10 companies that build great real estate websites in 2020

        (Listed Alphabetically)  

 

1. Agent Image 
2. Boom Town 
3. Dakno
4. Easy Agent Pro
5. InboundREM
6. Placester
7. Real Estate Webmasters
8. Real Geeks
9. Luxury Presence
10. Sierra Interactive

 

 

 

Each year in August (End of summer) I review and publish a list of companies making the best real estate websites on the planet. From August of 2018 through December of 2019 and into January of 2020 there has been a single change in my list of recommended companies. Luxury presence joins the list of the top 10 replacing Resi. There have been many changes in price and service options from the companies that remain in the top 10. Here is a brief list of the companies that had the greatest changes in price, service or company structure. Jump down to the company reviews to find out the full details of any changes. 

 

• Real Estate Webmasters – Price and technology changes
• InboundREM – Price and technology changes
• Easy Agent Pro – Client Acquisition Strategy change due to ongoing product dev.
• BoomTown – Adds major ancillary services and changes it’s pricing and service features

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I’ve worked for, competed against or founded the companies that make some of the best real estate websites on the planet. This blog post will show you how to buy the real estate website that best suits your needs and your marketing budget. This post has been updated at the very end of December of 2019 and the information should be considered current through December of 2020. I’ll be updating the infographics that have out of date pricing for 2019. Each company has a forward that will indicate that I reviewed their offerings from August of 2018 through December of 2019. Most years see some minor changes in what real estate marketing companies have to offer in terms of websites. 2018-2020 had a lot of changes from the major players. 

 

                                       If you have found and are reading this post for the first time START HERE.

 

Which type of real estate website do you need?

IMPORTANT NOTE: Most great real estate websites should focus on a primary objective. Knowing what your main goal is when buying a real estate website will make selecting a vendor much easier.

Real Estate Websites fall into three broad categories. ALL real estate websites have secondary competencies that enhance their core offering. I’ve listed the most common secondary competencies.

• Lead Generation – The websites might look the same but the companies that supply these websites design their service offering around producing leads. It’s their core purpose.
• Brand/Custom Design – The primary objective is to look different/better than your competitors. While these companies might claim/offer lead generation their core competency is creating a brand.
• Search/IDX – The primary of these companies is to offer a unique search experience. They might claim/offer lead generation, but their core competency is the actual search experience.
• Secondary competencies : 
  • CRM = Customer Record Management
  • CMS = Content Management System
  • Email Marketing =  As an integrated service connected to the website
  • Lead Management – Giving you a dashboard you or your agents can log into and manage communication with leads.
  • Landing Pages – The ability to create a special web page that would be a part of a marketing funnel
  • SEO – Creating great content on your behalf or giving you the mechanism to create it yourself.
  • Drip marketing = Automated emails sent to prospects that have registered with your website

 

Real Estate Lead Generation Websites Defined 

Companies that focus on building websites that generate leads have to design their secondary competencies around the core purpose of the website to be effective. Real Estate Lead generation sites will usually be templated designs because the companies that make them understand what the audience’s reaction to those particular designs will be. They can then give their prospective customers lead generation estimates based on facts and research as opposed to guesses. Each time you make a real estate web developer change design in a significant way they no longer have a fact-based experience to estimate lead generation. Small changes can occasionally result in big differences in lead generation percentages.  You do not own these websites (Except for InboundREM ). They use direct advertising(Except InboundREM who uses SEO AND direct advertising)  to generate traffic by spending money on Google Adwords, Facebook Marketing, and occasionally automated Craigslist posting. Prices range from $500-$5,000 set up with monthly costs between $750-$5000 M/O. Relevant examples of companies that fall exclusively/primarily into this category would be Boom Town, Real Geeks, and InboundREM.

 

 

 

 

 

Real Estate IDX Websites Defined

   IDX = Information Data Exchange. Any MLS that exchanges information with a real estate technology company is engaged in an Information Data Exchange. Any company I have put into this category is there BECAUSE THE MAIN SELLING FEATURE OF THEIR WEBSITE PACKAGES IS THE SEARCH EXPERIENCE. The secondary services they offer will often mirror those of a Real estate lead generation website which makes understanding the difference between real estate website providers a little difficult. One main way to define a true lead generation company is the way that they support the website. Both InboundREM and BoomTown provide end to end solutions where the only task the client has to do is manage leads (Boomtown and IREM both require some learning but this is a managed process with resources dedicated to stepping you through the process). ALL other providers make the client LEARN how to get leads from the website they are being provided with. If you fail to follow these companies’ tutorials(If the companies have tutorials at all),  they will promptly tell you the reason you are not getting leads is you are not using the website correctly. IMO a true lead generation company takes all that guesswork away from the client and if there is service education required it’s based on educating real estate teams on how to access and work leads.  A quick way to identify how RICH a real estate IDX website search experience is supposed to be is the price.  Prices range from $0-5000 set up and $56-1000 M/O.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custom Real Estate Websites Defined

 The primary reason you should seek custom design is if you have determined creating a unique brand is central to your real estate business goals. Luxury real estate agents are the number one consumers of this kind of real estate website. Custom design projects tend to be very difficult because to do them well you need a lot of detail and 80% of the time you do not have a client capable of giving you the technical/design specifications to pull off these projects without a lot of redos. ALL the companies listed in this category tend to customize PART of a website like the home page leaving the rest of the pages on the website pre-designed. Full custom(every page on the website designed to a clients specification) websites START at $10,000, and very few teams or agents would see a return on investment unless a site redesign/design was done in tandem with an expert level SEO/UX specialist AND an aggressive SEO campaign was scheduled for after launch. 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

