Oct 17, 2022·3 min read

How to Make an App Like Zillow and Trulia?

Create your own real estate app like Zillow and ease the process for brokers, agents, and homeowners. A Step-by-Step Guide to Develop from idea to launch.

Real estate statistics provide data-based insights into the housing market's ongoing change to real estate brokers, investors, and clients. This might be useful when looking for a home, selling a house, listing or looking for a rental property, or representing clients in this market. Prices of recently listed homes have increased by 13.5% since March of last year and by 26.5% since March of this year. Prices have climbed by 9.1% in major urban regions, including New York, Chicago, and Dallas/Fort Worth.

The median active listing price in March 2022 was $405,000, an 8% rise from the median active listing price in the same month the previous year. Most people's wealth is mostly comprised of real estate, particularly for many American homeowners. Thanks to the simplicity of on-the-go searches, real estate apps receive millions of weekly visits. According to the National Association of Realtors, 76% of smartphone or tablet users and 97% of home buyers start their searches online. Millions of people browse real estate apps each week because mobile searches are so convenient. The National Association of Realtors reports that 97% of home buyers begin their research online, as do 76% of smartphone or tablet users.

What is the Zillow app, and how does it work?

Zillow, the most well-known real estate marketplace in the US, provides a space for dialog between customers and business owners. Customers can refine search results to discover a house that satisfies their requirements. A whole range of residential services is offered through the platform. Zillow owns and operates many real estate apps accessible in all the main app stores.

To find a rented two-bedroom apartment, a customer can add the appropriate filters and select the most important criteria. Typically, listings include information on the property, images, and videos. To get in touch with the appropriate individual, clients can then shortlist properties and send a message or schedule a call. Zillow is the market leader in real estate and is frequently referred to as the lead innovator in the sector. Because of its outstanding features, the app has a sizable clientele and a high absorption rate.

Top features you must add to an app like Zillow

User login with excellent profile

Before utilizing your app to identify suitable listings of properties and reach them, allow users to register and log in. Users of the app should have the option to build a profile in addition to logging in, where they may state their needs and contact information where listing owners can reach them.

Filter and Search Options

By including this feature, users of the app who are searching for a house will be able to swiftly enter the appropriate keywords and view relevant properties in the suggestions. Let app users narrow their search results using criteria such as location, privacy, and many more!

Listings of Properties

Allow the owners or agents of the property to establish a thorough listing on the app, including the location, size, and nearby amenities. The owners can provide serious buyers with comprehensive information on the property via this listing, which is a great way to do so.

Maps and navigation

The addition of navigation makes it simple for customers to locate the property rather than get lost.

Video and Photo

By including pictures or property videos, you may enhance the property listings. Casual app users may be persuaded by a property's aesthetic attractiveness to buy or rent the property seriously.

How to make an app like Zillow?

The following steps can be used in making an app like Zillow

Name your app
Add suitable features
Test your app and launch it

The must-have features of a real estate app

There ought to be two unique profiles. One is for folks looking for a home, while the other is for brokers or owners. It is preferable if people can log in using their social network or email accounts to save time. The profiles will present numerous sensitive pieces of information, such as names, email addresses, or bank account numbers. Therefore, having a secure database is essential.

Search engine with a database

Your users will choose from a variety of filters in order to rapidly locate the best alternative. These could consist of the following:

Type of property (flat, house, etc.)
Number of rooms
Floors or stories
Location
Amenities (parking, A/C, storage, etc.)
Year built
Square footage
Price

MLS

You must join and pay an annual subscription to access an MLS and include this database in your app. Typically, API s (app programming interfaces) like Realtor or Spark is used to incorporate an MLS database into an app.

Other listing platforms

The MLS has a lot of competitors, both large and small. You can focus your offerings on a specific area or kind of real estate by picking the right platform and API.

