Should Real Estate Agents Use the IDX Broker WordPress Plugin in 2023? Read our IDX Broker review and make an informed choice.
In our previous review of the Best IDX WordPress Plugins for your real estate website, our top two picks at this time would be Showcase IDX followed Realtyna.
If you want read more about these two IDX Broker alternatives, you can take a look at our full Showcase IDX review and our RealtyNA review to learn more.
While IDX Broker did not make it into our top two IDX website choices, it’s still a widely used IDX solution that might be right for you.
SKIP AHEAD
Our IDX Broker Review
Real estate is a highly competitive marketplace and industry where professionals in the space must utilize every edge possible to retain a piece of the overall market share.
With less inventory on the market and historically low-interest rates, buyer demand is fueling a boom in real estate that has financial benefits for the professional that is working with the most clients.
IDX website platforms, in particular, can provides significant advantages for a real estate agent. One of those platforms is IDX Broker.
Essentially, IDX Broker is one of the largest platforms for listing real estate on the open web. That platform supports nearly every MLS region and provides tools for clients including advanced search, listing pages, and fully integrated real estate websites.
Now more than ever, it is critical that agents within the real estate industry leverage platforms such as IDX Broker to gain a strong advantage over the competition.
More About IDX Broker
IDX Broker was launched in 2013 out of Eugene, Oregon with a focus on optimizing the experience for brokers online.
Ever since their inception, the demand for the company’s product has continued upwards year over year.
During the early years, despite not having a larger name brand in comparison to other IDX providers, IDX Broker continued to gain popularity for a strong product, being user friendly and providing excellent customer support.
The company also acquired a web designer called Agent Evolutions to provide an all-in-one website solution for customers.
Recently, in 2020, Elm Street Technology purchased IDX Broker and aims to continue growing the brand and product offerings available for real estate brokers.
When it comes down to it, every broker must have a website to promote their business. Without showcasing real estate listings that are accurate and up to date on the brokerage website, a broker loses the opportunity to convert potential leads into actual clients.
By showcasing live MLS listing information to the brokerage website, potential leads can navigate and shop for homes all on a broker’s website.
IDX Broker offers several products that provide a variety of different solutions for brokers to take advantage of.
Essentially, IDX Broker is a one-stop all-encompassing solution for managing lead opportunities through an online web presence.
Major real estate brokerages that use IDX Broker include Century 21, Coldwell Banker, RE/Max, and many others.
By leveraging the resources available through IDX Broker, a real estate agent or broker can drive maximum exposure to their website and truly create a resource and reason for homebuyers to continue visiting the website.
IDX Broker Features and Solutions
There are a variety of different products and solutions that are bundled together when presented to a broker.
To truly understand what you are getting out of IDX Broker, it is important to understand the different offerings available within your package.
IDX Broker offers a long list of solutions that can be taken advantage of to supercharge your brokerage.
The IDX Broker Omnibar
One of the biggest pain points for potential clients navigating through a real estate broker’s website is the ability to easily search different homes while also leveraging filters to narrow down exactly what they are looking for.
With Omnibar, IDX Broker provides an easy search solution that can integrate with your website to help to make the home search process easier for your clients.
The design is streamlined for both desktop and mobile web views. Home searches can quickly use the Omnibar to narrow down search criteria to city, county, postal code, MLS number, and address.
There are additional fields like price and bed/bathroom quantity that can be included as well.
Stand out from competitors like Zillow and Redfin by including custom filter integrations. Include items such as School or School division to help customers narrow down their search even further.
IDX Broker is Fully Customizable
IDX Broker truly empowers brokers to upgrade their site using built-in powerful web tools that brokers and web designers can use to make the website stand out from the competition.
With powerful CSS, layout templates, page wrapper tools, and much more, a broker has the maximum potential to make their site unique.
A designer can also include custom links and property labels to highlight property types, specific areas, and neighborhoods.
With the IDX Dynamic Page Wrappers, you can create multiple page widgets, edit existing ones, and customize slideshows and showcases.
This ability empowers brokers to represent their knowledge of the local market. To use this feature, you do need to have the IDX Broker Platinum Plan.
Lead Metrics
In real estate, generating leads is one of the most important activities of a broker. IDX Broker empowers their users with the ability to generate and capture leads through its platform.
With powerful analytic tools, you can tap into the mind of your potential client and gain a better understanding of what type of property they are looking for.
