FW Real Estate
Version
2.1.0 (last update on Apr 22, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
77
License
GPLv2 or later
Commercial
Type
Date Added
25 June 2010
HOW DO THE FW REAL ESTATE COMPONENT AND PLUG-INS WORK?
The system allows visitors to search and browse through property listings – just like any of the most popular real estate websites on the net. It also allows real estate agents to register their properties on your website for potential buyers to browse.
---------------------------------------------------
AGENT AND PROPERTY SELLER FEATURES:
* Subscription facility – option to charge agents to add their properties
* Watermark feature
* Status labels
* Easy Language Manager for multilingual websites
* Currency converter for multiple currency use
* Automated/manual agent approval
* Allow agents to add in-depth property details, gallery images, PDF brochures, videos (FLV/SWT, Youtube, Vimeo) and more with an advanced WYSIWYG editor
* Assign properties by country, state, region, area, city and more
* Assign properties by category (rent or sell) and types (domestic, commercial, 2-4 unit etc)
* Google Captcha
USER AND BUYER FEATURES:
* Favorite list - Add as favourite feature
* Carry out in-depth searches on price, property type, bathroom numbers, floor areas and more
* Comments - option to leave comments on property (Komento integration)
* Apply numerous simple-to-use filters, such as availability filters, lease term filters, ‘order by’ filters and more
* Browse through properties with a user-friendly search system
* Save searches option with advanced notifications system
* Browse expert looking slider galleries of property photos
* Download an array of PDF documents, property images and videos
* Read short descriptions in listings and long, in-depth descriptions on main property pages
* Share via Twitter & Facebook and use the ‘Send to a friend’ option
* Page print option
* Easy to use property enquiry and contact forms
* View ‘latest’, ‘popular’ and ‘random property slideshows with an included module
GENERAL FEATURES:
* Google maps back-end and front-end integration
Customizable, unlimited currencies & sign positions with different price formats for every country
* Google Street view
* List (detailed) & Table (short) property listing layout options
* Very powerful levels of customization
* Front-end management – add, edit and remove properties without logging into Joomla admin
OTHER FEATURES:
Related address fields based on AJAX
Optional bespoke MLS integration
Supports extra add-ons and other templates
FLASH support in property description
RTL support
RSS feed
CSV import/export
Built in SEO tools
Multilingual support (English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, Arabic, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Dutch, Chinese translations are included)
JoomFish integration for Joomla 1.5.x & in-built multilingual support for Joomla 2.5.x
Option to install sample data or configure the component manually
----------------
Images
I have had this extension since joomla 1.5 many revisions ago. Here is the deal on this extension in my opinion and experience.
1. They have rolled out many new revisions that have taken it from good two years ago to truly great today.
2. I have needed support three times for minor issues, and they responded and fixed the problem within 24 hours.
3. They have a great library of plugins and add-ons and they keep adding to them.
4. For all that you get the price is VERY good.
If you are going to be building real estate websites, I would go for the developers pack, it comes with everything, but your money will be well spent on the real estate pro component as well (many of the plugins are free or very inexpensive.)
Thanks fastw3b
1. They have rolled out many new revisions that have taken it from good two years ago to truly great today.
2. I have needed support three times for minor issues, and they responded and fixed the problem within 24 hours.
3. They have a great library of plugins and add-ons and they keep adding to them.
4. For all that you get the price is VERY good.
If you are going to be building real estate websites, I would go for the developers pack, it comes with everything, but your money will be well spent on the real estate pro component as well (many of the plugins are free or very inexpensive.)
Thanks fastw3b
After a long overdue change from a static html based site to a CMS based website and not having used Joomla before…I was completely clueless. However, with the endless help & patience of the support team and sample data, I soon got up to speed on how easy it was to use this extension and using a practical example as a base...Joomla.
Whenever there was a clash in the extension with other modules, the support was immediate to fix the problem. I liked this extension for it’s simplicity and clean look. However, in the end I found that there were some additional features which I needed access to (but are in development with fastw3b), but I did not have the time to wait for. Fastw3b were kind enough to fully refund my funds.
In short - an excellent company to deal with, quick to fix any problems, quick to fix user created problems, excellent support & patience for assistance with Joomla outside of their own extension. Svetlana is a real asset to the team and a pleasure to deal with.
