Many of you have contacted us asking about how to create a webpage for real estate. It’s very easy to sell and buy properties with Yclas.
Yclas is a great solution for your business, and today we would like to answer the most popular questions that we have received. Walking you through this very easy and simple process.
- Registration: Most of you probably already have an account on Yclas, but if you don’t have one, you have to register at Yclas first. Go to https://yclas.com. Fill in the box with your email address and domain name for your new website, and click on “create a website” (You can integrate your usual domain name later). You will then be redirected to our different Plans. If you already know which plan suits you best, great! choose it! But at the moment, we will create our website with the free plan.
- Confirmation of the account: After this first step, Yclas will send you a confirmation email. Check the email account that you have chosen in the registration form, and confirm your registration by clicking on the button you will find in the email. (this step is very important. If you don’t confirm your email address, you will not be able to use Yclas).
- My website: The next step will be the confirmation of your Yclas Account. On the page where you landed after confirming your email address, https://yclas.com/panel/site, you will see 3 more buttons: 6 button/links: 1.- Link to the free domain that you have created, 2.-” Details” (what you have to click on next), 3.- “Panel”: to enter your administrator panel, 4.- “Upgrade plan”: for choosing/changing your plan, 5.- “Forum”: to access our users Forum, 6.- “Testimonials”: to share your feedback and experience on Yclas.
- Details: Click on “details”. Here you have to set the main configurations of your site: language, categories of your website: Real Estate, Location, etc. To continue, please, go to “Administrate your site” (it’s the second link on this page.)
- Administrate site: This is your panel, where you can control everything related to your website, from creating categories to changing the color scheme of the website. To start personalizing your website, we have to do two more things:
1. To change theme or template: The template is like your Business card; it needs to introduce your Website shortly and efficiently. For Real Estate, I prefer Splash, Pinclass, and Basecamp templates. To choose one of these, go to Appearance -> Themes. You can now view and choose the theme that fits best to the look and feel you want to give your website.
Once you have chosen the theme, you can preview your website by clicking on its name on the top left of your admin panel.
2. Customized fields: This is another very important step to creating a Real Estate website. Through the customized fields, we differentiate a website of cars, General, etc and you allow your users to search accurately for their properties. It’s just one of many great features Yclas has! To access the customized fields, go to Classifieds -> Customized fields on the admin panel. There you can find two buttons: “Templates” or “New”. The “Templates” are predefined customized fields, and “New” are custom fields you can make from scratch. You can also create the fields from templates and delete the functions, which in your case, don’t fit and/or replace them with new ones. For our website, we will click on Template and choose “Real Estate” under ‘type’ without indicating any ‘categories’. You now have fields created specifically for a real estate website: Meter2, the number of rooms, furnished or not, etc. You can now change the titles of these custom fields, or add new fields. Now, when someone wants to post their property, they will add specific information about it. On the side, users who are searching for a property can set their search goals based on these criteria as well, which makes selling and buying more accurate and efficient for everyone!
Now that you have created a basic structure for your website, let’s look at some other things you can do:
- Template configuration: We have already chosen a template in the previous step, but without personalizing it to your company’s mood and identity. To change this part, go to Appearance -> Template Configuration. Here you can add your logo, favicon, change the style and fonts of the texts, colors of the template, number of ads, and everything that appears on the homepage.
- Personalization: It’s time to create categories and locations. For a good real estate website, you have to create two main categories: “Sell” and “Rent". Also, the following subcategories are important: new, housing, local, offices, vacation, etc. Depending on the type of webpage you want to create, Yclas gives you different variety of options to personalize it. To create categories, please, go to Classifieds -> Categories.
- · Locations: You can either create locations one by one or permit geo-localization. In our case, we will create locations manually. For this, go to Classifieds -> Locations. There you can see different buttons. To start, click on ‘New location’, fill in the details, and save. This way, you can set all the locations that you want. You can set countries, continents, cities, districts, villages …etc
In short
- Register at yclas.com, confirm your email, then go to Classifieds, Customized fields, Templates and pick Real Estate to add fields like square meters, rooms and furnished.
- Create two main categories, Sell and Rent, with subcategories such as housing, offices and vacation, and add locations by hand or turn on geolocation.
- In NAR's 2025 profile 88% of US buyers and 91% of sellers used an agent, so most of your best listings will come from agencies.
- US fair housing law covers your ads and you as the publisher, so moderate phrases like 'no children' and give every advertiser the same prices and terms.
- Since the 2024 NAR settlement buyer-broker compensation cannot appear on an MLS, and EU sites should add an energy class custom field.
Part of the guide Starting a marketplace
Running a property listings site in 2026: what buyers do and the rules your ads must follow
Setting up categories and locations is the easy part. Before you open your site to the public, it helps to know how people actually buy and rent homes today, and which rules apply to the ads you publish.