Agent Image | Custom Real Estate Websites 

 

 

 

Comparable to: InboundREM,Real Estate Webmasters

 

Agent Image Service and pricing updates for 2019/2020

 

In 2018/19 Agent image raised it’s hosting service pricing from $79 dollars to $99 dollars. This price increase was universal and applied automatically without notification to their account base. Something that is allowable under their TOC’s but wasn’t hugely popular with their customers. I am not currently familiar with all of their hosting environment protocols though I can say historically this is an area they made a lot of mistakes in. They may have raised their base prices by a couple of hundred dollars. As of September 2019, I am awaiting confirmation on a number of facts/details. All of the company officers updated their Linked In profiles over the last year. I haven’t met with them personally, but it appears Jon still manages finances Tiger check’s in on operations or combines the operations of his startup August 99 with Agent Image and manages both simultaneously and Luigi is probably running his online magazine and maybe surfing every so often.

Agent Image has focused heavily on it’s Google reviews in the last two years adding 452 reviews mostly 4.9 stars and above. On the other side of the coin, they had quite a few additions on Yelp almost 50% of which were extremely negative and the Trulia thread continues to grow which leads me to believe they have dialed in ASKING for reviews from anyone that had a positive experience. They are doing 50-70 projects a month at a minimum and for whatever reason, in terms of leaving unasked for reviews YELP is still one of the top platforms. This ultimately leaves most of what I wrote in 2017 when I added this company to the top 10 list as valid. They stay on the list from August 2019 through August of 2020.

As with previous years, this company is producing a website you own with no integrated CRM. It is a branding website developer with mediocre lead generation solutions.

 

 

 

Agent Image Custom Real Estate WordPress Website Examples :

 Agent Image Custom Website Example – The Altman Brothers | Custom Solutions are 10k+

Agent Image Imagine Studios Website Example #1 | Fairfield County Ct| Brokerage

  Agent Image Semi Custom Website Example #2 | Los Angeles CA | Luxury

 Agent Image Semi Custom Website Example #3 | Florida | Luxury

   Agent Image Website Pricing:

Agent Pro (WordPress real estate template website) – $1500-1800

Semi Custom (WordPress real estate website with a customized homepage) – $2500-3000

Imagine Studio(WordPress website with customized homepage and interior page layout)  – $5500-8500

Custom Websites are $10-100k

Monthly Hosting was raised in 2019 to $99 per month (from $79 without notice or notification to their account base)

Agent Image Reviews:  

Agent Image Google Reviews [] 4.7 stars out of 5       

 Agent Image Trulia reviews [200]Mostly Negative and far more detailed

 Agent Image Yelp [400]+ 3.5 stars avg.                      

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Agent Image

DISCLOSER: I worked for Agent Image from 2007 through 2010.

Agent Image has been making custom real estate websites since 2000. They have produced more than 18,000 LIVE websites which makes them the Number ONE custom real estate website company by a long margin.

Agent Image was founded 17 years ago as a division of The Design People to focus exclusively on Real Estate.  The founders are:

Tiger Bitanga  currently CEO Also Founder of August 99

Jon Krabbe currently CFO

Luigi Amante currently  Board of Directors

These three established The Design People out of an apartment nearly two decades ago. Tiger originally from the Philippines saw an opportunity to get high-quality design work done at a fraction of US prices and moved back to Manila to open up the design and operations side of the business. Jon and Luigi stayed in the states to manage the sales side of the business. This is how Agent Image operates in 2019. The day to day operations in Manila and the sales efforts in the U.S. are the primary responsibility of two key employee’s:

*ADDENDUM ( In September I met with Jon Krabbe and he reported that Mike Bitanga is no longer President of Manila, Mike’s LinkedIn page shows him still currently employed by The Design People the parent company of Agent Image. While I am sure Jon’s information was passed on accurately I am looking for a second source connected to the Phillipenes division before removing Mike from this article entirely)

Mike Bitanga – President of The Design people and Tigers brother. Operations in Manila.

Gregg Pitzele – Vice President of Sales – The Design People. He runs Sales for Agent Image in the states.

Agent Image – WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed website “build information.”

Unlike most of its competitors, Agent Image does allow its customers ownership of their websites. They DO NOW ALLOW unauthorized plug-ins to be installed into your WordPress website so if you have some experience with websites this will be frustrating.

Agent Image has three website design options (with a possible hidden fourth option). The reason for the pricing differential is Agent Image allows its salespeople a “back pocket” discount they can offer if they feel a client is close to making a purchase but needs a little more incentive. Some salespeople simply quote the lowest possible price when you call in.

• Template (You choose from a predetermined selection of designs that you cannot alter much) $1500-$2000 
• Semi-Custom (You create a custom homepage, and  the rest of the website is a template) $2500-$3500
• Imagine Studios (A hybrid between full custom and Semi-Custom) $5000-$8500 
• Full Custom (All elements of a website design customized and potentially custom functionality as well) $10,000 – $25,000
• You have TWO options for IDX. I home finder OR IDX broker cost is comparable, but IDX broker is the much better choice. $36-56 m/o

Agent Image DOES NOT set up your search tools(IDX) for conversion. You will have to ask them to do it, and all they will do is activate a predetermined setting which usually produces mediocre results. NO ONE in either division is truly trained in Real estate website lead conversion though a couple of salespeople in the U.S. can talk a good game. If you purchase an Agent Image website go to YouTube and research lead conversion settings for the IDX provider you chose. Here is a video tutorial l I did in 2010 for IDX broker. It’s still viable today and should increase conversion considerably.

