Meet Alan Hutchinson, Website Programmer for Real Estate Agents

Based in Bournemouth in the UK, Alan Hutchinson is a website programmer who builds website applications to help real estate agents sell or rent their properties online.

1. How did you first become interested in programming?

I actually taught myself whilst a teenager. The initial interest though was sparked off by a teacher at my school who encouraged me to try and to create my own computer game. After that I progressed into building and programming websites, and now today I am very much focused on developing web applications for letting agents in my home town of Bournemouth.

2. What do you like most about working on websites?

For me it's the results. The Bournemouth letting agents and real estate agents that I work with have all seen great results in terms of web traffic and revenue due to the online systems that I have developed for them--and now that business is starting to go nationwide which is amazing for me.

3. What sort of services do you provide to help real estate professionals with their websites?

I can build a letting agent's website from scratch, but the most valuable part is the property management aspect to it. It allows them to post properties to rent or sell online, where prospective tenants and customers can view and apply for a physical appointment to see the property. In the town I live in, Bournemouth, the real estate and letting agents market is really competitive, so I can give my clients a boost over the competition which is awesome.

4. How did you come to specialize in programming for websites focusing on selling or renting properties?

I have an aunt who knew I could program--and she was running a letting agents in Bournemouth. She was on a budget and needed to get her properties online, so I worked with her on the development, and it worked so well that I started re-badging the application and selling it on to other real estate and letting agents companies in the Bournemouth area.

5. If you could give advice to real estate agents regarding building a strong online presence, what would you say?

For me it's about the search engine rankings first and foremost because people need to find you! After that, you need your website to stand out from the crowd and let visitors view properties in an easy to understand way which presents the properties very well visually. Nowadays social media is becoming more important, too.

Thanks, Alan!