Hi,
I hope this is the right post for this questions if not please accept my apology and move this to the appropriate thread.
I am new to real-estate online business but not new to coding/database design/web design and SEO and I was thinking to build my own website.
After a bit of research I realize that is useless for me to try to reinvent the wheel is better to try to make it spin faster and in my direction, so I found a few open source programs which have most of the features I need but there is very limited description of the advance or in-depth of them and without trying all of them is hard know what they can and how far can they be pushed :
1. Can I search on the area code and list the surrounding suburbs as well if I teach somehow the programs how the suburbs and post codes are related.
2. If the website can be displayed in multiple languages and if it is easier to change this languages even if it doesn’t come as standard ex. ( edit/translate a file or few of them which have the base words used in the website)
I hope you guys understand my point of view.
To make the answers easier I will least the main features I am looking and I hope to get appropriate answers and suggestions .
Because of the limited starting budget I would prefer open source software ( PHP/MYSQL) not excluded a paid version if is for a reasonable price .

END USER Functionality
1. Quick search
2. Advance search option for the user
3. To display how many visits/views a property had ( views count)
4. Short list option
5. Auto Email option based on search criteria

Website Admin
1. To be able to define my own groups like ( Rentals,Buy/Sell property/Ausction/Build….etc.)
2. To be able to choose my own search criteria fields Quick vs advance search <I can build my own SQL query if needed>(Suburb,price range,no. bedrooms, minim price,type of property…etc.)
3. To be able to link regions/cities/postcodes
4. To be able to choose what the short listing of a search to display for each property (1 picture,description,no of bathrooms ..etc.)
5. To prioritize certain results (ex. If someone wants’ to pay for their property to be displayed in the entire state/country doesn’t matter what city or suburb a person searches { paid inclusions} )
6. To be able to generate reports on the most viewed or not viewed properties , top area searches .
7. To customize or include the necessary fields for each property like ( 4 pictures, description, price , no of bedrooms, garages, extras depending on the agent input, backyard size)
8. The option to email user automatic searches found based on the criteria the user selects ( property hunting feature)
9. To be able to offer a printable version of the found property
10. Google map or other map integration
11. To be able to import and export data from the database in known formats EXL,CSV( Ex. Quick Agent setup)
12. Search Engine Friendly
13. To put a time limit like 30 days a property can be displayed without any updates then removed automatically form the listing but not from the database unless the agent takes it out or admin
14. To ban certain agent functionality in case of no payment received in time .


Agent Interface
1. To be very user friendly and fool proof 
2. To automatic resize pictures on upload.
3. Offline software which will integrate with the online database on demand for changes / removals of properties ( for users with slow internet ) or easy to integrate with real-estate software used by agent.
4. Reports on most viewed property which belongs to the agent.
5. To be able to print or generate brochures with all the agent properties listed and customized logos for the agent
6. Possible SMS integration if used offline software

Other:
Real estate software
1. Property management which will integrate and upload / remove / edit the properties online

OTHER Features are welcomed .. as I said I am a beginner at this game but ask me about web design and coding or SEO and I will help you .

I Hope I am not too demanding and I accept all the opinions and possible to start from here a thread on what makes a “perfect” website with agent online and offline integration with features suggested by others and then listed the most appropriate software which fit the criteria.

Possible this will help others like me and will help the software designers to build their product arund the users needs,and real life functionality not the programer binary advance thinking ( no offence to programers … I am one of the to )


P.S.( I am looking for a forum software like the one used in this forum )

Regards

Deb

From several of your specifications, it seems like you are looking at building a MLS-like website and charging agents to display their listings. To be blunt, you can just forget that idea, at least in the US market. It's been tried, and failed, many times. Why would a brokerage or agent ever pay for displaying their listings on an unknown website, when their listings are already displayed on their own corporate websites, and dozens if not hundreds of IDX-enabled websites, all for free, as part of their MLS dues? If this is/was your idea, then you had better start with understanding how real estate works here and rethinking that plan.

However, if the goal is to develop a strong website design and architecture that you can then market to brokers and agents in your local area, then I would simply start with the REW standard CMS2 and its core functionalities, which probably already meet 90% of the requirements you list, and pay REW to customize for any remaining functional gaps per your specifications. For marketing the final end product, and your own technical consulting / planning / setup / customization / website management services, to agents/brokers in your area, you would need to hash out a contract with REW to be a REW OEM / Reseller / Integrator for your specific market. This would yield a product that could be sold and implemented relatively quickly, meaning quicker ROI on your time and investment, a higher per-unit initial sale, and minimal ongoing technical risk and liability, while still having opportunities for ongoing monthly and per-project support, customization and maintenance fees from your broker/agent clients.