Agent Image ALSO has marketing options for both Direct Advertising (Google Adwords + Facebook marketing) and Search Engine Optimization. In 2011 the part of Agent Image that focused on marketing was purchased by the CEO at the time. The division and its employees left. Since then Agent Image has done marketing out of the Phillipenes. I cannot speak to the direct advertising solutions, but I am 100% sure their SEO packages are years out of date. Any readers that have Agent Image websites or purchased marketing in the last 3-4 years can set an appointment with me, and I’ll show you what a successful SEO strategy would look like in 2019.

Video Review | Agent Image | Custom Real Estate Websites

 

BoomTown | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Charleston SC

** I research for this post once a year. I aim to update this article in August of each year. In 2019 I was a little behind and expect this information to be pretty current from August of 2019 through August of 2020. For BoomTown I was able to source information that contradicted the pricing information that I originally published in 2017. Since Boomtown does NOT publish their pricing I rely on customer intelligence. None of MY Boomtown clients were able to confirm a pricing change in 2019 so I left pricing static. The changes that were published elsewhere claimed that Boomtown had created a different product for smaller teams or individuals. That product REQUIRED a $250.00 per month PPC spend on top of the published rates available in this review/writeup. I will update this article as required if I receive incontrovertible proof Boomtown has changed it’s packages. I’ve had to alter the details of BoomTowns offer very little since 2017 when I first added them to this list and I’ve had no reason to update the video review I did in 2017. I DID update their reviews section in 2019.

 

Boomtown Website Examples:

Boulder Co. | Brokerage 15 offices| Example 1 

C21 | 6 offices | North Carolina | Example 2 

BoomTown Website Prices

$1500.00 Set up (One Time)

$1500.00 per month Licensing Fee 1-25 Active Users  +$35 for every additional user after 25

Online Advertising ( This is 100% necessary to generate leads) 

3-5 Agents $1000 Per month

5-10 Agents $1500 per month

10-30 Agents $2000 per month

There is an additional 15% Ad spend management fee.

Seller Lead Suite: $250 per month

BoomTown Reviews:

Active Rain Boom Town Reviews [6] 3 of 5 stars avg. 

G2 Crowd Boom Town Reviews [100] 9/10 

Updated in August of 2019.

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Boom Town

BoomTown was founded in 2006 by Grier Allen. Their company picture has 56 employees, located in South Carolina. (according to press release in 2017 they grew to 96 employees from 56. Other websites in 2019 identify them as having upwards of 250 employees) There has been no reliable update on how many employees they have in 2019. 

Officers and their roles:

Grier Allen CEO

Rivers Pierce Director of Inbound Marketing                     Meet Rivers Pierce

Don Sedora  Director of Product Development (He is listed as an officer of the company but has a LinkedIn profile that states he is a consultant)

The company has been fast-tracking since 2006. They’ve made the INC 500 four years running.  They are the recommended lead generation company of Keller Williams and famously noted as a key ingredient to Ben Kinney’s meteoric success. The company has expanded into a renovated warehouse and has high ratings from the employee’s on glassdoor. The outward product and the internal reviews make this company the one to watch in the real estate marketing space. My only note here is this company is ripe for acquisition. They sought and received 20 million in a private bond release. This was the first time Boom Town sought or received funding which makes them unique in the tech space. [source]

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed BoomTown website “build information.”

• You do not own your BoomTown website.
• BoomTown websites are “Templates.” This means all Boom Town websites look similar to one another.
• BoomTown builds their websites on WordPress
• They manage customers information and behavior
• They provide one look “lead management” dashboards so a broker can see lead status and last contact in real-time
• Boomtown provides dedicated account managers that train agents and brokers on using the platform
• Boomtown will import existing leads
• While Boomtown talks a lot about SEO and shows signs of being able to apply SEO they are targeting mostly lower value terms for themselves and their clients backed with very FUNCTIONAL content pages but not very deep or interesting ones. IE: On a scale of 1-10 I would give Boomtown a 5 for SEO at least from a “what do their results” indicate standpoint.  My Video Review covers this topic in detail.

SEO ADDENDUM: Boomtown might be adding in SEO as a “value-add” meaning they include it as part of their licensing fee. Any results that you get are a bonus. My analysis shows results that would match that kind of “marketing expectation.”

 

 

 

 

 

BoomTown Video Review | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites

 

 

                       Dakno Marketing | Custom Real Estate Websites  

 

 

Dakno Marketing | Video Review 

 

December  2019 update:  InboundREM Inc. the company I founded finally managed to get a Dakno customer to talk to us. His report should be taken with a grain of salt since he is ONE client AND we talked to him in the context of transferring his website over to us. The website which had worked well for many years was never updated by Dakno. I did get a chance to walk through the back end and while it was decent it also wasn’t comparable to any of the high-end options like BoomTown, or Real Estate Webmasters. Closest I could compare it to would be Boston Logic. My client was/is transferring leads to Follow Up boss which is comparable and by my estimate better than most of the back ends that are available. There is an additional cost($199.00) to pursue this solution. I have checked and updated all the Dakno example links and as near as I can tell prices, website examples, officer roles are all accurate in the latter part of 2019. One weird thing is Dakno has added ONE review on Google in two years. Once again I will comment that for a company that claims to be a “marketing company” they certainly don’t seem to pay much attention to marketing.   

