Toolset for Real Estate – What are You Doing?

   Amir

Announcements

September 1, 2015
28

Toolset team is putting together a special task force, to update our reference site for Real Estate. We’re getting our best minds to see what you need and how we can make it simple. In this post, I mostly want to know what you are doing now, what you want to do with Toolset and where you see the most difficulties.

Real Estate Listings Integration (MLS)

Once properties appear in the WordPress database, Toolset can display them for you. Smaller sites can work with manual content entry, either to the WordPress admin, or via front-end forms with CRED. We want to know what you would use when you build larger real estate sites that require integration with MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Are you using a plugin for that? A complete theme? An external service?

Google Maps Display

Most real estate sites need to display properties on a map. Currently, Views has basic Maps integration. We know that it requires an update we’re actually working on it right now. If you’re building anything that needs Maps integration, tell us what you’re trying to achieve and what your plans are.

Developing from Scratch or Enhancing with Toolset?

Finally, we’re very interested to know about your approach to building real estate sites. Are you planning to develop everything from scratch with Toolset or are you going to use a real estate theme and enhance it with Toolset?

Leave your comments below and we’ll reply. The most information we get, the better we can develop it for you.

 

Comments 28 Responses

  1. Hi Amir,

    A use for maps that might be achievable with Views … What I’m thinking is to create a custom post type with a place where you enter the address or long / lat coordinates. Using a view create a page with your excepts and a map with pins for the locations from your posts along with a number corresponding to the excerpts. So if you have 20 locations, you would have 20 pins on the map and 20 excerpts. This could be used for a real estate site, for showing the locations of your stores, places you visited on vacation, etc.

    Best,

    David

  2. Timely, I’m in the process of building a Real Estate site with Toolset. I’m currently transferring the Real Estate demo site over to Layouts and the Toolset Starter theme. Although I’ll be modifying it more to suit the clients needs, so far I’ve removed the Bootstrap 2 classes, and replace with Bootstrap 3. I also copied over the style.css file to a child theme, and am modifying as needed.

    The client wants their own custom entered listings (the local MLS feed that everyone uses shrinks images really small, they want large images to stand out form the crowd), and then other MLS listing as an add-on (how is still to be determined, it will either be the IDX feed from the local board if I can figure it out how to integrate it, or I will have to default to a plugin).

    They also wanted Google map integration for their listings, which I lifted straight off the reference site. The biggest issue with that is I need the listing to appear from an address, and not latitude/longitude coordinates.

    The biggest challenge for me will be custom MLS integration if I can figure it out. In an ideal world the client would like their own listings from the MLS IDX feed to populate in their custom properties post type so it appears on their site immediately. Then they can go in when they have time and update with larger photos, and add extra info. The reasoning behind this is so the realtor doesn’t have to enter the listing data twice. At the brokerage all listing need to be entered into a software program first called Matrix, which then populates the feed, goes to other realtors, and also populates the Canadian National IDX feed. Another post type will then be created to hold the rest of the MLS listings, which will not be edited. As I said, I’m not to sure if I will be able to accomplish this. The alternative is, and the client is aware of this, is that the realtors will just have to enter the listing info twice, in Matrix, and then in the CPT in WordPress admin.

    • Our research into this shows that there aren’t too many options for just importing MLS/IDX feeds into the WordPress database. There are themes and plugins that will do this, but they include the complete package for real estate sites and often require subscriptions in third party systems.

      We are considering to develop a free WordPress plugin that will import MLS streams. Problem is, we know nothing about it.

      Do you have any pointers that we can follow to understand the specifications and what’s needed to choose the right feed and the right properties in that feed?

      • Hey Amir!

        I’ve used types for quite some time and love it, so when I saw this I figured I’d at least share my code that I wrote for importing MLS data into wordpress. Our local MLS vendor utilizes a RETS server and follows the http://www.reso.org/ standards. I created the full-pull script, but unfortunately it’s still pretty opinionated (assumes property post type, manual mapping of fields). I threw in a couple comments to guide you if you take a look at all.

        Here it is : https://github.com/mbitson/RETS-To-Wordpress

        That being said, I don’t know if you’re looking to import directly from a RETS server or not.

        Cheers!

        • Thanks Mikel,

          This will surely help us. We’re just starting to learn about this and your code is a great starting point for us.

        • Now this I’m very interested in, as it’s probably what I will need. Unfortunately I know very little about PHP, but I will poke through to see what I can figure out.

      • I just starting to go down the rabbit hole of MLS RETS/IDX feeds. I don’t how it’s going to go yet either! Not being a programmer it could be tough, but I have a couple of people I can lean on if needed.

        A plugin that could import MLS without all the extra crap, subscription fees etc., would be a game changer for me.

        • I’m very happy to hear that you may be able to help us. We’re working with a developer who’s very experienced in developing interfaces for MLS. What our developer says is that it’s hard to get testing accounts. Do you have an account in an MLS system? We’ll need a few accounts that we can use, on different MLS, to see what we’re getting ourselves into.

          • Is there any update on this? I now an FTP feed that someone is interested in integrating, I will also have a RETS feed shortly as well.

  3. I know what I want for this … but is a – sort of- competition (just in the maps-geo integration-. Very good product but with a scope limited to this kind og websites… I am sure there is not a full fledged competition for toolset…

    Is educated to write here that … product?

    i repeat there is nothing like toolset 🙂

    • This is coming to Views 1.11. Juan, lead developer of Views, is finishing the implementation of completely new Google Maps integration for Toolset. This will include natural address input (not just latitude/longitude) and convenient fields to insert the maps and pointers. No more clunky Javascript integration. You’ll be able to display beautiful maps without writing any PHP or Javascript. We’re getting together a demo for this in a few days.