Whenever there was a clash in the extension with other modules, the support was immediate to fix the problem. I liked this extension for it’s simplicity and clean look. However, in the end I found that there were some additional features which I needed access to (but are in development with fastw3b), but I did not have the time to wait for. Fastw3b were kind enough to fully refund my funds.
In short - an excellent company to deal with, quick to fix any problems, quick to fix user created problems, excellent support & patience for assistance with Joomla outside of their own extension. Svetlana is a real asset to the team and a pleasure to deal with.
As someone new to building a web site (I built a simple personal web site first using Joomla 1.7) I choose Real Estate Pro to build a web site for a local property letting agent.
I have to repeat what others on here have said about the support - its been super. In essence the Search module was working & displaying wonderfully in Safari via OS X Snow Leopard but some elements were not displaying in browser (chrome, ie, firefox) on a Windows PC. I let support at fastw3b know - they identified issue as being related to using older version of the component, so they updated it for me thus solving the problem in both a friendly and speedy fashion.
The website owners are also delighted with their new web site, especially its use of google maps to show properties its a UK based letting / rental agents, so reference to "real estate" on the search pages concerned them but I soon changed the words.
What's also good (although no doubt common to a lot of extensions) is the willingness to hear what users think and to see if these can be incorporated into the core system.
The system itself was easy to understand and the ability to let users login from the front end so they can create update / delete properties is very welcome
I'd recommend it to anyone thinking of building web presence for those in property market
I have to repeat what others on here have said about the support - its been super. In essence the Search module was working & displaying wonderfully in Safari via OS X Snow Leopard but some elements were not displaying in browser (chrome, ie, firefox) on a Windows PC. I let support at fastw3b know - they identified issue as being related to using older version of the component, so they updated it for me thus solving the problem in both a friendly and speedy fashion.
The website owners are also delighted with their new web site, especially its use of google maps to show properties its a UK based letting / rental agents, so reference to "real estate" on the search pages concerned them but I soon changed the words.
What's also good (although no doubt common to a lot of extensions) is the willingness to hear what users think and to see if these can be incorporated into the core system.
The system itself was easy to understand and the ability to let users login from the front end so they can create update / delete properties is very welcome
I'd recommend it to anyone thinking of building web presence for those in property market
A good extension and the support really is incredible, quick and helpful. My template was modified and any problems I encountered were sorted out. I'm a complete beginner and I think that Svetlana has the patience of a saint! I like the ability to have a multi-lingual site, but would like to see an energy rating in the module, as in France it is mandatory to provide these details. Thanks to all the team for the help I've received so far.
There are both pros and cons with this extension:
Pros: It is quite a good real estate site and is configurable to some degree. The support is brilliant and fast.
cons:
Every time they bring out a new version it wipes out your data and any changes you have made so to use an upgrade you have to0 start from scratch.
Some of the CSS leaves a lot to be desired and in the latest version the tabs for the property input all run into each other. This is not a template issue as I have corrected it and tried it with several templates.
A couple of versions ago they brought in a translation feature for the component which now requires you to use joomla translations and makes customising that much more difficult. That being said I don't know why they did that, when there is a perfectly good Google translate module available which does the job so much better.
Up until recently they had a forum where questions about the component could be asked but that has now been removed. It has been replaced by a Premium Support component which sits on your site and you can ask support questions. The problem is that they always want access to your site so that they can solve any problems. That has a downside for me. All I want is to be able to discuss problems with other users without the developers going onto my site and uploading a new version which trashes what I have done.
Another problem is that this component is very definitely aimed at the American Market and requires substantial customising for the European Market.
Overall a good Component but I just get the feeling that the developers are more interested in making money from customising the component than actually solving problems.
Pros: It is quite a good real estate site and is configurable to some degree. The support is brilliant and fast.
cons:
Every time they bring out a new version it wipes out your data and any changes you have made so to use an upgrade you have to0 start from scratch.
Some of the CSS leaves a lot to be desired and in the latest version the tabs for the property input all run into each other. This is not a template issue as I have corrected it and tried it with several templates.