Dakno Marketing Website Examples:

Danko Real Estate Website Example 1 | Dayton Beach FL| Small Team 

Los Angeles | Agent | Example 2 

Northern Virginia | Agent | Example 3 

Dakno Marketing Prices

Real Estate Websites 

Dakno Blog – $199

Signature Sites (Semi-Custom) – $849

Select Custom Sites – $1249

Full Custom – $1599

SEO & PPC 

SEO = $560 OR $1125

PPC = $150 set up and unspecified management fee

Hosting|IDX|Management

$139 M/O

Dakno Marketing Reviews

Glassdoor 7 reviews 2 of 5 stars

Google Reviews  [27]  4.8/5

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Dakno Marketing

Dakno Marketing was founded in 2003 by Brad Carroll. Dakno appears to have almost as many “live” websites as Agent Image which is 20,000+

Officers and their roles:

Brad Carroll  CEO – Marketing Consultant  – Flickr 

Bobby Carroll    Vice President  – Google Plus 

The reviews from CUSTOMERS about Dakno are stellar. I read all 26. Glass Door which is a website that allows employees to review their employer anonymously is exactly the opposite. Anything you don’t have to attach your name to shouldn’t be given as much weight as reviews that are attached to verifiable human beings. In this case having carefully combed through every social profile and every review the evidence points in the direction of the glass door reviews being accurate. You should read them.

Brad Carroll seems to be an active voice in the digital marketing space. His social media profiles show him at various conferences and marketing “masterminds.” Despite complaints of low pay and long hours his company manages to deliver 5-star service. However, you need to pay close attention to my review of their website and service description:

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed Dakno Marketing Website “build information.” 

• You do not own your Dakno website
• Dakno’s design aesthetics are not comparable to Agent Image | Real Estate Webmasters| But Dakno is 50% less
• Dakno builds their websites on a proprietary CMS  – this isn’t as good for you as WordPress
• Dakno makes an IDX plug-in for WordPress
• IDX is INFERRED to be responsive (property results will work well on cell phones)
• Danko imports leads from Zillow,Trulia,Realtor.com
• Email Campaign functionality from within the platform.
• Round robin and first come first serve lead distribution
• Future updates are free and promised

Closing thoughts about Danko Marketing:  

This is one of the few real estate website companies on this list where I haven’t even SEEN the Danko back-end management system. Whether it performs as described is any one’s guess. There are NOT a ton of complaints online that I could find, so that is a good sign. There isn’t one single training video OR case study showing the Danko platform in use. The training videos are to be expected. They might not be accessible to the public. The case study is surprising. If they have that good of a tool why wouldn’t they demonstrate results via youtube?

Brad and Bobby Carroll both profess to be online marketing experts yet their social media, and their SEO on the Dakno corporate website is sub-par compared to almost every other company in the TOP 10, and they have been in business far longer. Their SEO packages are HORRIBLY out of date. I wish I could say for certain having seen the way their back end operates but my BELIEF with all available evidence is newer competitors like Easy Agent Pro or Placester both deliver a better starter websites, and Real Geeks delivers a far better lead generation website all for a significantly lower investment. These newer options ALL offer better online training and verifiable online case studies.  Love to hear from Danko customers past, or present and see what YOU thought about this company. If anyone wants to PM their Danko login, I’ll do a detailed analysis and update this review/comparison.

Easy Agent Pro |Real Estate Websites | Albuquerque NM

 Easy Agent Pro | Real Estate Website Examples

 

Easy Agent Pro | Real Estate Websites Example 1 | Keller Williams Team | Portland OR

Easy Agent Pro | Real Estate Websites Example 2 | Independent Brokers | Panama City FL

Easy Agent Pro | Real Estate Websites Example 3 | RE/Max Team | Rochester New York

Easy Agent Pro Pricing 

$500 Set Up (In the summer of 2017 EAP removed this but I am listing it in case they bring it back)

Landing Pages – $119 m/o

Real Estate Website (Lead site) – $159 m/o

Real Estate Website + Marketing Lead sites Plus) – $259 m/o

Easy Agent Pro Reviews: 

In-depth comparison between easy agent pro and real geeks (by me)

Yelp[6] 5 of 5 stars  – Company used to be known as Page One.

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY:  EASY AGENT PRO

Located in New Mexico the company was co-founded by Tyler Zey and Robert Laprise. Tyler handles the content marketing(SEO), and Robert handles the website development. Regardless of what the rest of my review says these guys are top in class regarding making new real estate marketing services. Tyler is the best content marketer in the entire real estate vertical regarding results. Seth Price from Placester would be comparable, but he has slightly better results with considerably more resources. Both companies focus on educating real estate professionals how to utilize digital marketing to enhance real estate sales revenue and in the process show you how their tools can help meet sales goals.

Officers and their roles:

Tyler Zey – Co-Founder – Head of Marketing  

Robert Laprise – Co-Founder – Head of Development – Chief Amazement Officer

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed Easy Agent Pro “Build Information.” 

