Guides → Build a real-estate site on SGEN in 30 minutes

Build a real-estate site on SGEN in 30 minutes

A hand-held tutorial from sign-up to a working listings site — listings page, agent profiles, an embedded map, contact form, and SEO basics

This tutorial takes you from a fresh SGEN account to a working real-estate site with listings, agent profiles, an embedded map, a contact form, and the SEO basics that get the site indexed. Read top to bottom. Each step uses sample data, every decision is pre-made on the first pass, and you can swap your real content in once the shape works.

What you'll have at the end: a published *.sgen.com preview site with a Home page, a Listings index, three sample listing detail pages, two agent profile pages, an embedded location map, a contact form that captures inquiries, and the meta tags + sitemap that search engines need to find the site.

What is this for?

Reach for this tutorial when you want to see what a real-estate site looks like on SGEN before committing real listings to it. The tutorial is built around the smallest shape that still feels like a working real-estate site — one listings index, three sample listings, two agents, a map, and a contact form. Everything else (advanced search, mortgage calculator, MLS feed) is a later pass; this one is the foundation.

The thirty-minute target is honest. A first-time user who reads carefully lands between twenty-eight and thirty-three minutes. An operator who has done the SGEN quickstart at least once lands closer to twenty minutes. If you go over thirty-five minutes, the most common cause is over-customizing the sample data — for the first pass, accept the sample listings, accept the sample agents, accept the map placeholder location. You can swap everything later.

This is a tutorial in the strict sense — it teaches by doing, with sample data, and the example you build is meant to be evolved into your real site once the shape is in place.

Good use cases

Reach for this tutorial when:

You're a real-estate agent or broker evaluating SGEN before migrating from a closed listings platform.
You're an agency that builds sites for real-estate clients and wants to see the SGEN shape before quoting.
You're a single-broker shop wanting a working listings site without paying for an MLS-integrated platform you don't yet need.
You're a teaching real-estate office wanting a fast working demo to show a new agent how the team's web presence will be structured.
You're a developer evaluating SGEN for a client engagement and want to see how listings, agents, and maps come together.

What NOT to use this for

This tutorial is not the place to:

Wire a live MLS or IDX feed. MLS integration is a separate engagement and requires a licensed feed agreement — the tutorial uses static sample listings.
Build a production site with real listings on day one. The preview URL is sandbox-grade; the second pass is where real listings move in.
Set up real-estate-specific compliance disclosures (Fair Housing, agency disclosure). Those depend on your jurisdiction and brokerage; this tutorial covers the build shape, not the legal copy.
Run a multi-office franchise site with per-office sub-sites. That shape uses SG-Dashboard with separate site records per office — a separate tutorial.

How this connects to other features

The tutorial touches several SGEN surfaces. Each one is documented separately if you want to go deeper.

SG-Dashboard — the multi-site console where the site is created.
SG-Admin — the per-site editor where pages, posts, navigation, and settings live.
SG-Builder — the visual composer used in steps 3 and 4 to customize the hero and add the listing cards.
SG-Core — the platform essentials. The Media library holds listing photos; the Menu Builder wires navigation; Users covers the agent accounts.
Pages — listing detail pages and agent profiles are built from the Pages surface, using starter templates.
Posts (optional) — if you want a market-news section later, Posts gives you the categorized blog surface.

Before you start

You need:

An SGEN account. If you don't have one yet, run the 5-minute quickstart first — it gets you to a verified account in under five minutes.
About thirty minutes of focused time. The tutorial is meant to be done in one sitting.
A current browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari).

You do not need:

A custom domain (the preview URL is fine for the tutorial).
Real listing photos (sample images are provided).
An MLS or IDX feed (the tutorial uses static listings).
A logo or branded assets (the starter template's defaults work).
A credit card (the free trial covers everything).

Where to find it

Every step starts from one of three URLs:

Step	URL	What lives here
1 (template)	`https://dashboard.sgen.com` → New Site	Template picker, naming, preview subdomain
2-7 (build)	`https://.sgen.com/sg-admin`	Pages, Posts, Menu Builder, Media, Settings
8 (view)	`https://.sgen.com`	The live public site

Keep all three open in tabs. You'll move between them.

