Website for a new real estate development: how to present units and availability
Help buyers find the right unit and request an informed appointment.
SqualiOnline editorial team · 2026-09-07
Anyone looking at a new real estate development arrives at the website with three questions in mind: where exactly is it, what's still available, and when will it be delivered. If the page answers with renderings and a sentence about quality of life, that person has to call to find out something that could have been written down. Some call. Most look at the next development instead. This guide helps you organize the information so visitors can tell on their own whether there's a unit that fits them.
The goal isn't to sell an apartment online. It's to get people into the office who have already ruled out what isn't right for them, and who sit down already knowing what's being discussed.
The questions to answer before the appointment
They're always the same, and there are few of them. A website that leaves them unanswered dumps onto the phone a job it could have avoided.
- Where it actually is. The address, the neighborhood, what's within walking distance. "Strategic location" isn't information: someone who knows the city wants the street name, someone who doesn't wants a map.
- Which unit types exist and how many of each are planned. Buyers think in terms of number of rooms, not square footage.
- What's still available, right now.
- How far along construction is and what can be visited today: the site, a show apartment, or just the sales office.
- What the specification includes, and which choices are still up to the buyer.
Three levels, not a flat list
The structure that holds up has three levels. The development as a whole: where it is, how it's built, who's building it, what sets it apart. Then the buildings or stairwells, with the floors and unit types they contain. Finally, the single unit, with its own listing. Buyers move down a level only once the level above has convinced them, and someone arriving from a specific search lands directly on the listing: both paths need to work.
Construction progress is a separate thread running through all three levels. A few dated photos with a line saying how far along things are is worth more than an undated gallery: it shows the site is moving forward and that someone is keeping an eye on it online too.
Floor plans and specs: the legend first, then the drawing
A floor plan published without explanation generates more calls than it prevents, because everyone reads it their own way. It needs a few fixed lines alongside it, the same for every unit.
- Orientation — which way is north — and the exposure of the main rooms.
- Which floor areas are stated and by what criteria: gross, net, balconies, ancillary spaces. These are different figures and need to be kept separate.
- What in the drawing is indicative furniture and isn't included.
- Which finishes are optional and which aren't, and up to what construction stage the choice can still be made.
- Which changes are allowed and which aren't.
An apartment listing, item by item
The listing below is illustrative: it's meant to show which items are needed, not to describe a real property.
| Listing item | What it should say |
|---|---|
| Unit code | A reference that also exists in internal documents, for example "Building B — 2nd floor — unit B21," so a phone call is about the same thing. |
| Unit type | Number of rooms and bedrooms, even before square footage. |
| Floor areas | The stated floor areas, specifying which ones: gross, net, balconies, cellar. |
| Floor and access | Floor level, whether there's an elevator, exposure of the main rooms. |
| Ancillary spaces | Cellar, parking space, garden or terrace, and whether they're included or purchased separately. |
| Status | Available, on hold, or unavailable. A single word, with the same meaning throughout the site. |
| Expected delivery | The period stated in the site's documents, not an optimistic date. |
| Documents | Floor plan and specification — what can be handed to anyone who asks for it. |
Who updates availability, and how often
The hard part isn't publishing the statuses: it's keeping them accurate. You need a process decided before going live.
- A single official source: the list of units with their status, kept by whoever is selling. The site reads from there, or is updated from there — never from a second, parallel list.
- One named person responsible — not "the sales office."
- Three statuses and no more, defined in writing: what moves a unit from available to on hold, how long a hold lasts, and what moves it back.
- A fixed moment for updating — every morning, or every time an offer is signed — with the date of the last update shown on the page.
- A periodic check comparing the published list with the internal one: the two always drift apart, sooner or later.
Preferences get collected, private data doesn't
A real estate development's contact form isn't there to financially qualify anyone: it's there to prepare an appointment. Asking too much at first contact moves the screening to the wrong point.
- Ask what interests them: unit type, practical needs like a high floor or a parking space, the timeframe they'd like to move in, and how they prefer to be contacted back.
- Don't ask at first contact for income, mortgage status, documents, or household composition.
- Never publish buyers' names, units assigned to identifiable people, or documents relating to a negotiation.
- Requests go into a list with someone responsible and a stated response time, not into a shared inbox nobody checks on Saturdays.
It's worth stating on the page what happens after submission: who calls back, within how long, and whether the first step is a phone call or a visit. Anyone leaving contact details for a decision this big wants to know what they've just set in motion.
What this guide doesn't cover
This guide only covers communication toward buyers. Internal site management — contracts, vendors, costs, progress — is a different matter and needs its own tools. Deciding which questions to ask in a contact form, and which to drop, also deserves a separate discussion.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth publishing prices for individual units?
There's no answer that fits everyone: it depends on how you sell and how much the price shifts during negotiation. If you choose not to publish them, at least state what the specification includes and how to get a quote. The real mistake is inconsistency: prices on some units and not others, with no clear logic behind it.
How often should availability be updated?
As often as it actually changes. Less detail but current beats a complete table that's out of date. Either way, it's worth stating the date of the last update on the page: it makes the limitation explicit instead of hiding it.
Does the development need its own website, or is a section of the company site enough?
It depends on how long the sales period lasts and how much of its own identity the development has. A section of the company site capitalizes on the builder's reputation and is easier to maintain; a dedicated site makes sense when the development has its own name, its own communication, and its own sales office. The cost that matters isn't building it, it's staying on top of it in the months that follow.
Let's define the structure of your development's website.
If you’d like to talk it through, the service that handles this is Websites.