• You do not own your Easy Agent Pro Website (One of my main CONS about this company)
• Easy Agent Pro has good designs, but they are TEMPLATES (websites can only minorly be customized)
• Easy Agent Pro has the second largest and most USEFUL library of TIPS and TUTORIALS for Real Estate Online Marketing
• Easy Agent Pro builds their website on WordPress, and my advice for Boom Town would apply here.
• Easy Agent Pro teaches you HOW to use their websites more effectively than ANY other real estate website provider
• Easy Agent Pro offers more value for the money you spend than most real estate website service providers

Summary of my Easy Agent Pro and Comparision to other “Similar” real estate websites:

Easy Agent Pro is my NUMBER ONE recommendation for newer agents interested in learning how to “do” online marketing. If you have a budget of more than $1000.00 per month for direct advertising Real Geeks has the potential to generate more leads. Real Geeks has a better method of managing those leads. Just like Easy Agent Pro, you will need to invest 10-40 hours of “learning” how to use your Real Geeks website effectively. If you are already spending more than $2-10,000 per month, then Boom Town or InboundREM become interesting options. Boom Town provides direct advertising and leads management solution while InboundREM provides the only SEO/ownership focused solution that’s available amongst real estate marketing companies. Neither Easy Agent Pro OR Real Geeks would allow your company to scale beyond a certain point and you’ll spend a lot of time and money coming to this conclusion yourself.

COMPARABLE TO – Real Geeks and  Placester 

 

 Easy Agent Pro Video Review | Template Real Estate Websites 

 

 

InboundREM | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Los Angeles, CA

What’s new at InboundREM in 2019:

Full discloser I am the founder of InboundREM Inc. As such I am much more aware of the day to day updates that take place. From August of 2018 to December of 2019 we finished up development on our “Agent Hub” WordPress website platform. A small list of these updates includes the following:

• Comparable listing and search design upgrades to Trulia and Zillow
• Real Estate listings are read as original content to the website (even though they are fed in through IDX)
• Reviews imported from Yelp, Zillow, Google, and Facebook
• Customized maps
• Website are ready for PPC campaigns with comparable conversion to real geeks, boom town, Zurple and most other major real estate marketing platforms
• Design upgrades (too many to list)
• New Service line aimed at brokers and small teams (not listed in pricing as it is a very specialized service and requires a consultation to dial in the customized service options)

The new service line for small teams and brokers is $5k set up and $2k per month. It includes PPC, CRM, Website service as part of the monthly fees making it comparable if not less expensive than its comparable services which is mostly Boomtown or Zillow in terms of quality and results expectations.

Inboundrem has grown its distributed work force to 10 dedicated resources and another 20+ part time or overflow resources with the core team still located in the US. We now have 40+ accounts in the U.S. and a couple outside of the country. 2019 saw InboundREM add to its reviews and we still maintain a perfect 5-star rating across all platforms. You can see our latest video testimonial on our services page.

 

InboundREM | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Los Angeles, CA

InboundREM Real Estate Website Examples:

InboundREM Tier Two Inbound Marketing | Luxury Fractional |Cabo San Lucus

InboundREM Tier One Inbound Marketing  | Residential Agent (Rural Market) |Placerville Ca

     InboundREM Tier Three Inbound Marketing | Small Broker | Meridian Idaho

InboundREM Full Custom Website (Old Design)| Small Team [9 agents] | Laguna Beach,CA

InboundREM Pricing

*All Pricing is inclusive except for IDX w/ is $79.99 m/o

Set up $2500 – $3500

Website = $2500 – $10,000 Template and Custom Websites

SEO Marketing Campaigns 

Small City – $600 per month

Medium City – $1000 per month

Large Cities (single area) or luxury neighborhoods – $1500 per month

Small Teams and Brokerages – $2000+ All inclusive. PPC management, CRM, Service and agent education are all part of the monthly.

InboundREM Reviews

Google Reviews [39] 5 of 5 stars 

Facebook Reviews[7] 5 of 5 stars 

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: InboundREM

Robert Newman founded InboundREM in 2014. His role is Chief Marketing Officer. You can see more about Robert and his history within the real estate marketing space by watching this  -à>> VIDEO

Rafe Altschuler(his brother) leads project management. The company consists of a team of 20+ social media managers, content writers, developers and designers that work remotely. Robert focuses on educating Real Estate professionals about online lead generation and provides deep analysis for existing real estate online marketing solutions. InboundREM is the only company on this list that provides a real estate lead generation solution the real estate client owns as opposed to leases.

 CLICK HERE to schedule a meeting with Robert

 

 

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: 

• You own your website after 18 months
• Designs are comparable to Agent Image or Real Estate Webmasters and include template and custom options
• Websites are built on WordPress and managed 100% by InboundREM
• InboundREM uses IDX broker for their search and lead generation solution
• InboundREM uses Follow Up boss for Lead Management which integrates automatically with IDX broker.
• InboundREM manages and where necessary sets up Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus.
• InboundREM is a 100% managed solution. There is no learning required except to read reports and how to use follow up boss if you’re a team or brokerage.
• InboundREM is a CONTENT marketer making informational pages for your website that includes charts, graphs, and detailed area information. The client owns this information after 18 months.

Summary of InboundREM and Comparisons to “similar” websites.

