Nice design. Clean. Love the market info and stats. All great stuff.
Not liking the registration to view listings. As a consumer, why would I register to view the same info I can find for free on several hundred websites in your area?

Perhaps some copy on that sign in page that clearly defined the benefits of signing in.

Any thoughts about that?

Yes it's lacking on graphic appeal. I'm open to ideas and criticisms. Let's hear it!

http://www.ColoradoHomeFinder.com

If anybody would like to get in touch with us regarding building a fresh real estate site or anything else:

* http://premsites.com
* 970.879.8810

I'll be making some exciting announcements about our software in the next few weeks, so be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/premsites

Sorry to miss you at the upcoming Windermere Summit, but Windermere bombed last year. A complete waste of my time and worthy of a refund. If you were coming to Seattle instead, I might sneak over for the day.

Here goes.

I like the simple home page design. But… I would remove the people photos because I do not subscribe to the typical real estate coach school of branding. I believe you build personal brand by delivering good on your promise whatever that might be. You build brand by going one step further each and every time. You build brand by sitting down and making a list of what you would offer a customer if they paid you 10% commission and then delivering that service for 6%.

That's brand building.

I like that the Property Search takes me right to Property Search. No gimmicks. No maps. I wish the search result rendered some more local info beside just data on the home. I know that's what you're there for but I believe the site and you and one and the same. If your site offers little, it might make a user believe you do too.

Nav links. I don't agree that a link to you or Allyson should be in the #1,2, position. I don't there should be another link to Testimonials. And then another link to your community service. 1 link. ABOUT US. Fold all the stuff into that. The goal is reduce the amount of navigation links. Less is more.

I don't think Featured Properties should be #1. This is you telling the user what you find important. I'd rather see you creating a navigation that tells the user how important you think they are. That's why I would get rid of The Realtor Difference pronto. Unless you are marketing to space aliens, this is meaningless content on your site. While it might distinguish you from the 1 million non Realtor agents, it does to distinguish you from the 1.2 million Realtor agents who right now rate at the bottom of the Harris Poll most trusted professional. Use your site to distinguish yourself. Not bury you in stereotype.

I'd make Search the first link. I'd make Realty Watcher #2. I would do something about that Virtual Tour page because it's just really ugly and difficult to use due to the way it frames into the website.

Lose the the school link. It links off your site!!! Here's my spiel on that. This site is your virtual office. It's where you and I deal with each other. Why would you send me someplace else to get info you have? Would you do that offline? Besides, after clicking around on that school link – look at where I arrived – http://www.leavenworth.com/Washington/directory_realestate.htm
You navigated me right to Prudential!!!

I'll stop here. 'Tween you and me this site does you an injustice. I've read your comments on 1000watt and you have come across as smart, conscientious guy. This site diminished that impression.

That's my opinion.

http://www.geordieromer.com

The PremSites platforms are robust as is indicated here. There is no doubt considerable customizations are possible and the results are only as great as the broker/agent makes them.

The few things I would recommend to your clients to really take this site over the top are:

1) Remove the rotating pictures top left. This is arguably the most important piece of real estate on the page currently wasted with stock photo that the user cannot engage. Far more effective would be a video component/s. Showcase neighborhoods. Showcase the brokerage.

2 – I would also address the "Featured Property" component for the same reasons I offered Seth above. I also wonder, based on the description of the one property being featured if Steamboat is predominantly a farm town. If not, that featured property is creating an image for the city that is not being balanced in any way anywhere else on the home page.

3 – Quick Search. Why quick? Does the site perceive its visitors to be in a hurry? How about Search Every Listing for Sale In Steamboat, instead.

4 – The search itself is very good and a great indication of how robust the platform is. I really like the listing pages themselves. But I am not a fan of seeing the map as the first element on the first search results page. The map view I have offers a bunch of green markers that don't seems to do anything when I click on them.
And with all the advanced components, etc., I think some copy on the page that helps the user understand what to do would be appropriate.

5- I love the New Listings Notifications! But I have to ask – why is this killer piece of real estate technology and wonderful web service buried in a drop down window! I'd pull that out today and get it on the home page.

This site is a wonderful improvement over the stale template sites that have been around since the 90's! My best advice for your clients is to take full advantage of this powerful software and don't let yourself fall into the typical trappings.

- Refrain from using bad stock photos or any stock photos. Go snap a few nice photos and use them.
- Be creative in your site copy. Remember, agents aren't using the site. Real people are who may not get the lingo.
- Think hard about your navigation and what it says.
- Be very clear on every page, what to do and how the user can get the most out of it.
- Do everything you can to keep faces off the homepage. I know agents have been taught to brand themselves by placing their picture everywhere but this idea contradicts the accepted tenets of good branding and web design.
- Make Search very accessible. And stay about from over used meaningless terms like Quick Search. Users aren't looking for quick. They want content rich search. And all the listings on one site.

Peter, please list your contact info so readers can reach out to you.

As for your MLS, shame on them. It's 2008, MLS data dumps should be exquisite.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the comments! To answer/talk about points:

1. Login is solely for people that want to "add their favorite listings". When they choose to add, it brings up the option to register.

2. Great point about the featured listing. A search box could fit in nicely there. I will really think about that.

3. I forgot about the logo. Several days ago, I had put in the new logo picture, didn't like the size, so I expanded it in Dreamweaver, then resampled. Doing other things, I forgot to go resize it and replace in AI.

4. Email listing alert: To preface, our MLS data dump is terrible. The way the data is given in the nightly feed is absolutely horrendous, which makes the email alert nearly impossible. Although, our MLS has JUST set up a RETS feed, so that may change very soon.

Thank you again!