Property Listing Website: Build It Yourself or Use a Platform?

Two routes

You can build a property listing website yourself, with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace or a developer, or you can use a platform built for listings. Both are reasonable. The right one depends on what you value, and it's worth being honest about the trade-offs, including ours.

Building it yourself

What you get

• Full control. Any layout, any page, any integration you can find or build.
• Your own domain from day one.
• Portal feeds, in some markets. Some WordPress property plugins can send listings to the portals, which Loftfolio can't.
• No dependence on one vendor for the whole site.

What it costs you

• Setup time. Choosing a theme, adding listings, building forms, testing on phones.
• Upkeep. Updates, security, plugin conflicts, backups. Someone has to own it.
• The applicant side. Applications, documents, showings and a shared record of every applicant don't come with a website builder. You add them, or you do them by email.

Using a platform

What you get

• Listings, applications and showings in one place. Publish a property and it has its own page, an application form and booking.
• No upkeep. Hosting, updates and security are the platform's job.
• Quick to start. Live the same afternoon.

What it costs you

• A monthly fee.
• Less design freedom. You choose colors, type and content, not the whole layout.
• Dependence on the vendor. Check that you can export your data and leave without a contract.

A worksheet for your own numbers

We're not going to put prices on other people's products. Fill in your own.

Build it yourself, first year:

• Hosting and site plan: ____
• Domain: ____
• Theme, plugins and add-ons (forms, scheduling, property listings): ____
• Developer or designer time: ____
• Your own hours to set up and maintain, times what an hour is worth: ____

Loftfolio, first year:

• Starter: $39 a month, or $374 a year paid yearly (one person, up to 25 properties)
• Pro: $99 a month, or $950 a year paid yearly (three people, unlimited properties)
• Agency: $249 a month, or $2,390 a year paid yearly (ten people)
• Setup fee: none. Your hours: an afternoon to set up.

Prices are in US dollars, excluding any sales tax or VAT. The spend calculator helps you add up what you already pay.

Choose DIY if

• You or someone on your team is comfortable maintaining a website
• Your own domain matters today
• You want listings fed to the portals from your site
• Design freedom matters more than the applicant side

Choose a platform if

• You'd rather not maintain anything
• You want applications, documents and showings handled in the same place as the listings
• You want to be live today and change prices yourself tonight

What Loftfolio doesn't do

No custom domain yet (your site is yourname.loftfolio.com), no MLS or IDX, no portal syndication, no rent collection, no screening. If one of those is the deciding factor, build it yourself or choose a different tool. The full list.

If you go with Loftfolio and change your mind, there's no contract, and you can export listings, applications and messages as CSV, JSON or ZIP on every plan.

→ See the plans