InboundREM uses the same technology as Placester, Boom Town, and Agent Image regarding website design and CMS. In 2019 InboundREM finished developing a WordPress Real Estate Website solution that is now considerably ahead of it’s competitors in terms of deliverables centered around lead generation. Some native features that are incredibly important for SEO or Lead generation that few if any of InboundREM competitors have are as follows:

LISTING OPTIMIZATION:

• Listings on landing pages are read as ORIGINAL content adding extra SEO value. The only companies in the top 10 that have that feature are Boom Town and Real Estate Webmasters. This element increases the probability of the page ranking in Google(by a decent amount)
• Listings have designations and savable hearts overlayed on top of the active property. Only Boom Town and Trulia

Calling InboundREM a website provider is a little murky however as they won’t SELL a website to anyone that calls in. Rather they sell a real estate lead generation solution that includes a WordPress website that you own after 12 months which makes them unique on this list. Additionally, InboundREM only takes TWO clients per city, so availability becomes a factor. This is also true of BoomTown. Unlike Easy Agent Pro InboundREM will almost certainly not be a good fit for most new agents. There is an incubation period required before you start seeing leads ranging from 6-9 months that makes this a bad fit for un-established agents or teams. Comparing BoomTown and InboundREM side by side for lead generation the expectation should be BoomTown will provide a better return for the same budget in the first 18 months. The big difference is if you stop paying for BoomTown all leads immediately stop. Using the same example as long as you stayed with InboundREM over 12 months if you stop paying you might see leads slow, but results will last for years if not the lifetime of your business.

Real Estate Webmasters – is the only comparable real estate SEO provider and they have an excellent website design team. They don’t have incredibly friendly integration with other technology providers making their website solution somewhat “one size fits all.” Additionally, you don’t own the website so if you decide to invest $1000-5000 per month that investment is gone if you ever change real estate website companies.

COMPARABLE TO – BoomTown – Real Estate Webmasters – Danko – Agent Image

InboundREM Video Review | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Van Nuys Ca

 

 

Placester | Real Estate IDX websites | Boston MA

What was new at Placester in 2019? 

Placester is one of the few providers on my list that has gone through very few updates in 2019. There are no new news articles on there website for 2019 and pricing and service offerings remain 100% the same. This is still a good low-cost option if you’re looking for a “starter” website. This site offers one of the lowest value propositions of all the providers on this list and if all you’re looking for a “place holder” website you might consider Pro Agent websites one of the honorable mentions at the bottom of this review.

 

Placester Real Estate Website Examples:

Placester Real Estate Websites Example 1 | Broker/Owner| Boise ID 

Placester Real Estate Websites Example 2 | Re-Max Team | Anchorage AK

Placester Real Estate Websites Example 3 | Luxury Power Broker | New York, NY

Placester Pricing:

Essential – $150 M/O

Premium (Includes content marketing) $400 M/O + $250 Activation

Brokerage plan added onto Essential or Premium + $150 per month and added $200 activation up to 10 agents

Brokerage up to 25 agents $300 per month = + $300 Activation

Placester Reviews from across the web

Placester Reviews Active Rain [7] 3.6 out of 5 

Placester reviews g2 crowd [12] 3 out of 5 stars

Placester Review InboundREM 

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Placester

Placester is a Real Estate Technology company that sells WordPress real estate websites which include IDX and online marketing options. With over 400,000 customers one of every six real estate professionals in North America uses their services. Partners Fredrick Townes and Matthew Barba founded Placester Inc. in Boston, MA in 2011.

Matt Barba CEO – Co-Founder

Fredrick Townes – COO -Co-Founder

 WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed “built with” summary

• Responsive Real Estate IDX Website (Search Focused)
• Content marketing and direct advertising options (Read reviews before investing)
• Drip Email marketing campaign (basic)
• Landing Page Creation (without a funnel this is useless)
• Template Websites
• Options for agents AND Brokers
• CRM and CMS incl.

Additional thoughts about Placester:

Placester has its marketing game dialed in. They say all the right things. They have decent looking websites that use the latest technology like WordPress.Placester has the BEST library of how to’s in the industry.  If you only have a few bucks per month to spend on a real estate website join NAR and call Placester. You can get a bare-bones website for $5.00 per month which is the best offer in all of Real Estate. If you have a few hundred dollars to spend then Easy Agent Pro or Real Geeks might be better options. Why? Because by all accounts Placesters service is spotty at best. I had to call them on behalf of a Placester client, and my experience was sub-par, and I am generous. I have found 3-4 other major review sites saying the same thing. Placester has grown faster than its ability to service 400,000 + clients is what I am guessing. Regardless an investment in a website and marketing from them is taking a gamble on both service and results.

COMPARABLE TO –  Real Geeks and Easy Agent Pro

 

 

 

 

Placester Video Review | Real Estate IDX Websites | Boston Ma

 

 

Real Estate Webmasters | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Canada

2019/2020 Real Estate Webmasters Update:

 

Real Estate Webmasters implemented A LOT of changes in almost every category in 2019.

• They continue to drift away from lead generation websites and push their new branding website categories.
• They updated their CRM simplifying it but also taking away a lot of it’s enhanced lead generation potential
• They their service pricing from $199 per month to $499 per month (This is the price to have the website hosted with REWM and does not include any marketing)
• They struck then lost partnership deals with some of real estates top names like Barbara Corcoran

I’ve updated website examples and links used to support my REWM review.