A couple of versions ago they brought in a translation feature for the component which now requires you to use joomla translations and makes customising that much more difficult. That being said I don't know why they did that, when there is a perfectly good Google translate module available which does the job so much better.
Up until recently they had a forum where questions about the component could be asked but that has now been removed. It has been replaced by a Premium Support component which sits on your site and you can ask support questions. The problem is that they always want access to your site so that they can solve any problems. That has a downside for me. All I want is to be able to discuss problems with other users without the developers going onto my site and uploading a new version which trashes what I have done.
Another problem is that this component is very definitely aimed at the American Market and requires substantial customising for the European Market.
Overall a good Component but I just get the feeling that the developers are more interested in making money from customising the component than actually solving problems.
Owner's reply
Hello frenchie,
Thank you for your review. It's very valuable and we read it carefully. At the same time we found some points where clarifications must be provided so review makes its impact in our services.
Saving custom changes after component upgrade is something we have never experienced to see in programming before. May be you meant database changes which always remain after upgrade. But it sounds impossible to locate while installation parts of code changed and implement them on the fly into updated component.
Translation system is just an option. We had dozens of clients asking us for this update so we did it. There is no need to use it if you find Google Translate option handier. So it's completely up to you what to use. By the way you can paste Google translated text for different languages and then correct it when you find mistakes. You won't have this option if you only use Google Translate.
Forum was closed down as very few people were using it. Most of all requests come to us through FW Premium Support component and contact form on site. That's why we decided to concentrate on individual support making sure everybody gets reply fast and with all details. FW Premium Support is an option and free to use.
Thank you for the note about the markets that our component is the most suitable for. We have been working in this direction and adapted versions will be released soon for European and South African markets.
We would love to have all the features may want to see in our component and that's something we are working for. But often some people need features other people don't need and would consider seeing them in the component as additional complexity. That's why we work individually with every client providing customization for their particular needs for a very reasonable price.
Thank you very much for your review and we hope our customers would tell us all their ideas, needs and dislikes directly so we can discuss and apply them to improve our product.
I have been using the FW Real Estate Pro version for a few weeks now. It was an easy installation and set up. Anybody that has installed other extensions will have no problem to install and setup this component and their modules. They have made things very simple. The Real Estate component is full of features. The control panel is laid out in a way that you set up things step by step from left to right – indeed an easy set-up! I would also like to add that should your business need a particular feature, they are ready to do it for you at a modest fee. At the end of the day everybody has a right to get paid for their work. When you send an email or have a question, these people usually reply within same day maximum 24 hrs. I am sorry to say there are a lot of extension authors who do not reply. This, I am glad to say - is not one of those companies. I would like to thank personally Svetlana Shmorgun - Marketing Department who was there for me every time I had a question and to Oleg Snurnikov - Project Manager who handled my customization needs, I would like to thank the rest of the team for a Job well done! I would also like to mention that during the few weeks I have been working with FW Real Estate Pro, the Developer came out with a NEW update which is very impressive. Keep up the Good Work! For the price, features and service response you cannot go wrong!
We choose FW Real Estate out of all of the extensions our programmer presented to us because we loved the layout of the properties, and the picture layouts, which are critical for our business as the investors must be able to see the pictures they want to invest on.
After a few days of playing with it, and being very pleased with it, we noticed that the gallery slideshow wasn't working. After many complaints to our programmer, he told us that we couldn't use the extension any more because it was 'incompatible' with his template. We were heartbroken, and tried our hardest to use the new extension that he installed, but we just couldn't get FW Real Estate out of our minds. So, we contacted FW Real Estate support directly, desperate for a solution. They solved it within 15 minutes, and it turned out it was one of our modules that had the problem. We had already received many compliments from our investors on the website, and we wanted to keep on impressing them. Thank You 100 times for saving our website from having to go to a second rate extension!!
After a few days of playing with it, and being very pleased with it, we noticed that the gallery slideshow wasn't working. After many complaints to our programmer, he told us that we couldn't use the extension any more because it was 'incompatible' with his template. We were heartbroken, and tried our hardest to use the new extension that he installed, but we just couldn't get FW Real Estate out of our minds. So, we contacted FW Real Estate support directly, desperate for a solution. They solved it within 15 minutes, and it turned out it was one of our modules that had the problem. We had already received many compliments from our investors on the website, and we wanted to keep on impressing them. Thank You 100 times for saving our website from having to go to a second rate extension!!
