Websites for real estate agents in Michigan
Your listings, on your own website.
A buyer who hears your name looks you up. I build, host and look after a site for solo agents and small brokerages, with MLS listings on your own domain. You keep your MLS membership and its data licence; I connect the feed, build the listing pages and keep them current.
No set-up fee. Renews monthly; cancel with 30 days' notice.
Built, hosted and looked after for $49 a month, billed monthly. No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start.
Bring your own MLS. I build the rest.
You already pay for your MLS membership, and the listings are already yours to show. What is missing is a site that shows them properly.
- You
You keep your MLS
You stay a member of your MLS, and its data licence stays in your name. Your MLS bills its data fee to you directly, on your own subscription.
- Your broker and me
Your broker signs the IDX paperwork
Your broker signs your MLS’s IDX agreement and opts the office in, and I am named on it as the site’s developer. Nothing goes live until your MLS has signed off on the site.
- Me
I connect the feed and keep it current
I connect your MLS’s feed, build a page for each listing on your domain and keep them current, at least every 12 hours. A withdrawn, expired or cancelled listing comes off.
Built to the IDX rules of Southeast Michigan’s MLS (Realcomp). Other MLSs on request.
What a listing looks like on your site
A sample, drawn with invented data. Each number marks something the rules Southeast Michigan’s MLS sets ask for.
Sample listing, invented data. Card: $289,000, Active, 1200 Sample Ridge Ct, Exampleton; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,850 square feet; Listed by Sample Realty Co., 555-0142; an MLS logo placeholder. Listing page at your-domain.example/listings/1200-sample-ridge-ct-exampleton, with a header naming the agent Alex Sample and the brokerage Sample Brokerage, 555-0100, in equal type, then the home's details and remarks, the MLS credit, the disclaimer and the last-updated time, a "Report an error in this listing" link, an "Ask about this home" form beside the listing rather than inside it, and an Equal Housing Opportunity statement in the footer. A withdrawn listing comes off at the next refresh.
Its own page on your domain
Every listing has one page at your address, in your sitemap, that search engines can index.
The listing brokerage, on every card
The listing firm and its phone, on the card and the page, in type as large as the details.
The MLS credit, disclaimer and last-updated time
On every listing page, as your MLS words them.
The enquiry form outside the listing
Your form sits beside or below the listing, never inside it.
Withdrawn listings come off
The feed refreshes at least every 12 hours, and a withdrawn, expired or cancelled listing is removed.
Your brokerage’s name, at least as large as yours
Your broker’s name and phone sit in the header of every page, in type at least as large as your own name.
Built to MLS IDX rules
What the site does on every listing, so your broker has less to check.
- The listing firm and its phone number on every listing, in type a visitor can read.
- The MLS credit, the disclaimers and the notices your MLS requires, on every listing page.
- Withdrawn, expired and cancelled listings come off the site.
- Private fields, such as showing instructions, never reach the site.
- An Equal Housing Opportunity statement in the footer of every listing page.
- Your MLS can audit the site at any time, and I am named on the agreement as the contact for fixes.
This describes what the site does. It is not legal advice, and your broker and your MLS have the last word. If your brokerage does not allow agents their own sites, this is not for you.
What the site can have for real estate agents
These are examples of what the site can have. There is one enquiry form, and the pages are agreed on the intake call.
A page for each listing
Each listing gets its own page on your domain, straight from your MLS feed, so there is one clean copy of each home and nothing typed in by hand.
An “ask about this home” enquiry
The enquiry form sits beside each listing, not inside it, and sends the request to you.
Your brokerage name on every page
Shown on every page, at least as large as your own name, as Michigan’s licensing law and your MLS require.
What 36 months costs
Money paid to the website service, month by month, for the monthly plan, the usual alternatives and a real estate website platform. It leaves out what every option shares: the domain, email and your MLS’s own data fee.
Months since you start
- The $49 a month website
- DIY website builder
- Freelance build
- Agency build
- Real estate website platform
| Option | Set-up | Monthly | Month 12 | Month 36 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The $49 a month website | $0 | $49 | $588 | $1,764 |
| No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start. The monthly plan is drawn. The yearly plan is not. | ||||
| DIY website builder | $0 | $39 | $468 | $1,404 |
| Published price. A mid-range plan from a large builder, billed monthly. You build and maintain it yourself. | ||||
| Freelance build | $2,400 | $50 | $3,000 | $4,200 |
| Assumed, not quoted: the midpoint of a published range of $800 to $4,000 for the build, plus a care plan of $50 a month, inside a published range of $50 to $500 a month. | ||||
| Agency build | $6,000 | $150 | $7,800 | $11,400 |
| Assumed, not quoted: the midpoint of a published range of $2,000 to $10,000 for the build, plus a care plan of $150 a month, inside a published range of $50 to $500 a month. | ||||
| Real estate website platform | $800 | $165 | $2,780 | $6,740 |
| Published price. A mid-range plan from a real estate website platform, with its entry design set-up fee, billed monthly. | ||||
How it works
Ask and start
Send a short enquiry with the form. I reply within 24 hours. Use the link to start. No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start.
Send what I need
You send the words and photos, and the intake call sets out exactly what I need. On the intake call we agree the pages and the enquiry form.
Build, preview, live
I build it, and you see it before it goes live. From then on I host it, keep it updated and fix what breaks, and I make the small updates you ask for.
What is included
- A site built for you: I build it from what you send me, and you see it before it goes live.
- Hosting and looking after it: Hosting, backups, security updates and fixes when something breaks are part of the monthly price.
- Small updates: Changes to text, photos, hours and prices after launch are included. New pages or features are quoted separately.
- Fast, and built for local search: Pages that load quickly on a phone, set up for local search, with an enquiry form that sends each request straight to you.
- MLS listings (bring your own MLS): I connect your MLS’s feed, build and host the listing pages and keep them current. Your MLS bills its own data fee to you directly.
- Google Analytics events: Every site on the plan sends Google Analytics events for taps to call and email, the enquiry form, directions and pages, to a property that you own, at no extra cost. See the events→
- A privacy page: A short privacy page on your site that says, in plain words, that the site uses Google Analytics.
- Me, directly: No account manager and no junior bench. You write to me and I answer.
Questions
Want your listings on your own site?
Start the site, or ask me about your MLS and your broker first. I reply within 24 hours.
No set-up fee. Renews monthly; cancel with 30 days' notice.
Websites for other kinds of business
- Tree care
- Landscaping and snow
- Electricians
- HVAC
- Plumbing
- Roofing
- Home inspectors
- Pest control
- House cleaning
- Handyman and painting
- Exterior cleaning
- Tax and bookkeeping
- Small engine repair
- Insurance agents
- Auto detailing
- Movers and junk removal
- Salons and barbers
- Trainers and studios
- Pet services
- Cafés and restaurants
- All websites