 

Real Estate Webmasters | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Canada

Real Estate Webmasters Website Examples :

REW Real Estate Websites Example 1 | Brokerage [7] Offices | Florida

REW Real Estate Websites Example 2 | Independent Broker  | Boise ID

REW Real Estate Websites Example 3 | Independent Brokerage | Alaska Anchorage

Real Estate Webmasters Pricing:

REW has a whole host of websites. They range from $1900-$35000

IDX/Service is $50-$499

SEO/PPC/Search Engine Marketing

$1500-$15,000

Real Estate Webmasters Reviews from across the web

Real Estate Webmaster Reviews – Active Rain [8] 2.88 out of 5 

Real Estate Webmaster Reviews – Glass Door [39] 2.5 of 5 stars 

Real Estate Webmaster Reviews – – SiteJabber [9] 1.9 of 5 stars

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Real Estate Webmasters

The only name associated with Real Estate Webmasters is Morgan Carey. Famously known as the “SEO guy” Carey got his start as an SEO consultant and moved into owning his real estate focused technology company in 2004. The bar was set very low for good SEO focused websites (still is) and Carey quickly built up his company to its current 150 employees and two locations in Canada. He also built up the single worst personal reputation in all of real estate technology(this is a data-driven assessment based on the number of negative reviews that mention Carey by name).

In recent years Morgan has attempted to stem bad publicity taking a Turn on Dragons Den and letting employees dump ice on him for an ALS challenge.

 Morgan Carey – CEO – President Real Estate Webmasters  

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Link to detailed “built with” summary

• Custom and Template real estate website design
• CRM and CMS
• Search Engine Optimization
• Search Engine Marketing
• Responsive (Mobile Friendly)
• UX is better than most (Site structure and navigation)
• Custom IDX both as a plug in and as a SAAS service

Closing thoughts on Real Estate Webmasters:

Real Estate Webmasters isn’t quite the best in ANY category. BoomTown is better at lead generation and lead management. Agent Image is better at custom design. Sierra Interactive has the best search experience and customizable IDX. Real Estate Webmasters is 2nd or third in ALL of these categories making this company one of the best overall options if you need a strong performance in design, lead generation, search experience, and lead management simultaneously. Real Estate Webmasters is also the most expensive real estate website provider out of the top 10. As with all the options except Agent Image and InboundREM you do not own the website. In the 13 years, I have consulted with and met some of real estate’s most influential founders and leaders I have heard stories that mirror what others have said in the reviews you can read about Morgan and Real Estate Webmasters. That said I have never met the man. What I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt is Real Estate Webmasters has implemented sudden and extreme price hikes with little to no warning to its customer base. Because there is so little competition in the “real estate website that can do it all” category REW has a fairly captive audience. You can get a REALLY good idea of what I mean by reading this review from one of the more prolific real estate bloggers that decided to give REW a try. Go to the end of the post and carefully read through the pros and cons.  Real Estate Webmasters Detailed customer experience.

Comparable to InboundREM

 

Real Estate Webmasters Video Review | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Canada

 

 

 

Real Geeks| Real Estate Lead Generation Websites | Kailua, HI

 

 

 

December 2019 Real Geeks Review Update:

The fidelity national purchase of Real Geeks in mid-2017 has resulted in few changes. As a matter of fact, that is the most notable thing about Real Geeks in 2019. The lack of changes. Real Geeks has added 4 videos to their YOU TUBE channel in the last 18 months signaling clearly that Jeff has diminished his involvement since selling the company. You can still find him in some of the online real geek’s masterminds which they seem to publish at a rate of once a month. He brought a tremendous amount of value to the company in terms of his experience and understanding of how important it is to educate the real estate industry on the rapid changes taking place in digital real estate marketing.

 

 

 

Real Geeks Website Examples

Real Geeks Real Estate Websites Example 1 | Agent | Charleston SC

Real Geeks Real Estate Websites Example 2 | Brokerage| Sacramento CA

Real Geeks Real Estate Website Example 3 | Team/Brokers | Seattle WA

Real Geeks Pricing

$500 Set up

$169-$239 per month

+ $50 per month for Facebook marketing plugin

+ $50 per month for home sellers marketing plugin

 Real Geek Reviews from around the web

Agent Armory Reviews [15] 5 of 5 stars 

Active Rain Reviews [58] 4.8 of 5 stars

InboundREM review of Real Geeks v Easy Agent Pro

LEADERSHIP/COMPANY SUMMARY: Real Geeks

Real Geeks was founded by Jeff Manson a Hawaiian real estate broker with 2 decades of real estate experience. You can learn everything you would ever want to know about him on his Real Geeks You Tube channel. He is featured in 70 videos that average one hour apiece. The company was sold( very quietly) on July 25th, 2017  to Fidelity National Financial Inc.  Real Geeks now operates as a subsidiary. This should come as no surprise to those that have followed Jeff on YouTube. He has always maintained his primary love was selling Hawaain real estate, and Real Geeks was his answer to a HUGE need in the Real Estate industry for an affordable real estate website that would generate leads. Mission accomplished.

Jeff is still the CEO of Real Geeks.

WEBSITE AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION: Real Geeks website “Built with” information.       

•  Template Design
• Very lead capture friendly
• Need to use direct advertising for lead generation
• Excellent Tutorials on how to use direct advertising and Real Geeks
• IDX is very clean, and it’s set up for you.
• Responsive
• Good customer service
• Excellent documentation to support the launch of the website

Closing thoughts on Real Geeks.

They were just bought by a mortgage company (Fidelity National See above)  with very deep pockets. They probably are keeping Jeff as CEO for the next year or two as they transition in a new team. How this will affect their real estate websites is any one’s guess. The good news here is I doubt they bought the company to mothball it. Frankly, Jeff seems to passionate to sell to someone just looking to bury a competitive tech company AND and as near as I can tell Fidelity doesn’t own competing technology.  But you can be 100% sure this will affect your real estate website in the long term. Whether they try to integrate mortgage partners straight into your real estate website thus getting millions of dollars worth of “free” advertising or they want to increase the volume of customer acquisition (Despite their dominant product Real Geeks has fewer customers than most of the companies on this list). I still feel this is a great bet in the real estate lead generation website category for the next 12-24 months.

