REW is no doubt very good but ine must realize custom work is exoensive to get performance at optimum. You pay as if you "own" the site but it's really leased. So if you say hey create a website but once complete ask hem turn over all raw code "that ain't happening" meaning you can spend thousands and basically if you decided to have changes made outside of the structure REW you cannot and pay inflated dollars on programmers that would similarly do the same as an outside firm and return the code back to you. So in essence your paying to improve their website along with any unique idea that came with the request you make in what you assume is yours. You can send the thousands of investment out the door if you don't pay their price. Never spend your investment in which you don't have total control over. Short term it may suffice or seem simple but long tern it can have grave consequences. They can essentially sell you idea to your entire competition and I seen in certain instances have.
Hi Timothy,
Thanks for sharing your feedback!
You’re right that REW retains proprietary control over the websites we create, but there’s a solid reason for this. We have dedicated hundreds of thousands of R&D hours into developing tools and features that we’ve jam-packed into every one of our sites, like our CRM and CMS. We’ve invested literal Millions into developing the best real estate website platform in the world, and we’d be out of business very quickly if we let people appropriate our core code.
The programming hours you’ve mentioned are for customizations—little tweaks our clients can choose to make to the site to make it more “their own”. These are entirely optional, and aren’t required to have a phenomenal website. In fact, for clients with budget limitations, we recommend not customizing sites, as it ensures all our newest features can be implemented at the lowest cost possible (usually free).
When it comes to developing brand new features, we listen to our community. We have a very active and vocal group of real estate agents who tell us what they want to see in their websites. If one person has an idea, chances are dozens of others have thought of the same thing. We discuss these ideas at our REW Summits, on Facebook, and with anyone who wants to brainstorm on the phone. If we hear the same request over and over, we might eventually develop it (independently of our client projects) and add it to our code base.
I hope this helps clarify some of the reasons behind how we do business. If you have any questions or comments in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You know where to find us!
Thanks again for sharing with us,
Melissa