Collaborating with agencies, brokers, and owners

Finally, you might create a marketplace app by going the other way around from databases and working directly with businesses or property owners. Simply enabling people to submit their offers will accomplish this. There are two drawbacks to this strategy. As consumers are unlikely to download a real estate app without any listings in it to add their property, you must first have some sort of real estate pool at the outset. Second, you must make sure that all parties are trustworthy and that each deal is financially secure if you want to avoid traps.

How long does it take to create a real estate app?

Design your listings database

Model listings, users, and favorites with a visual PostgreSQL data designer.

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The design process, which includes research, prototyping, and the current UX and UI design, can take anywhere from 50 to 200 hours, depending on the complexity of your project. Next, the developers will require at least 400 hours for each platform to implement the design project and create a functional app.

How much does it cost to build a real estate app?

Keep the source code option

Generate real source code when you need full control or self-hosting.

Export Code

Building a real estate app is a difficult and expensive process. It's not just because you have to integrate many APIs. Buyers, sellers, and realtors must all be considered when making an app or a real estate listing app or website similar to Zillow. Based on the number and complexity of features you want to use and the cost of the development team you select. The cost may also vary depending on the size of your development team. The typical workers and elements, however, that will influence the ultimate expenses are:

Project Manager
UI/UX Designer(s)
Frontend Developer(s)
Backend Developer(s)
Android/iOS Developer(s)
Business Analysis
Quality Control
Post-Release Maintenance

Prices for a simple and uncomplicated solution range from $25,000 to $45,000. However, more advanced real estate apps, like the one mentioned above, can cost as much as $70,000.

Must-have features for a real estate app like Zillow

An Expansive Database
Advanced Search Functionality
Informative and Attractive Listing Pages
Interactive Neighborhood Maps
Virtual Tours
Video Tours
Match Users and Agents
Real-Time Messaging

No-code solution

Go live on your cloud

Launch to AppMaster Cloud or deploy to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

Deploy App

Making a real estate app is challenging. You may encounter several issues while making an app on your own. You will require a competent and experienced development team that can provide a final product that meets your specific requirements. With the help of AppMaster, you can develop a real estate app that can compete with industry behemoths like Zillow and Trulia by using a high-quality real estate make app solution without writing a single line of code. It is possible thanks to the visual programming approach and drag-and-drop method.

The all-in-one software where users can locate their ideal property, nothing less, nothing more, is what people are really seeking. It now means coming up with a distinctive design that has all the elements your consumers would want, not making a Zillow knockoff. And that is the thing that will make your app unique.

FAQ

A Zillow-like app lets people search property listings, filter results, view photos or videos, use maps, and contact agents or owners. It can support buyers, renters, sellers, and brokers with separate profiles and workflows.

Start with account creation, property listings, search filters, listing details, photos, maps, and messaging. Add virtual tours, agent matching, and more advanced tools after people can reliably find and contact listings.

Use filters for location, property type, price, room count, size, amenities, year built, and floors. Keep the most common filters easy to reach, then let users open more detailed options when needed.

You need a source of current property data, such as an MLS feed, a listing platform API, or direct submissions from agencies and owners. MLS access usually requires membership and an annual fee.

Give buyers and renters a profile for saved searches, favorites, and contact details. Give agents and owners tools to add listings, manage inquiries, and update availability.

Include clear property details, current pricing, location, photos, videos, and nearby amenities. Accurate information helps users decide whether a viewing or conversation is worth their time.

Maps help users understand where a property is and how to reach it. Add directions and show nearby places that matter, such as transit, schools, shops, or parking.

The cost depends on the data sources, number of platforms, design, and features. The article estimates about $25,000 to $45,000 for a simple app and up to $70,000 for a more advanced product built by a development team.

Design, research, prototypes, and UI work can take roughly 50 to 200 hours. Building the app can require at least 400 hours per platform, with more time for complex features and integrations.

Yes. AppMaster lets you build backend logic, web apps, and native mobile apps without writing code. You can model property data, create search and user flows visually, connect services, and deploy the finished application.