Real Estate Forums
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I'm looking for input from real estate agents who have a handle on what information people want to see for listings and how best to organize it to make it usable for the visitor. The background: I'm building a real estate web site that's pulling listing data from a database (from an IDX feed downloaded from the local MLS board). I have no control over the contents of the db, and many, many of the fields are often left empty by the agents when they list a property.
I've organized the data in a particular way: Type of property, list price, square feet, etc., are presented in the same order on every page. So as people go browsing through the listings, they come to expect to see certain information in a certain place for each listing. When those fields are left empty by the listing agent, is it better to use if/then logic to not display those fields at all, or is it better to list the field name but with no information in it? For example, which of the below is more "usable" for a home buyer? 3 Bedroom/2 Bath Home Price: $500,000 Taxes: N/A Year built: N/A Address: 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Anytown Square feet: 2,500 Living room: N/A Master bedroom: 18x23 OR 3 Bedroom/2 Bath Home Price: $500,000 Address: 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Anytown Square feet: 2,500 Master bedroom: 18x23 There's a great deal of data to display -- 125 fields in the main Residential/Ag database. I'll be using about 60 or 80 or those fields, and for any given listing more than half of those might be empty. I think it looks bad (and awkward) to have 40 or more fields listed as N/A. Of course I organize it into groupings of similar information and break it up with subheadings -- but I'm just not sure how best to organize it and display it. On another message board I frequent (a non-real-estate webmaster's board) there seems to be a growing consensus to use a hybrid approach: Divide all the data into two groups, "must know" and "nice to know": Put the "must know" info at the top and list all fields, including empty ones (with an asterisk or N/A). Put the "nice to know" info below that, and leave the field out altogether if the realtor didn't enter anything for it (e.g., number of outbuildings). So: What's the take from the real estate professionals here? Any thoughts on that approach? Yes/no/it depends/even more confusing for the user? If that's the approach I take, then I have to make some decisions regarding "must know" information vs. "nice to know." What would be considered the absolute "must know" information that buyers want when they're looking at property listings? Obviously, these: Type of property Price Square feet Beds/baths (for homes & condos). What else? Year built? Number of stories? Heated and/or AC square feet? Total square feet? Here in Florida, waterfront is a must-know piece of information. Pool? Probably. Fireplaces? Probably in the "nice to know" category. What about Subdivision? Property taxes? Lot size? Schools? Garage? Thanks for any and all insight on this issue! |
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