Membership Overview

The Houzez membership system is a powerful tool that allows you to manage a real estate marketplace and open your website to property listings from other agents or agencies.

It gives you full control over how listings are submitted, whether you want to offer free advertising or charge for publication.

Purpose of the Membership System

The goal of the membership system is to give your users (agents and agencies) the ability to publish their properties either for free or by paying a fee. You can configure it in two main ways:

1. Membership packages – Create packages that users can purchase, each with a fixed number of listings, featured listings, and an expiration period.
2. Pay-per-listing – Charge users individually for each property they publish.

Even if you allow free listings, you can still charge users for optional upgrades, such as featuring a property on your site.

Possible Configurations

• Free submissions – All registered users can add listings without paying.
• Paid submissions – Charge a fee for each listing or upgrade.
• Membership packages – Offer plans with a set number of listings and featured listings.
• Recurring membership plans – Plans renew automatically when using the built-in PayPal or Stripe payment gateways. (Recurring billing is not available for other gateways.)

How to Create the Membership System

Follow these steps to set up the membership system correctly:

1. Allow user registration and login so agents and agencies can access the site.
2. Set up user profiles and roles to define what each user type can do.
3. Enable and configure the Houzez User Approval System to manually approve new accounts before they can access the dashboard.
4. Enable and configure the Houzez User Verification System to verify the identity of agents and agencies for increased trust and credibility.
5. Set up the front-end property submission page so users can log in and submit properties directly from your website.
6. Configure the front-end dashboard for property management, allowing users to edit listings, track leads, and manage their portfolio.
7. Choose between free or paid submissions.
8. If paid submissions are enabled, create membership packages or configure the pay-per-listing option.
9. Set up payment gateways – Houzez supports PayPal, Stripe, 2Checkout, and Bank Transfer. (Recurring payments only with PayPal and Stripe.)
10. Set up invoices to track and store payment records.
11. Create a Thank You page to display after successful transactions.
12. Configure email notifications for important events, such as new purchases or expired plans.

How It Works in Practice

1. A user registers on your site and chooses a plan.
2. Their account is approved and verified (if the respective systems are enabled).
3. They log in to the front-end dashboard to submit properties.
4. Properties are published according to the plan's limits and duration.
5. When the plan expires, the user can renew or upgrade.