- One unique feature that IDX Broker offers is the ability to authenticate leads with social login.
Essentially, visitors to the website can choose to sign in through their social media accounts such as Facebook or Google to receive updates on property listings.
By capturing the social media account information, the visitor suddenly becomes a higher quality lead as they are now authenticated and can receive updates regarding new listings and updates.
- Another great feature available for visitors is the listings manager.
This provides a home for leads to manage their listings that they are interested in.
Visitors can save and review their site searched listings and can continue to also receive email updates about new listings that are hitting the market.
The dashboard is easy to use, modernized, and mobile responsive making the overall experience for the visitor outstanding.
As a broker, you can use the information to gain better insight into what your clients are interested in and can then follow up with potential opportunities.
- Finally, a very important feature that is included is the ability to check your traffic stats.
Brokers can take advantage of the platinum dashboard that integrates with Google Analytics or other 3rd party analytic platforms while also being able to create custom segments based on URL Viewed or Path Taken.
Additionally, view entry and exit points to best understand customer motivations. Measure and track activity throughout your site using the lead metrics solutions by IDX Broker.
The IDX Broker User Experience
Having a clean user experience is important for visitors navigating through a website.
IDX Broker focuses on providing an overarching user-friendly experience for both brokers and potential new clients.
The platform supports interactive maps and professionally designed templates.
The overall design focuses on driving actions throughout the site.
Also, there are AI-powered automation and tools that maximize the experience and engagement for the visitor which in turn, helps with landing more leads.
Website Security
Provide peace of mind for visitors to your website by enabling HTTPS and SSL.
Not only does having website security provide the benefit of protection but also credibility.
Visitors can shop confidently through the website knowing their information is protected. The way the security works is by creating an encryption connection between the web server and the visitor’s web browser.
Sensitive information such as passwords and emails can be confidently saved on the website without the worry of being hacked or tampered with.
A final benefit of having website security turned on with IDX Broker is that it benefits your search engine optimization ranking on Google.
With a secure and optimized website, your site ranking will rank higher than your competitors in Google which will help land new visitors and potential new clients.
IDX Broker WordPress Plugin Integration
There are a lot of benefits of building a website through WordPress. Through the flexibility of the platform, brokers can take full control of their web design and functionality.
What makes IDX Broker great is that they do have their WordPress plugin that integrates seamlessly called IMPress for IDX Broker.
The plugin helps provide IDX Broker features directly into your WordPress website. With the plugin, easily integrate and share MLS listings for visitors to browse through.
Brokers can choose any WordPress theme and IMPress will easily work with all to match the design of the site.
Once the plugin is installed, a web designer or broker can simply drag and drop the different features right onto the website.
How Much Is IDX Broker?
IDX Broker has three main product plans that they offer. Those plans include the Lite Plan, Platinum Plan, and the Home plan.
Within each plan, you can also choose the size of the package that best aligns with your needs. The package sizes include the Agent Plan, Team Plan, and the Office Plan.
When reviewing the different plans, it is important to also understand what you are getting with the different size packages.
For example, if you choose the Lite Plan, you should still compare what comes with that plan when you decide between the Agent Package and the Team Package.
IDX Broker Lite Plan Pricing and Review
The IDX Broker Lite Plan starts with a price point at $50 a month. This is the most inexpensive plan that IDX Broker has to offer.
The IDX Broker Lite Plan is advertised towards professionals that are looking to get started with IDX and need the bare essentials.
Some of the offerings that come with this plan include all of the standard IDX features, essential plug & play widgets, customizable map search, advanced lead capture settings, and insight with “My Listing Manager,” AI-driven features that include behavioral-based automated emails, and premium support.’
The IDX Broker Lite Plan has a $100 one-time setup fee, and the Lite plan differs based on the size of your team.
The Lite Plan plan is broken down into the Agent plan at $50 a month, Team Plan at $70 a month, and Office Plan at $100 a month.
IDX Broker Platinum Plan Pricing and Review
The Broker IDX Platinum plan starts at $80 a month and is the company’s upper mid-tier package.
The majority of brokers go with the Platinum plan as it offers all the key features that a broker would need.
The plan is advertised for those who are looking to advance their online presence and boost their search engine optimization.
In addition to all the main features available in the Light plan, the Platinum plan also offers Marketing Reports and Sold Data. There is a significant benefit for users to take advantage of the additional features.
