Estate agent and realtor websites: listings, local pages and the rules to follow

What buyers and sellers look for

1. Do you know my area? Streets, schools, prices, what sells and how fast.
2. Can I trust you? Licence, years in the business, reviews, and your record.
3. What will you do for me? A clear valuation and marketing process, not generalities.
4. What does it cost? Fees or commission, plus what is included.
5. What have you sold recently? Real examples near them, with prices where allowed.
6. How do I reach you? A phone number that is answered, a viewing request or a valuation form.

What to include

Local knowledge that is real

Agents win business by knowing their patch. Your website can show it with pages or sections about the areas you cover that say something only a local would know: how the streets differ, where the schools are, how commuting works, what sold recently and for how much, where new building is planned. Write them from experience, with facts you can stand behind, and update them.

• Cover only areas you really serve. Do not create a page for every neighbouring town.
• Avoid near-identical pages with only the place name changed. Google’s spam policies treat that kind of page as doorway abuse.
• Give real numbers where you have them: typical prices, time on market, recent sales, with dates.
• Add photographs of the places, not stock images.
• Do not describe neighbourhoods in ways that point to the kind of people who live there. See the Fair Housing note below.

The rules, by country

Property marketing rules protect buyers and renters, and are enforced. The summaries below show the shape; check your own licensing authority and trading standards body.

United States

• Licence number and brokerage. Many states require agents’ advertising, including websites, to show the licensee’s name, licence number and the responsible broker’s name. Some require the brokerage’s name, address and phone number on every page, or a link to the brokerage site. Rules vary by state, so look at your state real estate commission’s advertising rules.
• Fair Housing. The Fair Housing Act bars advertising that states a preference or limitation based on a protected characteristic, such as race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. A housing advertisement should describe the property, not the potential occupant. Avoid phrases that imply who should or should not apply, and be careful with words and images.
• Listing feeds. Showing multiple-listing-service listings on your site usually needs an arrangement through your broker or the MLS. Check before you copy listings.

United Kingdom

• Redress scheme. Since 1 October 2008, anyone doing residential estate agency work in the UK has had to belong to an approved redress scheme, run by The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress. Show which one.
• Material information. National Trading Standards’ estate and letting agency team has published guidance, developed with the major portals, on the information a listing should include because it affects buyers’ and renters’ decisions: Part A covers the price or rent, council tax band and tenure; Part B covers physical characteristics; Part C covers other matters, such as flood risk, conservation areas and easements. The duty comes from consumer protection law, which treats information as material if it may affect a consumer’s decision.
• Client money protection is required for money held on behalf of landlords and tenants in England.

Europe

• Energy performance. The EU’s buildings directive requires that where a property is offered for sale or rent, its energy performance indicator and class is stated in advertisements, including online and on property portals. Member States implement this in their own laws, so look up yours.
• Licensing and titles. Many countries license or register agents and protect titles. Check your country’s rules and your professional body.
• Data and tracking. Under the GDPR, any enquiry form or tracking tool needs a lawful basis and a privacy notice.

India

• Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, agents who facilitate the sale or purchase of units in projects covered by the Act must register with the state RERA authority. Reported guidance says the registration number must be quoted prominently on advertisements, websites and promotional material, and, in many states, the project’s QR code too.
• Advertise only projects that are themselves registered, and use the RERA number of the project as well as your own.
• Check your state’s RERA authority for the exact requirements.

Describing properties honestly

• State the basics accurately: price, size, tenure and location. Do not hide costs such as service charges or ground rent.
• Use recent, honest photographs and a floor plan. Do not edit photographs in a way that misleads about size, light or condition.
• Include material facts that affect a decision, such as flood risk, a nearby development or a short lease, as your rules and good practice require.
• Avoid vague puffery that cannot be checked. “Stunning” is harmless; “the best-value home in the area” is a claim.
• Keep listings up to date and remove sold or let properties.

Reviews, results and recent sales

• Ask clients for genuine reviews on Google, and reply to them. Do not pay for reviews or write your own.
• If you quote recent sales, say how recent and give the area, not the owner’s name or address, unless they have agreed.
• Be careful quoting figures like “sold in 5 days” or “98% of asking price” unless you can show how they were worked out.
• Respect privacy: never publish clients’ personal details.

Common mistakes

• Competing with the portals instead of showing local expertise.
• No licence number, agency name or redress scheme.
• Stock photographs of keys and handshakes.
• Pages for every town with the same text.
• Phrases that imply who should live somewhere.
• Out-of-date listings, or listing details that omit important facts.
• No fees or process described.
• Slow pages loaded with huge photographs. See website speed for non-technical people.

For ready-made sections and notices for agents, see websites for real estate agents.

Where BeVisible fits

BeVisible has a setup for agents with “What I handle” (areas and property types), “Listings & services”, “Area covered”, a “Licence & memberships” line for your registration number, and a notice suited to where you work, including the Equal Housing wording in the US. It is a one-page site that links to your portal listings, so it suits an agent who wants a clear, trustworthy page rather than a property-feed website. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.