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Agent Web Sites

Why do you need a site?

Reputation. Most of you are independent contractors. You career will depend on the following you build up over the years. Investing in a helpful site will go a long way to accomplish that.

Broker competition. In most small to medium size offices the broker is also a salesperson. It is easy for a broker/owner or manager/salesperson to skim the best leads from an office site. No one can take the leads from your site.

Targeting. Your office site has to target everyone in its entire market area. Even the best national franchises cannot do what you can do - build the best site for a small target - a niche.

Portability. Good sites get referrals and develop a following. If you decide to move to a different office you can take your site and the following with you.

Getting started

Decided on a niche and find a domain name. Consider your site a substantial investment. You will be working hard on it adding to it and improving it for years. Make sure that you will own it and will be able to edit it. Do not use a pre-designed pre written real estate site. It won't work well or rank well. Do not settle for a franchise site. You won't own it or be interested in improving it. Keep your group and their interests in mind. Link to everything of interest to your group from your site. Link to your IDX search page from every page. Optimize your site to your group and submit it to the search engines.

Do not use a pre-designed pre written real estate site. It won't work well or rank well. Do not settle for a franchise site. You won't own it or be interested in improving it. Keep your group and their interests in mind. Link to everything of interest to your group from your site. Link to your IDX search page from your home page. Optimize your site to your group and submit it to the search engines.

Getting your web site up

There are a bewildering number of companies selling and designing real estate sites. All of the ones we have seen are good. All have similar drawbacks.
1. You do not own the content of the site. Only the domain name.
2. Custom sites are expensive and can be too elaborate and slow.
3. Packaged can be hard to update. Photographs are difficult to upload and place. 3. Template sites are limited to a number of designs.

For information on many of the commercial sites available see:
"Packaged" Sites, Templates & Real Estate Marketing


Building your own

If you plan to be in real estate for a long time, your best route is to build your own site from the ground up. If you have no experience with computers, we can help.

A site includes:

Domain name - The name of your site.

Hosting package - The host computer that your site will run on and the required software.

Site name email - Once you have your site name you will want email based on your site name. For example: yourname@sitename.com

HTML language - HTML is the basic language of the web. It is a simple language worth learning. With it you can create the site, make changes, add pictures and pages.


The cost of an agent site is about as follows

Initial investment
HTML editor                                     $40.00
HTML manual                                    Free
IDXPro setup     (usualy waived)       $198.00

Monthly expense

Hosting                        $9.00 to $12.00/month
Includes:
Free domain name
Free Set Up
7 GB Disk space
150 GB Monthly data transfer
3 FTP accounts
50 E-mailboxes
My SQL/MS Access
Sub-domain and directory pointers


Agent IDX         $49.95/mo.
Includes:
HouseTrack™ Daily Email Alerts
HouseTrack Summary Reports
Banner Display
Printable Version Flyers
Google Search Results Map
Highlight Your Properties on
the Search Results Page
Hot Listing Icon
Advanced Search Options
Listing Sort Options
Save Searches Option
Save Listings Option
User Accounts
Preferences Pages
Registration Page Option
Email Validation Option


Announce your site when you are done.

Add the address to your letterhead, business card and promotion pieces. Update your site regularly and it will work for you for years.


Graduate to 70%



If you want to compete or stay competitive in real estate sales we would like to hear from you.