Hey everyone, I have been bobbing around the site here for a couple of days, mostly because I have been toying with the idea of converting my real estate license community from Wordpress to Drupal.
Why? Because I have heard a lot of great things about Drupal and believe that it offers more "community" type features. The one thing that has really kept me with WordPress up to this point is the amazing support and community for the platform itself, the constant free plugins and themes being released is great. That is really why I have been poking around here, I wanted to see how strong of a community the Drupal users have built.
Have any of you made the transformation from WordPress to Drupal, I would love to here some experiences from everyone. One thing I am concerned with is of course search engine rankings and downtime, will this be an issue should I decide to go this route?
Thanks for the help!
Comments
Total Newbie and a Real Estate Person - Drupal Hard
My experience with Drupal from installing to operation has been HARD. I'm a total newbie, but it seems like Drupal is so programmer oriented that you are always having to get under the hood to fix it. Drupal wins the feature race hands down, but it needs capable administration. Feels like flying Microsoft Flight Simulator only you don't know what the plane is supposed to do.
I've switched my site from
I've switched my site from WP to Drupal recently. I would suggest you want to understand what you're doing before you make the plunge. If you don't know how to install and use a local server yet...learn. Then practice what you want to do on that local server until you have it right. This is a good thing to learn anyway, but I know a lot of WP users don't ever think about it.
A little planning up front will go a long way, but in the end I'm convinced you'll be happy w/ the outcome.
http://scottmckinnis.com
http://scottmckinnis.com
Open-Realty Maybe?
I am currently dabbling in WP and have been reading up on Open-Realty. Have you had any experiences with it? I am pretty happy with WP and really like the plugins and the support.
Brainerd Minnesota Real Estate News
Minnesota Real Estate News
My Drupal real estate site
I had a custom MLS module built for my site 3.5 years ago. I describe the site in detail below. The site is Drupal 4.7 and I'm looking to upgrade it to 6 and collaborate on the effort with other realtors. I had this site built so I could do more for my clients as well as use it as a tool for better search engine rankings. I have studied search engine optimization and hired a number of consultants to ensure I know it well. The site ranks #1 on Google for "Lake Tahoe Real Estate".
The site downloads the MLS data each day from two different MLS boards (North Tahoe and South Tahoe) via a Python script and converts the data into nodes(pages). It then notifies clients who have subscribed for updates. Notifications include; new listings that match their criteria, price changes, and when photos have been added/changed. It also has a weekly statistical email subscription that crunches some basic stats and includes link to new listings, price changes, and new/updated photos. On the property pages we display the following; listing date, property details (including HOA fees), listing agent's comments, a history of original price and dates of each price reduction, a slide show (via Google's Picasa) of additional photos we've taken, comments from us after we've previewed, Google Street view that has the ability to see the neighboring properties, Google map, a slide show (via Google's Picasa) of the HOA amenities, a table of recent sales in the community (uploaded via node import module), a table of recent price reductions in the community (automatically done via the MLS module), a table of properties in the community that we've recently previewed and added photos. In the side bar of each property page we include an area called Quick Links that includes; Search the MLS, Weekly market report, Lake Tahoe lakefront homes, Recent sales by area, Recent price reductions by area, Bank owned properties, Short sales, and another link to contact us. Below this the MLS module automatically crunches the following stats;
All Active Listings
As of Jan 20 2010 there are 54 properties for sale in Tahoe Donner.
Price range: $110,000 - $2,000,000
Price (avg): $695,143
Price per sq. foot (avg): $289
Days on Market (avg): 270
Bank owned properties: 2
Properties with price reductions: 51
Average price reduction percent: 11.29%
Year built 2000 or newer
As of Jan 20 2010 there are 25 properties for sale in Tahoe Donner built in year 2000 or later.
Price range: $224,500 - $2,000,000
Price (avg): $857,012
Price per sq. foot (avg): $299
Days on Market (avg): 313
Bank owned properties: 1
Properties with price reductions: 22
Average price reduction percent: 12.56%
Sales year-to-date (YTD) vs. last year
In Tahoe Donner
0 properties sold YTD 2010
4 properties sold YTD 2009
N/A in sales.
Under $500,000
0 properties sold YTD 2010
4 properties sold YTD 2009
N/A in sales.
$500,000 - $1,000,000
0 properties sold YTD 2010
0 properties sold YTD 2009
N/A in sales.
Over $1,000,000
0 properties sold YTD 2010
0 properties sold YTD 2009
N/A in sales.
Sales Volume
2010 - $0
2009 - $1,618,000
N/A in volume.
Sales vs. Asking Prices
2010 - 0.00%
2009 - 99.03%
N/A in difference.
Avg. Price per Sq. Foot
2010 - $0
2009 - $302
N/A in price.
Average Days on Market
2010 -
2009 - 185
N/A in duration.
Below this we display featured properties. We currently have this configured to display properties within the same community that are priced similar to the property the client is viewing. This can also be set to display any properties....those we see as exceptional, those we've previewed, or our listings.
I get comments from new clients often saying they are contacting me because my site provides more information than any other site in my market. 99% of the sites are a framed IDX solution from a local developer. But there's more I want to do with the site. More stats, mapping search and results displays, better search engine optimization of the properties, multiple community sites that feed from the main site, integration with a CRM like salesforce.com, automation of the addition of the sold stats... I'm reaching out to other realtors in an attempt to see if we can get a few of us to collaborate on the details of the build as well as the cost of the build.
Take a look at the site and let me know what you think.
http://www.cblaketahoe.com/realestate/listing/2704096
Tristan Roberts
800.356.6152