__________________
Ron Goodman, GRI, REALTOR®
Prudential Colorado Real Estate
Denver Colorado Real Estate and Homes for Sale,
AdWords PPC Consulting and Support for REALTORS®
Hobby: Goodman Family History and Genealogy

For this person, REW would almost definitely not be a good option - All of our applications are "paid" (you are looking for low cost / free) and our source code and applications are proprietary (We do not provide server level access to our IDX or CMS code, nor does it ever leave our servers) - so if you are looking for source code you can "improve on" - the REW route would not work - although Ron is most certainly correct, our technology pretty much does everything you would want, or can be modified (By our team) to perform as necessary.

I think the REW options largest hurdle for you would be the budget, custom development at a high level is expensive, we bill out at $100 USD per hour.

__________________
Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of the basic principles [Of Google] will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit. Google.com

Sorry Guys I forgot to specify that this website is not for the US or Australian market which is saturated with products like this and what I want to achieve is something similar in functionality with one of this websites :
www.realestate.com.au.

RonnieG
"Why would a brokerage or agent ever pay for displaying their listings on an unknown website, when their listings are already displayed on their own corporate websites, and dozens if not hundreds of IDX-enabled websites, all for free, as part of their MLS dues?"

Well I think the idea is to sell service not product if I can justify enough that the product is easy to use , update , maintain ... close to all in one package and will make agent life easy I do the agent a service .

RonnieG
"From several of your specifications, it seems like you are looking at building a MLS-like website and charging agents to display their listings. To be blunt, you can just forget that idea, at least in the US market."

What is the idea in the US market how do websites make $ if this idea been tried and failed ?

webmaster
"We do not provide server level access to our IDX or CMS code, nor does it ever leave our servers"


I would like to be in control of what I am doing .. so I can customise or add search querys on the database, I want to give more functionality to the agent and more control over his stats ( which type of property is in demand ..etc)

yeah like I said, REW is not likely for you - in the US / Canada Ronnie is right, MLS subscription type websites are not such a good idea, because there are so many free ways to syndicate listings, but in other countries it could work. REW gets paid big $ to build MLS type websites in other countries - example http://buybarbados.com - but it sounds like you are thinking of reselling software, or licensing it - if that is the case, you really should build it from the ground up so you can support it properly.

__________________
Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of the basic principles [Of Google] will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit. Google.com

Interesting site. All-in-one real estate sales and rentals, combined with links to closely affiliated websites with common look and interfaces, for business opportunities and vacation rentals.

If the market is not US, and has little competition, or weak competition, it is an interesting concept. You would need to do more research, but I am not aware of a US website quite like this. They tend to be more single-purpose, and more local to particular markets.

In the US, we have local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), often, but not always, owned and run by the local Realtor Associations. For monthly / annual membership fees, they consolidate all brokerage owned local property listings (and sometimes rentals) into one members-only database. The MLS will (usually) provide a database extract, including photos, that individual brokers and agents can then download and use to populate into their own website's database structures, usually via 3rd party IDX products / services provided by vendors like REW and others. Competing with these well-established Realtor Association owned and managed MLS services has proven to be problematic.

Companies like REW, Point2Agent and many others also offer template and/or custom websites for those agents, with initial setup fees and monthly or annual hosting fees. These websites generate leads for that one broker or agent, regardless of who has the property listing, while what you propose seems to direct all leads to the listing office / agent for each property. The US model better supports "buyer agency". This is generally considered to be better for consumers, since a buyer can be represented by their own agent, who does not owe a fiduciary responsibility to the seller, so the buyer's rights and interests are generally better protected. Many of these template websites include support for most of the functionality you envision, but generally only for "for sale" properties. Some brokers and agents will develop their own custom websites, or have a company like REW do that for them. But as Morgan posted, that can be very expensive, and for an individual agent, is generally not cost effective unless they already have a huge volume of business to pay for it.

For rentals, and especially vacation rentals, there is a plethora of sites devoted to servicing those markets, most of them very localized, but a few national sites as well. Those site operators do generally charge per property and for a specific number of weeks or months.

For your product/service, that makes sense. However, I still think that for one person to try to do it all themselves would be a major technical as well as business challenge. No doubt, the owners of the site(s) you referenced have spent a huge amount of money and time planning, developing and marketing their product, including extensive legal consultation to insure that their offerings meet all legal and regulatory requirements. To expect to achieve the same results on your own may be overreaching, but good luck! I'm sure we would all be interested in seeing it, once you have it up and running!

__________________
Ron Goodman, GRI, REALTOR®
Prudential Colorado Real Estate
Denver Colorado Real Estate and Homes for Sale,
AdWords PPC Consulting and Support for REALTORS®
Hobby: Goodman Family History and Genealogy

Deb,

what country or region are you targeting?

Ok I will give it a go and let you guys know how I am going,
If anyone has any ideeas of Open Source software they are welcome to update me .

Regards
Deb