RealHomes RH - Real Estate WordPress Theme

An expired listing does more damage than having no website

It is the first thing to solve on a property project, and curiously the last thing most people think about.

Somebody finds the perfect flat on your site, gets excited, calls, and you tell them it sold three months ago. That person does not come back, and rightly so: they have just confirmed your information is not reliable. In a sector where trust is the product, it is about the worst thing that can happen.

And it always happens for the same reason: the listings were entered by hand. Somebody copied twenty properties one afternoon, and nobody has been given the job of removing them when they sell.

RealHomes is a WordPress theme for estate agencies, with years behind it and designed for both the visitor and whoever manages the properties from the admin.

What it contributes

• A property portal structure, with property pages and listings.
• Straightforward property management from the panel, which matters a great deal on a catalogue that turns over.
• Purpose-built design, with the features a site in this sector needs.
• Maturity: it is among the sector's most established themes, with plenty of people who already know it.

The question that organises the project: where the listings come from

There are three answers and each leads to a different project.

You enter them, and there are few. A small agency with fifteen or twenty active properties can manage by hand perfectly well, and the theme alone is enough. The condition is having a routine: every week, check what sold and take it down.

They come from a portal or a shared pool. That is the norm once the agency grows. Then you need automatic importing, and that is a bespoke integration with whatever format your market uses. It comes with no theme and it is the main line in the budget.

Other people upload them. If your project is a portal where several agencies or private sellers publish, that is no longer an agency website: it is a marketplace, with accounts, moderation, listing plans and billing. A whole different product.

Deciding this before choosing a theme saves rebuilding later.

What decides the property page

Four things, and none of them is the design.

The photographs, in quantity and with light. It is the sector where photography weighs most and gets done worst. Eight good photographs convert better than twenty backlit ones with the blind half down.

The floor plan. A great many people decide whether to view a flat by looking at the layout, not the photographs.

The real running costs. Service charge, local property tax, estimated utilities. Publishing it filters out whoever cannot afford it and gives credibility to whoever can.

The energy certificate. In a fair number of countries including it in the listing is compulsory, with its rating visible, and advertising without it can bring a penalty. Worth checking what your market requires before publishing.

Requirements

It needs WordPress. Automatic listing import, if you need it, gets solved separately.

Alternatives in the catalogue

The sector's reference is Houzez, the most widespread and the one most people know, which on a theme your whole catalogue depends on is worth money. Homez and HomePress are solid alternatives and Luxus leans towards luxury property.

If what you sell is one development or one building, you do not need a portal: Hendon and Apartt are built for a single property, and that gets told differently.

If as well as selling you offer finance or work with mortgages, Levix joins the two.

And if your project is a portal where several agencies publish, the right approach is a directory: Directorist or Everest Business Directory solve accounts, custom fields and submission from the site.

Frequently asked questions

Does it import listings automatically?
Not out of the box. Importing from a portal is a bespoke integration for your market's format.

Is it suitable for a single development?
It can be, but single-property themes tell that better.

How many photographs should there be?
As many as needed, done properly. Photography weighs most in this sector.

Is the energy certificate required?
In a fair number of countries it is compulsory in the listing. Worth checking your market's rules.

And if several agencies publish?
Then it is a portal with accounts and plans, and the right approach is a directory.

What does the most damage?
A sold property still listed. That needs a takedown routine, not only a theme.