Steps

Eight steps. Each names a target time and the success signal. If a step takes longer than the target, you are probably over-customizing — accept the sample, move on, refine later.

1. Pick the Listings Starter template (≤ 2 minutes)

Sign in to SG-Dashboard. Click Create Site. SGEN shows three starter templates side by side. For a real-estate site, pick Listings Starter — it ships with a Home page, a listings index, a single-listing detail template, an agent profile template, a contact page, and a footer wired for a real-estate practice.

Name the site something recognizable, like "Your Realty Demo." Accept SGEN's suggested preview subdomain (or type a variation if the suggestion feels too long). Click Create Site. SGEN provisions in three to five seconds, then redirects you into the admin for the new site.

What you'll see at the end of step 1: SG-Admin loaded for the new site, with the Listings Starter template already in place — Home, Listings, Sample Listing 1/2/3, Agent A, Agent B, Contact, all in Draft status.

2. Customize the Home page hero (≤ 4 minutes)

Click Pages in the left sidebar, then click Home. The page opens in SG-Builder, which is the visual composer. The Listings Starter ships with a hero block at the top that reads "Find your next home" — replace the headline with something specific to your office, like "Family homes in [your neighborhood]" or "Boutique listings in [city]."

The hero block has three editable fields: headline, subhead, and a primary CTA button. Click each one to edit in place. For the first pass, leave the background image as the starter default — you'll swap it for a real shot of your local market in the second pass.

Click Publish in the top-right. The status pill switches from Draft to Published within about five seconds.

What you'll see at the end of step 2: the Home page is published, the hero shows your custom headline, and the Pages list shows a green Published badge on the Home row.

3. Add three sample listings (≤ 8 minutes)

Open Pages → Sample Listing 1. The Listings Starter ships with three sample listings already in place, each using the single-listing detail template. For each one, replace the placeholder fields:

Listing title: the address or a name ("123 Maple Street" or "The Garden House").
Price field: a number ($425,000 or "Contact for price").
Beds / Baths / Sqft: three numbers, comma-separated.
Description: two paragraphs about the property.
Featured image: click the image slot, then Replace to pick from the sample library or upload a real photo.

The single-listing detail template handles layout automatically — you only need to fill the fields. Publish each one as you finish.

Repeat for Sample Listing 2 and Sample Listing 3. Don't spend more than two minutes per listing on the first pass; the goal is shape, not finish.

What you'll see at the end of step 3: three listing detail pages are Published. The Listings index page (which auto-pulls from the Pages tagged "listing") now shows three real entries instead of three placeholders.

4. Add two agent profile pages (≤ 4 minutes)

Open Pages → Agent A. The Listings Starter ships with two agent profile pages — they use the agent profile template, which has slots for name, role, headshot, bio, phone, email, and a "Listings by this agent" auto-populated list.

For Agent A, fill in:

Name: an agent's name (use a sample like "Sam Brooks" if you don't have a real agent yet).
Role: "Lead Agent" or "Broker" or "Realtor®".
Headshot: click the image slot, replace with a sample headshot or upload a real one.
Bio: two sentences. Where they grew up, what they specialize in.
Phone / email: sample values.

Publish. Repeat for Agent B. The "Listings by this agent" section will auto-populate once you tag each listing with the agent's slug — do that in step 5.

What you'll see at the end of step 4: two agent profile pages are Published. The agent profiles appear in the footer's "Our Team" auto-list and on the Listings index sidebar.

5. Wire each listing to an agent (≤ 3 minutes)

Open each of the three listing detail pages again (Sample Listing 1, 2, 3). Each page has a sidebar widget labeled Listing Agent. Click the widget, pick the agent from the dropdown (Agent A or Agent B), and save.

This wires the listing-to-agent relationship. The agent profile pages now auto-populate the "Listings by this agent" section with the listings you tagged. The listings index also gets per-agent filtering.

