An effective website with a user-friendly design and navigation is the core of a real estate or property management business in Toronto, whatever your challenge is, standing out from the crowd, matching clients to the right property out of thousands of listings or automating billing and the property maintenance process. The question is how to navigate a dozen CMSs, website builders and ready-to-use solutions that turn into hassles and hidden costs and this guide lists the key features, the integrations and the services to build the website right.
Serving businesses across North America from Toronto, IDL Web Inc designs and builds real estate and property management websites in Toronto, ask for a FREE audit or a FREE quote and we will tell you what your website needs.
Real Estate Website Must-Have Features
Property listings
Aggregate the data from property listings and add enhanced filters, so visitors can narrow the results by price, location, size and the details that matter to them.
Advanced search
Let your users use voice search, filter the results and find properties by criteria other than the common ones such as price and the number of bedrooms.
Virtual tours
Use 3D rendering and AR/VR to walk your customers through a property, save them time on visiting many properties and give potential buyers or renters a better sense of the space, which makes this feature important for an effective pre-sale.
Agent profiles
Showcase the agent information, experience and contact details, because people choose people and your customers should be able to pick the agent they want for the entire sale or purchase process.
Blog
Share industry news, advice and insights to attract visitors, because a blog is a good spot to create SEO traffic with expert opinions and advice for landlords, tenants, sellers and buyers.
Property Management Website Features
Property listings
Showcase the available properties with detailed descriptions, photos, rental terms and the tenant requirements.
Tenant portal
Tenants manage their accounts, pay rent and bills online, submit maintenance requests and communicate about contract extensions.
Owner portal
Owners get access to financial reports, property performance data and communication tools.
Maintenance management
Track maintenance requests, work and service orders, communicate with contractors and cover the billing process.
Features That Go Above and Beyond
For real estate agencies and agents we recommend considering these features on your website:
- Market analysis: tools for analyzing market trends and property values based on your listings and agency statistics.
- Mortgage calculator: helps buyers estimate their monthly payments and you can cooperate with banks and either show the results online or ask for an email to send details and special promos from a partner bank.
- Testimonials and case studies: positive feedback and case study pages with the starting requirements and the property that became the perfect match.
- Social media integration: connect your website to your social media profiles and sync the data and listings to improve lead generation.
- Mobile optimization: a fully responsive website that looks great on all devices, with GA4 tracking the share of mobile devices so you keep up with new iOS, Android and browser updates.
- Online rental applications: simplify the tenant application process with online forms and reduce the paperwork for your property managers and assistants.
- Payment processing: a payment gateway that accepts online rent, bills and other fees.
- Financial reporting automation: detailed financial reports for property owners.
- Community features: a community forum where tenants connect and share information, which builds a sense of belonging and a friendly neighbourhood environment.
Wondering about features for your real estate website?
IDL Web Inc can audit your current website and tell you which features and integrations will bring you the most leads.
Key Third-Party Integrations for Your Property Management Website
Document management
Google Drive, Dropbox and DocuSign.
Tenant portal
TenantCloud and RentCafe.
Payment gateway
Stripe and PayPal.
Accounting software
QuickBooks and Xero.
Marketing tools
Google Analytics GA4, HubSpot and MailChimp for emails.
Communication tools
Slack and Intercom.
Why Your Website Is More Than a Webpage
Rising interest rates, economic uncertainty, shifting buyer preferences and new requirements bring new challenges to real estate agents and property management companies in recent years. The level of digitalization and process automation reveals a lot of growth points and a chance to reduce labor-intensive and cost-inefficient tasks and the website development trends and rising requirements from users and partners are another challenge.
You cannot ignore these trends or the online sales opportunities, because a website is no longer just a webpage, it is an ecommerce, communication and management platform. Every feature matters, the design, the navigation and the options to communicate with an agent or a property manager.
Real Estate and Property Management Website Development Services
IDL Web Inc specializes in custom website development on WordPress, Joomla and Shopify and a key feature of every IDL website is strong technical SEO and high website performance.
Website design
Templates and themes, popups and lead forms, email templates, banners and promos, landing page design and custom listing page design.
Website development
Responsive website development, ecommerce features, subscription-based websites, SEO optimization and landing pages. Each page is built to load fast and to turn visitors into inquiries for your listings.
Search engine optimization
Technical SEO, website speed optimization, Google penalty recovery, SEO audit, on-page SEO, local SEO, link outreach and SEO consulting.
Social media advertising
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter ads and Facebook pixel remarketing, so your listings reach new buyers and bring back visitors who looked at a property.
PPC management
Ads management, product listing ads, Bing, mobile, YouTube video and display advertising and retargeting. Campaigns can target the neighbourhoods and property types you want to promote.
CMSs and website builders
WordPress, WordPress with WooCommerce, Joomla, Shopify, custom PHP website solutions and PHP applications. We pick the platform that fits your listings, your portals and the team that will manage the website.
Training
Joomla and WordPress training for your in-house team, CMS consulting and training for content managers and marketers on the CMS features.
Ready to build your real estate website?
Tell IDL Web Inc about your agency or property management company and we will send you a scope and a price.
How IDL Web Inc Can Help
You can start with the core website and add the features and integrations over time and IDL Web Inc helps at every stage. We are a Canadian company and we help businesses in both Canada and the USA.
Web design
We design the website, the listing pages and the landing pages, see our web design service.
WordPress development
We build the website and the portals, see our WordPress development service.
SEO
We handle the technical and local SEO, see our SEO audit.
Google Ads
We run the ads that bring new leads, see our Google Ads services.
Don't forget
Remember to start with a good core website and a clear list of the features and integrations you need, because it keeps the cost and the hassle down as you grow.
To get new generation leads and build your website from scratch, leave it to the team at IDL Web Inc in Toronto, ask for a FREE audit or a FREE quote and we will tell you what your real estate website needs. IDL Web Inc is a Canadian company that serves businesses in Canada and the USA. Keep up with us to know more of web design news/fixes!
Schedule Consultation with An Expert
IDL Web Inc designs and builds real estate and property management websites in Toronto, ask for a FREE audit or a FREE quote and we will tell you what your website needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best MLS listing site in Canada?
Realtor.ca is the top-rated MLS listing in Canada and Zolo.ca, HouseSigma.com, Centris.ca and Kijiji.ca are worth your attention as well if you start a real estate agency or a real estate agent practice.
What is property management in Canada?
Property management in Canada covers tenant management, maintenance and repairs, financial management, legal compliance and property marketing, so a property management website should include all of these features.
Which website builder is best for real estate?
WordPress is on top of the rest with a wide plugin database, available developers and a huge support community and Wix, Squarespace and Showcasing are also widely used to build real estate agent websites.
What is the best CRM for property management?
PropertyMe, Rent Manager, Buildium, Zoho CRM and Salesforce are the top-rated CRMs for real estate and property management businesses and the best choice depends on your business needs, listing integrations and internal processes.
What does property management software do?
It covers tenant, maintenance and financial management, document and communication automation and reports and to choose the best software start with the features you need, the third-party integrations you want and any customization your process or the law requires.
How to create a real estate investment website?
Choose the platform or website builder, select a theme or a custom design, add the main pages (Home, About us, Services, Properties and Contacts), integrate the MLS listings, optimize the SEO and the website speed, add extras like a blog, an appointment scheduler, testimonials and market analysis, add the GA4 tracking code and then promote the website to get leads and new clients.
