Real estate portal

Business
1

Good morning,
I have a web client that has been using OpenRealty.org for a while and is unhappy with it. I mostly build static html websites and know my way around wordpress enough to create a child theme. I know there are just so many real estate scripts and templates out there and many hosted platforms. I’m leaning toward cutting them loose with a hosted platform only because I don’t know if I can give them exactly what they need. Any good suggestions? Thanks so much.

2

You can always hire someone else that you trust and know that is a good programmer to do the dynamic site. You can also go to eLance.com or similar to find one. In this case, even if they charge more, go to those with lots of projects on their backs and high reputaiton.

The very first thing is to have very clear what they want, what they need (because they may not know it) and the specifications.

If you really know your way around WP, I would say that it is very likely that you’ll be good to go. Do make sure that the plugins and scripts you use are safe. There are thousands of them but not all programmers think about security (unfortunately) or know enough about it (again, unfortunately) to be used.

Once you know the specifications (be aware of possible changes from the customer. Make sure that everything is tight) you can go two ways:

  • if you have a good programmer/programming team that you can rely on (quality-wise and time-wise), do it and charge your customer accordingly

  • If you don’t or if your programmer is so-so (quality-wise, he should always respond time-wise) then you can explain that this type of project is not regular for you but you’re interested and that you will do it XX % less of the regular charge because it will be a learning experience for you and it allows you to grow.

If the second, again, tell them that the price is for that particular project as agreed, and that any change can cost additional amounts of cash

3

Molona
I really like your thinking. Especially the “discounted get paid to learn” deal. I do try to be frank with clients, and let them know when I “don’t quite know what I’m doing but I’ll try!”

Thanks for reminding me. It does appear that the IDX and other plugins that are “safer” have good reviews, so it should be relatively straightforward determining what to get.

1 Like