Chicago-based @properties has redesigned its website with enhanced neighborhood info and a streamlined search platform that allows consumers to search for homes by the school attendance boundaries they fall within.

In addition to surfacing neighborhood info with in-depth, updated write-ups on over 40 of the metro’s different ‘hoods, towns and high-rise condos, the 1,300-agent brokerage’s new site highlights a property’s proximity to public transportation and local amenities on its property detail page.

The site’s neighborhood directory also now includes map overlays showing boundaries for each neighborhood and street-parking guidance from ParkNav.

“Neighborhoods were a big focus for the redesign,” Kevin Van Eck, vice president of training and brokerage services at @properties, told Inman News. “We have a focus on being local, that’s our value proposition.”

“We want to be the place for neighborhood information,” Van Eck said.

Becoming the go-to neighborhood expert for consumers has become a focus for brokerages and national franchisors and portals alike. For example, both Re/Max and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices recently licensed the search-by-commute time consumer search tool from INRIX.

@properties’ new site also was designed to showcase the firm’s growing focus on video, Van Eck said. Currently, it has produced just three neighborhood videos (like the one embedded below for Bucktown), but it has an in-house video team that it plans to use to make videos for many of the city’s ‘hoods.

Bucktown neighborhood video produced by @properties and highlighted on the brokerage’s new website.

“The goal with this redesign was to end up with the most user-friendly, data-rich and attractive local real estate website,” said @properties Co-founder Thaddeus Wong in a statement. “At @properties, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide cutting-edge technology and resources that are valuable to our agents, clients and the community. This new website is a prime example of that.”

The site update also streamlined the local market info views on property detail pages, giving users a clean view of the average sales price, days on market, number of homes for sale, sales-price-to-list-price ratio and other info for neighborhoods gathered from the local multiple listing service.

Enhancing social sharing was part of the site revamp as well. Links to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus appear prominently on property detail pages.

School boundary search has become a popular feature for search portals and a handful of national and regional sites have rolled out the feature including Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com, Century 21 Real Estate, Redfin and Estately. Most of these sites license their school boundary information from either Maponics or Onboard Informatics.

@properties licenses school boundaries from Journatic, Van Eck said.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×