend with lots of data entry forms, complex searching, frequent updates, etc.

That said, there are probably CMS systems that are geared towards real estate sites, and i'm sure there's also plenty of services available for real estate listings (including using someone elses backend but displaying data on your own front end) instead of starting from the ground up.

10/11/2006 11:20:00 AM

i did one recently for a small real estate operation up until they wanted the MLS listings on their site, which is a fucking nightmare.

10/11/2006 11:35:32 AM

honestly they should talk to trulia.com

10/11/2006 11:36:01 AM

I sent you a PM just let me know what you would like to do.

10/11/2006 12:01:40 PM

I did a website for a real estate company a few years ago.

Have them find a website they like and then post that link here or list what they want their website to do.

Suggest they take the DreamWeaver classes through Wake Tech if they want to "do it themselves" and save a buck. If they get real excited tell them to take a Photoshop, Flash, and PHP/MySQL class also (haha).

Suggest they talk to their "home office" if they have one.

Good luck,
Joe

10/14/2006 1:26:38 AM

yeah, you need to get a clear idea of what they expect. Real estate sites have the opportunity to be very cool - interactive maps, extensive photo galleries, virtual walk throughs, complex filtering and searching, etc. Of course, all that would require a very carefully designed backend and a nice looking frontend and would take a lot of work. If they just want a store front with the realators pictures and phone numbers, then that's not a big deal, although I would consider it a huge wasted opportunity.

as far as doing any "do it yourself" route, i would say Hell No. If you want to encourage them to learn some HTML or figure out how Dreamweaver works, fine, tell them to have fun. But if they want to put up a professional online presense that will drive business to their services, then this needs to be done professionally.

but yeah, if they're a branch of a larger realtor like Century 21 or something, i'm sure their home office will offer some help towards this.

10/14/2006 4:30:35 PM