What I want in a real estate website

This discussion (no longer available), and the comment by Mike in particular, got me thinking. Finding a real estate website developer that meets all of my specific needs has been a near-impossible task. So, I will ask everybody out there – do you know anybody/company that can help?

Starting with Mike’s criteria:

– Listing/IDX integration, mapping, RSS of listings, email notifications.
– High quality content and integration of this blog (I have sort of implemented this already (archived: 2006))
– CRM tools that will integrate with MS Entourage.
– ROI tracking system for leads
– Good traffic analysis
– Pages/content/design specifically targeting buyers.
– Pages/content/design specifically targeting sellers.
– Take the best ideas here and integrate.
– Will work on Macs, PCs, Linux boxes and all (or most) browsers
– Will be easy to update with my Mac.

I cannot stress enough the need for comprehensive, sticky, intuitive mapping tools. My read is that that is what the consumer wants. I want a site that will accomplish several things:

– High traffic
– Will appeal to high- and low- tech consumers
– Will become the only site that consumers visit – they will want to come back every day.
– Target local, national and international buyers.
– Will be easy to use, add POP accounts, etc.
– 100% uptime, redundant backups, UPS, etc. Downtime (except in extraordinary circumstances) is unacceptable.
– Be fiscally reasonable
– I am sure that there are things that I am missing. I’ll add them as I think of them.

Many feel that using solely their blogs works for them. That is great, but I think that the separation of the two – the site and the blog – works for me and helps achieve my goals. Am I asking for too much?

This one from Uberator looks interesting (archived: 2026).
John L. Scott (archived: 2013) has the mapping down (although they don’t support Safari)

What are the best real estate websites that you have seen?