Agents still handle most sales, so plan for them
The National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (published 4 November 2025, 6,103 responses covering July 2024 to June 2025) found that 88% of US buyers used an agent or broker, and 91% of sellers did. First-time buyers fell to a record-low 21% of purchases, and their median age rose to 40. For a new property site, this means most of your best listings will come from agencies, not private owners. Give agents a reason to post: let them mark broker fees, show a profile picture or logo, and buy visibility for their listings.
Your ads are covered by fair housing law
In the United States, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c) makes it unlawful to make, print or publish any notice, statement or advertisement for the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. Phrases like "no children" or "ideal for a single professional" in a rental ad are classic problems. Turn on ad moderation so listings are approved before they go live, write posting rules that spell this out, and remove ads that break them.
Template
Posting rules for your classifieds site
Publish this as your posting rules page and link it from the post-an-ad form; adjust the prohibited list to your country's laws and your niche.
Check your country's rules on items such as weapons, animals, alcohol and medicines before publishing.
In the EU, energy ratings are being standardised
The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive entered into force on 28 May 2024, and member states had until 29 May 2026 to write it into national law. According to the European Commission, energy performance certificates get a common template and common criteria for energy classes, and are becoming digital. If your site serves EU buyers or tenants, add an "Energy class" custom field so owners can show the rating, and check your country's rules on what a sale or rental ad must state.
Where each point lives in your Yclas panel
| Need | Yclas setting |
|---|---|
| Searchable property details | Custom Fields → Start from a template → Real Estate: adds Furnished, Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Pets, Agency/broker fee, Square meters and Price negotiable. Add an Energy class list field yourself if you need one. |
| Location-based search | Maps and geolocation: show listings on a map and sort by what's nearest |
| Photos | Up to 5 photos per listing on Starter, 20 on Professional and 30 on Enterprise (see plans) |
| Revenue from agencies | Featured listings, paid categories and memberships for agents and dealers |
| Ad rules and spam | Moderation, reCAPTCHA and Akismet |
All of these appear on the Yclas features page. New sites start on the phone-friendly Nova theme with a 15-day free trial (create your site here).
US listing rules since 2024: the NAR settlement, new seller options and fair housing for publishers
This page also replaces our older post on what to consider when starting a real estate classifieds website. Its points on the rules that changed after 2024, and on starting the business itself, are collected here.
The NAR settlement changed how commission is advertised
The practice changes from the National Association of Realtors settlement took effect on 17 August 2024 (MLSs had until 16 September 2024 to implement them), according to NAR's settlement FAQ. Offers of compensation to buyer brokers may no longer appear on an MLS, though they can still be communicated in other ways, for example on listing brokers' own websites. Agents working with a buyer must also sign a written agreement with them before touring a home, and the compensation in it must be clear, not open-ended.
For a listings site this means two things. Don't import or display MLS fields that used to carry buyer-broker compensation, and if agents post on your site, give them a clear, optional field for any compensation offer rather than letting it appear in free text.
New listing options for sellers (2025)
NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy took effect on 25 March 2025, and MLSs had to implement it by 30 September 2025. The Clear Cooperation Policy stays in force, but sellers can now choose "delayed marketing": the listing is filed with the MLS yet kept out of IDX feeds and syndication for a period set by the local MLS. Office-exclusive listings, which are not publicly marketed, remain possible too. Both options need a signed written certification from the seller, and marketing a listing across several brokerages counts as public marketing.
In practice, a private-network or "coming soon" listing posted on your site can trigger an agent's MLS obligations, so ask agents to confirm they may publish the property before they post it.
Fair housing rules also cover the publisher
Under 24 CFR 100.75, the advertising ban also covers publishers who refuse ads or charge different prices or terms on protected grounds. Besides moderating phrases like "no kids", "perfect for singles" or "Christian home", put a fair-housing statement on the posting form and give every advertiser the same prices and terms, never varied by any protected characteristic.
Pick a niche the big portals serve poorly
NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers also notes that mortgage rates averaged 6.69% over the survey period and inventory was very limited. With fewer homes for sale, a new site has a better chance in a niche such as rentals and room shares, land, vacation homes, commercial space or one town than as a general home-sales portal. Whatever niche you choose, structure the listings from day one: price, bedrooms, bathrooms, size and property type as searchable fields, a map, and a license-number field for agent accounts.
If you are also starting the agency
- Write a business plan and do market research to choose your real estate specialty and how to position yourself in it.
- Budget for carrying costs, not just start-up costs: the money you need to get by for the next few months before clients start paying.
- Check your state's licensing rules. Most states only require you to pass one exam, but the rules vary from state to state.
Throughout this process of personalization, you can view your changes instantly to make sure everything is how you want it to look.
- Creating an Ad: Whether it’s you or your users who enter the content, to understand how Yclas works, we will create 2-3 ads. This way, we can also understand what users are required to do every time they want to create an ad and be able to improve the User experience of our website.
To create an Ad, go to your website, and click on “Publish New”.
Now, we can just look at other possibilities suggested and play with all the options to make our website clear for our users and clients.
With these steps, you now know how to use the functionalities of Yclas and can build on that to make your website perfect!