What you'll see at the end of step 5: opening Agent A's profile shows the listings you tagged to that agent. Opening a listing shows the agent's contact card in the sidebar. The relationship is live.

6. Embed a location map (≤ 3 minutes)

Open Pages → Listings. Scroll to the bottom; the Listings Starter includes a Map Block placeholder. Click the block, then click Configure.

SGEN's Map Block accepts either a single coordinate (for an office location) or a list of coordinates (for multiple listings). For the tutorial, set the office coordinate to a placeholder city center — your sample listings will appear as pins around the office.

The Map Block uses the SGEN Maps module by default. If your plan tier doesn't include the Maps module, the block falls back to a static map image with a "Get directions" link to the external map service. Either way, the visitor sees a map.

What you'll see at the end of step 6: the Listings page shows a map at the bottom with pins for each listing. The map is interactive (pan, zoom) on supporting plans, or static-image with a directions link on starter plans.

7. Wire the contact form and the SEO basics (≤ 4 minutes)

Open Pages → Contact. The Listings Starter ships a contact form with the standard fields — name, email, phone, message, and a hidden "interested in" field that auto-fills when the form is launched from a listing detail page.

Click the form, then Settings. Confirm the Recipient email is set to one of the agent emails you used in step 4 (or set a shared inbox like inquiries@yourbrokerage.com). Save.

Then set the site-wide SEO basics. Open Settings → SEO:

Site title: "Your Realty — Listings in [city]" or similar.
Meta description: one sentence (150 characters or less) describing what the site offers.
Open Graph image: upload or accept the default.
Sitemap: SGEN generates this automatically; confirm it's enabled.
robots.txt: confirm "allow indexing" is on (it is, by default).

What you'll see at the end of step 7: the contact form is wired to a real inbox. The SEO settings show populated values. The sitemap is reachable at https://.sgen.com/sitemap.xml.

8. Publish the site and view it live (≤ 2 minutes)

Walk through the Pages list one more time. Every page you want public should show a green Published badge:

Home — Published
Listings — Published
Sample Listing 1, 2, 3 — Published
Agent A, Agent B — Published
Contact — Published

If any row still shows Draft, click into the page and hit Publish. Then click View Site in the top-right of SG-Admin. SGEN opens your preview URL in a new tab.

Walk through the live site. Click from Home to Listings. Click a listing. Click the agent's name in the listing sidebar. Click the Contact link. Submit the form with your own email to confirm the recipient inbox receives it.

What you'll see at the end of step 8: a fully working real-estate site at https://.sgen.com — Home, listings index with three properties, three working listing detail pages, two agent profiles, an embedded map, and a contact form that delivers to a real inbox. Total elapsed time: about thirty minutes.

What success looks like

You finish the tutorial with the following artifacts:

A published *.sgen.com real-estate site at a recognizable preview subdomain.
A Home page with a customized hero headline.
A Listings index that auto-populates from the three published listings.
Three listing detail pages with price, beds/baths/sqft, description, and featured image.
Two agent profile pages, each linked to the listings they represent.
An embedded location map on the Listings page.
A contact form that delivers inquiries to a real inbox.
The SEO basics (site title, meta description, OG image, sitemap, robots) configured.

A fuller success check:

Loading the Home page on a phone shows the hero, the navigation, and the footer at correct mobile widths.
Clicking a listing shows the detail page with the agent's contact card in the sidebar.
Clicking the agent's name jumps to the agent profile and shows the listings tagged to them.
Submitting the contact form delivers a real message to the inbox you set in step 7.
Pasting the preview URL into a social media post shows the OG image and the meta description you configured.

What to do if it does not work

Symptom: the Listings index is empty even though you published three listings.

Open each listing detail page. Confirm each one has the listing tag in the Tags field (Pages → \ → Settings → Tags). The Listings index auto-pulls pages tagged "listing"; without the tag, the page is not picked up. Add the tag, save, then refresh the Listings index.

Symptom: the Map Block shows a generic placeholder image instead of a map.