  5. For manually entered listings, a geocoder is a *must*. There’s just no way you can expect a real estate agent to find out the latitude and longitude of a property and copy and paste those into a listing. What you’d end up with is a bunch of listings without maps 🙂
    It’s also important to be able to tweak the location placement by dragging the pin if required.

    A good example of mapping done right is Mappress. It has an excellent geocoder, allows for multiple locations per listing/post, and is easy to use.
    With Mappress you can display a single map on a Views Template or display map with multiple locations determined by a View.
    The kicker is that Mappress cannot be integrated into CRED so I’m stuck using the default WordPress entry system instead of CRED which I’d much rather use. If CRED had a geocoder and could display maps per View Template or View, that would be the bees knees.

    Another thing that would be great is a better way of having more than one real estate agents assigned to a single listing. Currently I’m using a custom taxonomy for my real estate agents, but it’s a big clunky.

    An example of the kind of stuff I’m doing can be found here: http://kamloopshousetours.com

  6. I should also say that if you’re planning on building something to import information and create posts, you will need to do something with Layouts. Currently any post that’s not created manually, gets created without the proper (or any) layout assigned so anyone viewing the listing would just get a blank page.

  7. From my point of view we shoud look at the big picture rather than focusing on the Real Estate solution for Toolset and start from the ground up as a total and integrated solution .

    The best way would be to have the workflow begins from [Types] for any map and locations requirements and the rest of Toolset modules can use the same field.

    • I agree. Toolset is getting brand new Google Maps integration in the upcoming release of Views. This will allow to plot data on Google Maps like you do everything else in Views. No more writing Javascript and doing all sorts of hacks. Plotting markers on a Google Map will be as easy as creating any other list in Views.

  8. I’ve got some real estate websites that are using Toolset plugins – in one case I’m using a Types CPT for the MLS/IDX feed, but it doesn’t/can’t manipulate the data.

    It is possible to grab the actual data – and then do whatever you want with it – but you need an agreement with the real estate board (and you need to pay a fee), at least with the ones I’ve dealt with.

    I’m really interested in this so if you want to take a closer look, please let me know.

    • How are you pulling the IDX feed into your CPT? This is what I’m going to be grappling with shortly. I just need it to display, no manipulation.

      • Clients have accounts with MyRealPage which allows you to create predefined searches, showcases, and search forms. You can add the listings via javascript or with their plugin (which is a better option because it outputs the listings inline).

  9. I’m looking forward to google maps. What you will be able to? Custom Markers – add descriptions, links, pictures, icons, categories and animations to your markers, Directions, Polygons & Polylines, Add “Store Locator” functionality to your maps?

    I am sorry for my English

    • Hey Tony

      Juan lead Views developer here. Happy to see that the google maps integration is getting so mych love.

      With it, you will be able to add custom markers and fill the infowindow with whatever you want (no limit). As markers usually come from posts, you already have categories.

      What is more improtant is the things it brings and you do not notice, like automatic ntegration with Views AJAX pagination and with Views parametric searches. It also provides an easy to use API so you can easily extend it to add marker animations, polygons and polylines. You will be able to interact with the map and marker object directly in case you want to do it.

      Of course, we will continue iterating this addon, and adding new features. I am thinking about distance calculators, a GUI for those polygons and polylines, etc. We are pretty excited with this new plugin, and we plan to support and extend it over time.

      • Hi Juan, will the new Google Maps Plugin feature “clustering” (an icon displaying the number of markers and when you zoom in the markers are displayed). I intend creating some Holiday Accommdoation Directories and apart from each listing having it own map, I would like to create a Google Map on the home page featuring all the listings, but with clustering enabled so that we don’t have hundreds or thousands of location markers all bunched up. Will that be a feature? Will be stoked if that’s the case.

  10. Well I second to Tony (better English than me…). About polylines, polygons… etc. it would be great if if there is an easy way to define regions, may be even “partitions”. With partitions i mean empty intersection between zones. Sharing lines???

    And of course if these are easily associated with some taxonomies…

    But the real potential, the super cool thing would be is if (or when?) Toolset brings support to geo-localization like “find some kind of something at 500 mts. or less”… so we are not talking of “just” real estate web sites… you could combine with the directory… so there is a new world in that direction.

    I guess you already have a plan but I needed to “tell” that.

    Hope you understand in spite my poor pathetic English.

  12. Regarding MLS – we ended up using the IDX plugin – http://www.dsidxpress.com/ – I would LOVE it if WP-Types would provide the ability to generate an MLS feed without the use of a third-party plugin. All the data could be built into WP-Types – it’s just a matter of formatting into the corresponding XML feed… right?

    On mapping – we generally use Mapify Pro – which works well but I haven’t figured out a way to feed it WP-Types custom post type data… so I’m looking forward to expanded options for the WP-Types mapping capabilities. Check out http://vanmetrehomes.com/our-communities/ – I built this entire site on WP-Types – with COMMUNITIES / HOMES / FLOOR PLANS / ELEVATIONS – all related. Works very well.

    About using real-estate themes – I much prefer building in WP-Types and creating my own theme… this provides the maximum flexibility.

    Thanks!