Comparable to Easy Agent Pro and Placester

 

 

 

Real Geeks Video Review | Real Estate Lead Generation Websites

 

Luxury Presence | Luxury Real Estate Branding Websites | Santa Monica Ca

 

A little bit about Luxury Presence:

The company has been producing websites since 2016. They currently have over 300 customers 18 of whom are listed on the real trends and Wall Street Journal top 100 real estate professionals operating in the U.S. Founded by Malte Kramer the company has managed to produce about 300 website projects in 3 years. Jade Mills one of the country’s top real estate producers is a first-round seed investor. They make beautiful websites that are surprisingly mobile-friendly, and they have a proprietary IDX. The search functionality is extremely limited currently but the search APPEARANCE is good.

Luxury Presence Website Examples:

https://www.hiltonhyland.com

https://www.valeriefitzgerald.com/

https://www.joycerey.com/

http://www.canadaygroup.com/

https://www.jademillsestates.com/

Luxury Presence Pricing:

I have only been able to get “off the record” verbal quotes from former clients currently using Luxury Presence. Those verbal quotes have been from $5000 – $15,000 on the website development front with service(non-marketing) quotes ranging from $300 – $500 per month. As a new company with no published pricing it’s likely they are still figuring out their pricing models so you should contact them directly if your interested in a quote.

CONTACT LUXURY PRESENCE

Not sure what kind of website will best serve your needs? Set up an appointment with me –à MEET WITH ROBERT

 

 

Sierra Interactive | Real Estate IDX websites

Sierra Interactive Website Examples

Atlanta GA| Customized Brokers Website | 

Tallahassee FL | Large local brokerage

Sierra Interactive Website Prices

$995.00 Set-Up (one time) 

The monthly fee for 1-10 users $349.95 

The monthly fee for 11-25 users $499.95  

 

Sierra Interactive Video Review and Synopsis

10 more companies that make pretty good real estate websites

                 These are honorable mentions listed alphabetically with links to detailed video reviews

 

1.   Semi-Custom Real Estate WordPress Websites you own.           
2. Boston Logic – Custom Real Estate Websites | Video Review  
3. I House Web – Real Estate IDX templated websites | Video Review
4. Market Leader – Real Estate Semi Custom Websites | Video Review 
5. Pro Agent Websites – Templated Real Estate IDX Websites |No Video Review 
6. Superlative – Templated Real Estate IDX Websites | Video Reviews 
7. Sierra Interactive – Semi Custom Real Estate IDX Websites | Video Review
8. Website Box – Real Estate MLS Websites | Video Review 
9. Wix       – Real Estate MLS Websites | Video Review
10. z57        – Template Real Estate IDX Websites | Video Review

 

Read this before you choose the company that will make your next real estate website.

Picking the wrong real estate website can cost time and money. Measuring twice and cutting once is ALWAYS what you want to do even when considering low-cost options.

If you are currently considering buying a website here is what you need to know BEFORE you start shopping.

• How much CAN you spend upfront and monthly
• Whats is most important to your business – Design, Search Experience or Lead Generation. If they are all important, you still need to prioritize #1-3
• How much time do you have for getting a website online, and if applicable generating leads.

 

You need to create features and functionality list on a 1-10 scoring chart. Here is how that works. You might need Lead generation #1, but you can also have the requirement of responsive property search results. Attach an importance score to that requirement IE: 9

 

Here is a sample functionality list with scoring :

• Integrated CRM- lead management – 9
• Lead Generation – 10
• Drip Email Campaign – 5
• Leads Automatically Texted – 9
• Search Experience – 4 (FYI complicated or robust search tools almost always DROP lead count)
• Good Design -7
• 3-4 weeks before the website goes live.

Now take your time go through this list of real estate website providers and eliminate any that fall outside your budget. Then see if the ones remaining offer some or all the features you have listed. I’ll give you a quick cheat. There is only ONE real estate website company that does everything on my list and doesn’t cost $3-5k to get into a relationship with. This is pretty basic and doesn’t cover a lot of variables, but it’s a place to start.

 

Some final tips before making a purchase.

TIP ONE: The most you can hope for with an excellent Real Estate Lead generation website is “clean, professional and straightforward.” If you’re hoping for a fantastic branding website that maximizes lead generation…it doesn’t exist. Branding and efficiency only work together in extremely specialized real estate verticals.

TIP TWO: If you are spending over $20,000 on digital marketing per year and don’t own your real estate website ask yourself if convenience is worth over $100,000 dollars to you. Because you’re paying that or far more. It might take more time and require more effort to deal with a company that will make a website that you own but in most cases were you are spending $1300-2000 or more for marketing solutions other companies control, you’ll end up paying yourself $1000.00 per hour or more to go ahead and take that plunge.

TIP THREE: Real Estate Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Whether you use a preformatted point and click solution or you decide to go with a custom website you own which takes more time effort getting to a place where all aspects of your online marketing is truly working efficiently is most likely going to be a year’s long process. You should be able to measure progress but truly profitable results regardless of who you choose to take time and patience.

 

Hope you enjoyed this article. A lot of time went into it. If you DID enjoy it or learn from it or save money, please do me the honor of leaving a comment. Not only would I appreciate it but Google likes it too.

 

Robert – Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of InboundREM.