I've used a few different real estate components and this one was the first that I was able to just install and start using. The default layout looks pretty good, something that's surprisingly hard to find in a real estate component.
I had to email support about a few customizations I wanted and they were very helpful.
I wish there was a way to add custom fields in some areas, but I was at least able to go into the files and rename some of the existing fields so I could use them for other things. Works for me!
I had to email support about a few customizations I wanted and they were very helpful.
I wish there was a way to add custom fields in some areas, but I was at least able to go into the files and rename some of the existing fields so I could use them for other things. Works for me!
What an excellent extension this is! The most exciting feature is the kind of support these guys provide..Its mind blowing. We asked their help for around 50 times and they responded with the solution! Very intelligent and friendly team.
Thanks guys for such a great extension and support!
--
Kinsh Technologies
Thanks guys for such a great extension and support!
--
Kinsh Technologies
After trying many of the other real estate components I have to say that this one ticks all the boxes. It is extremely adaptable and full featured. The support is second to none with most problems resolved at the outside within 24 hours. The price is reasonable and although others have complained about the developers asking for money to do conversions, given that they solve problems with the component very quickly, this is not unreasonable. Why should they work for nothing. The developers are very receptive to new ideas and quick to upgrade the component and associated modules when required. There are other things I would personally like to see but I am sure a polite request would see them considered for inclusion in the future. One of the best Joomla components around in my humble opinion. Well done.
Starting up a new real estate agency we were looking for a nice design and a functional and easy to use website, as we know very little about these things. We decided to try FW Real Estate, and I must say this turned out to be much better than we could even imagine. We asked the support team to set up everyting on our site, and within a few (4-5) days it was ready - and to a very fair price. Just needed a few corrections which went fast, as the support is second to none. Our site is up and running faster than we expected, thanks to Sergey, who has helped us much more than we could expect. We also moved our hosting to their server - working perfect - and I´m sure our next project also will be done by these guys
I am impressed, i did hit a snag along the way but thanks to the lightning speed of the support team (Svetlanda and team) they fixed the problem in lightning quick time. The newer version out shortly will most likely be even better, I recommend this software, it worth it
To give the review some context: I'm relatively new to Joomla, but familiar with HTML, CSS and customising software such as OpenCart etc. What led me to Joomla in the first place was my search for some software I could utilise to build a website for a letting agent client of mine - Joomla I got to grips with pretty quick and I initially started out with JEA, as one of Joomla's free estate agent extensions. I opted for it after being confused as to which paid extension to go for, seeing as the demos didn't give lots away and no refunds seems to be standard, so thought I'd see how I got on! I found it ok, but the support was not there and to cut a long story short I wasted a lot of time (that I didn't have) messing about with it to try and get it looking right. So I relented and opted for a FW Real Estate on a time pressured whim - a decision I do not regret.
Benefits:
A) the support is second to none. I've received responses within the hour each time I've submitted an enquiry! I wish all software support was as good as this.
B) I always like to customise things rather than use straight out of the box and this extension was easy to edit and get looking the way I wanted.
C)I managed to do in about 3 hours what I'd messed around TRYING to achieve in 3 days with JEA!
Improvements for the future?
I'd love to see the "Latest" module they offer become easier to customise as this is the only things I've found slightly disappointing as I haven't been able to get it looking how I wanted.
But still, overall very much worth every penny.
Benefits:
A) the support is second to none. I've received responses within the hour each time I've submitted an enquiry! I wish all software support was as good as this.
B) I always like to customise things rather than use straight out of the box and this extension was easy to edit and get looking the way I wanted.
C)I managed to do in about 3 hours what I'd messed around TRYING to achieve in 3 days with JEA!
Improvements for the future?
I'd love to see the "Latest" module they offer become easier to customise as this is the only things I've found slightly disappointing as I haven't been able to get it looking how I wanted.
But still, overall very much worth every penny.
Easy to install, easy to use! Support is great - requests are answered very quickly and friendly. If there would be six stars, I would rate them ...
Page 3 of 4