The Maps module is plan-gated on starter tiers. The static placeholder is the documented fallback. Either upgrade the plan, or accept the static map (which still includes a working "Get directions" link to an external map service). Both options ship.

Symptom: the contact form submits but no email arrives.

Confirm the Recipient email field is set (Contact → Form → Settings). Confirm the recipient mailbox accepts mail from noreply@sgen.com (the platform sends from this address; some corporate spam filters block it). Submit a test from the live page, then check the form submissions log at Modules → Forms → Submissions — the message will be there even if the email did not deliver.

Symptom: the agent profile's "Listings by this agent" section is empty.

Open each listing detail page, scroll to the Listing Agent sidebar widget, and confirm an agent is selected. The relationship runs from listing → agent, not the other way; tagging the agent profile does not auto-tag the listings.

Sample data used in this tutorial

The Listings Starter ships with sample data ready to go. The shape:

Listings (three samples)

Title	Price	Beds	Baths	Sqft	Featured image
123 Maple Street	$425,000	3	2	1,640	sample-house-1.jpg
47 Oak Lane	$619,000	4	3	2,310	sample-house-2.jpg
The Garden House	$385,000	2	2	1,180	sample-house-3.jpg

Agents (two samples)

Name	Role	Phone	Email
Sam Brooks	Lead Agent	(555) 123-4567	sam@yourrealty.example
Riley Chen	Broker	(555) 234-5678	riley@yourrealty.example

Contact form fields

Name, email, phone, message, and a hidden "interested in" field that auto-fills with the listing title when the form is launched from a listing detail page.

Map coordinates

The starter sets the office coordinate to a placeholder city center. Listings are pinned around the office at the placeholder offsets defined in the sample data — replace with real coordinates in the second pass.

Variations

Once the basic shape works, the following variations cover most of what a real-estate office needs.

Add an MLS or IDX feed. Requires a licensed feed agreement and the SGEN IDX module. The static listings stay as fallback; the feed populates a second listings index. Documented separately.
Add per-listing photo galleries. Each listing detail page can hold a gallery block. Add it from SG-Builder, point it at a folder in the Media library, and the listing shows a swipeable gallery.
Add a market-news section. Posts → New Post. Create a "Market Updates" category. The footer auto-pulls the latest three posts.
Add a multi-office structure. For brokerages with two or more locations, use SG-Dashboard to create separate site records per office, then wire a shared header in the SGEN Globals.
Add lead-scoring on the contact form. The Forms module supports hidden score fields and conditional routing to different inboxes based on form data (price range, beds, urgency). Documented in the Forms doc.
Add a virtual tour embed. The listing detail page accepts iframe embeds from Matterport, YouTube, or any standard tour provider. Drop the embed into the listing description body.
Add Fair Housing and agency disclosure footer text. the admin → Settings → Footer holds the persistent footer text. Add your jurisdiction's required disclosure language there.

Common pitfalls

Three things go wrong most often on a first real-estate site build. Each has a one-step fix.

Pitfall 1 — over-customizing the sample data before the shape is in place.

The temptation is to spend twenty minutes on each listing description on the first pass. Don't. The tutorial works because the shape comes together fast. Real listing detail is the second pass. If you find yourself rewriting the same paragraph three times, stop and move on; the description is editable forever after publish.

Pitfall 2 — uploading low-resolution listing photos.

The listing detail template displays the featured image at 1600x900 in the hero. A photo smaller than that scales up and looks soft. Upload at 2000x1200 or larger; SGEN's media pipeline serves the appropriately-sized version per device.

Pitfall 3 — forgetting to tag listings with the "listing" tag.

The Listings index auto-pulls pages tagged with listing. The starter listings ship with the tag pre-applied; if you create new listings later (Pages → New Page), you need to add the tag manually or they don't appear on the index. Settings → Tags → add "listing." Save. The index picks up the new entry.

Pitfall 4 — wiring the contact form to a personal inbox you don't check.

Set the recipient to a shared inbox (inquiries@yourbrokerage.com or similar) that the team monitors during business hours. A real-estate lead going stale for forty-eight hours is the difference between a closed deal and a competitor's closed deal.

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