Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:00
#7 3185 Via Centrale, Kelowna BC
We have another addition to our ever-growing library of features in our EstateVue WordPress plugin, our Custom Neighbourhood Data Map. This map can be custom made to show neighbourhoods and their listings in any city, with real time data taken directly from the CREA DDF (Unified Data Feed), on any WordPress website.
If you’re looking to innovate and separate yourself from the sea of realtors that exist, who are using all of the same tools, then we have a product for you.
Before we get into how this tool can benefit you and your business, let’s quickly break down all of the features within this amazing new tool.
Drawing subareas and selecting listings
Each map can be custom drawn to show the subareas in your city, and pull the listings in real time.
As you can see on the right, we have drawn each subarea within Kelowna, and the cities across the bridge on the other side of Okanagan Lake. With these subareas, we are able to pull the listings directly from the DDF. When zooming in on the map you can see more and more listings start to show, and you can click on a listing to see an overview of the listing, and then click the listing to view the listings full details.
Select Listing Type
The map will load with Single Family homes by default, but our map allows the user to select any property type. They can view all property types, or any property types they desire by selecting and deselecting the property types in the filter.
These property types load inline, meaning the user will not have to reload the page or click a button to see the results. Because this map is completely custom, it wouldn’t be complete without custom designed map markers for each property type, making this map stand out against all of the generic maps most realtors use.
Viewing Statistics
Located to the bottom left of the map is the viewing statistics. These statistics show 2 things: The number of properties being viewed at that moment, and the average price of the homes being viewed. This tells the user how many homes are available in specific areas they are viewing, and the average price helps them determine whether they can afford real estate in that area.
As you can see in the video to the right, these numbers also change in real time, allowing the user to get the information they need in seconds. This feature beats out any of your competition, as most realtors are using generic map searches that don’t even include this information.
Price Heat Map
We have also built in a price heat map into this tool, and once you click the button to enable the heat map, you will be shown where the prices are highest and lowest in each section of the city. Of course just like all our other features above, this happens in real time.
Map Styles
Here at EstateVue we are not just real estate web developers, we are also graphic and web designers. We understand how important the style of your website is, and how important keeping that style consistent throughout your website and branding is. So we have built in 4 different styles for this custom map, so it fits within your design.
Greyscale – This style works well with designs that are meant to be clean, with lots of whitespace. It can even work with a clean site that has some bright accent colors, such as red, green, and a cold blue.
Streets – This is the classic map look that Google Maps uses, and is recognizable and still a favourite amongst most people.
Dark – This style is a bit different but works great for darker website themes. Though it may not show as much detail, it can look great with the right WordPress theme.
Satellite – As with the “Streets” style mentioned above, this style is quite common and well known to anyone who has used Google Maps. It gives a satellite view style to the map, show a real time detailed map of the area.
Neighbourhood Color Scheme
As you can see in the video to the right, the neighbourhoods are using a teal – dark teal color scheme. These was done to match the clients branding, and can be done to match any branding and color scheme of a website.
At the bottom right of your screen you’ll see a box that shows the average price color legend. When choosing your color scheme, you’ll want to choose a color to begin the gradient, and a color to end it. Our system then takes those 2 colors, creates a gradient map, and then applies them to their corresponding prices in the map itself.
Upcoming Features
As per usual, we are always looking to improve our tools, so we will be building the following upcoming features: Historical price comparisons, and custom property type selection.
Historical price comparisons - Imagine providing a tool to your customers that allows them to compare properties in real time, comparing the current price with past pricing, giving them two powerful metrics to narrow down their search for the best deal.
Our new historical property price will keep people coming back to your site for a long time. Increase the quality of your leads, and save time finding the right property.
Coming soon....
Custom property type selection - This feature is exactly how it sounds. Currently the map loads Single Family homes by default, and has ALL property types available for the user to filter through. But we are going to build in an option for you to choose which property types are available.
How is it useful for realtors?
I’m sure you’re wondering at this point why you would want this tool, and how it can be beneficial to you? The first one of the most important, is standing out from the rest of the crowd. Many real estate agent websites come pre-packaged and look very generic. Most have the same look, and use the same tools. Having a custom map tool like this shows your users that you are professional, and put the time and money into something you know will make your users lives much easier.
Local Marketing
Local marketing is critical when it comes to being a successful real estate agent in your city. Showing your users that you know the local area and market, and that you put this much effort into your city, shows them you care more than the average realtor.
Using a tool like this you can focus your marketing strategies in your local area, both online and in person, giving you more opportunity to attract new customers, as well as networking with other agents in the area.
In conclusion, if you’re looking to add an amazing tool to your website that will benefit both you as a realtor, and your users, this custom neighbourhood map is a must. Contact us at EstateVue for more information and how we can get this tool into your website.