Marketing reports are a great way to keep track of activity throughout the site.
Also, the sold data provides a treasure trove of SEO friendly information that will enrich the website with content that will help boost the site’s SEO ranking.
Just like the Lite plan, there is also a one-time $100 set up charge. Based on the size of your team, the plan is further broken down into different price points.
The Individual Broker Plan starts at $80 a month, Team starts at $100 a month, and the Office Plan starts at $130 a month.
IDX Broker Home Plan Pricing and Review
Finally, the largest plan IDX Broker has to offer is the Broker IDX Home Plan that starts at $150 per month. This is the most premium plan that the company has to offer.
The Home Plan provides an overarching solution for brokers that are looking to invest in having a premium web presence.
The Home Plan also offers tailored concierge support to assist brokers with this premium plan.
The offerings are listed slightly differently than the Lite and Platinum plan.
Brokers can expect to get All Platinum features, a fully-hosted WordPress website, premium customizable WordPress themes to ensure your website looks unique and up-to-date.
You also get exclusive template packs for the overall look and layout of your IDX pages, community age setup to establish local expertise while boosting SEO and drive leads, a premium managed hosting and maintenance for a fast yet reliable real estate website, G-Suite setup, Custom work available, and concierge support.
With the IDX Broker Home Plan, there is a $150 one-time starting fee, and the plan is further broken down by the number of users. The broker plan starts at $150; the Team plan starts at $170, and the Office Plan starts at $200.
Who Should Use IDX Broker?
IDX Broker is great for real estate agents and brokers that are focused on growing their online presence and would like to turn the website into a lead generating machine.
It is helpful if the customer knows a bit about web design as some of the features need to be integrated into the website. That said, with the premium Home Plan, all of the work can be taken care of.
With real estate becoming ever more competitive, it is critical to have a strong IDX on a brokerage website for potential buyers to research. The platform empowers brokers to turn data into powerful follow up actions that in turn may potentially lead to more deals.
For most people, the Lite package is a great place to start but if you want the all-in-one solution, then it is best to go with the IDX Broker Home Plan.
Our IDX Broker Review Final Thoughts
Overall, there are many IDX solutions on the market. IDX Broker is a powerful platform that truly provides many features that brokers can take advantage of right away.
But do you have any IDX Broker Cons?
I have personally used IDX Broker on one of our real estate websites in the past. In my personal opinion I thought customer service was a bit lacking and didn’t respond as promptly as I would have hoped. This was my personal experience but your results may vary!
As we mentioned at the start of this IDX Broker review, we do think it would be wise to compare IDX Broker with a couple other worthy options such and Showcase IDX and/or Realtyna IDX before making your decision. If you are looking for an all-in-one real estate solution check out our Chime CRM reviews.
The best takeaway from reviewing IDX Broker is that the platform and solutions are very customizable and provides a greater level of control for the broker and web developer.
Also, the development and seamless integrations make it very user friendly for customers to take advantage of when implementing on a brokerage site.
There are a large variety of features available and the plans differ based on the needs of the business.
If any real estate agent is interested in supercharging their business by gaining valuable insights into customer demand and learning more about what their clients want, then IDX Broker may be a great platform to use on your site.
The company offers packages for any experience level and real estate agents can always upgrade based on the needs of their business.
IDX Broker reviews throughout the web have been fairly positive and the company’s website does boast a healthy number of testimonials from real use cases of using the platform.
With an ever-growing number of competitors and lower inventory on the market, maximizing the digital reach is the best strategy an agent can use.
Take advantage of IDX Broker’s versatile tools and solutions to begin making an impact within the business.
Try out the platform and see how IDX Broker can change the way you do business.
About The Author: This article was researched and published by Tim Schroeder. As a husband and wife real estate team residing in Florida, Tim Schroeder brings deep expertise with over 8 years of experience as a licensed real estate agent.
Deb and Tim Schroeder have earned numerous real estate industry awards and recognitions. They have been recognized by Orlando Magazine as a “Top 100 Real Estate Professional” as well as earned Top Producer Designations with the Orlando Realtor Association for 6 years straight.
One Response
IDX Broker has recently begun to display the listing agent/broker and phone number on the property display pages right under the images. Now, most viewers will call the listing agent directly rather than contact the owner of the site. This makes IDX Broker close to a useless solution.