Can we create curated ‘collections’ or ‘featured’ sections of imported listings, such as ‘Beverly Hills Estates over $10M’ or ‘Malibu Oceanfront’, without manually editing each property?

Yes, you can build curated, automatic collections like “Beverly Hills Estates over $10M” or “Malibu Oceanfront” without editing each property by hand. MLSimport pulls MLS(Multiple Listing Service) data into WordPress as real property posts, with price, city, waterfront flags, and more saved as fields. Once you set filters in your import tasks and in your theme’s listing grids, those sections update themselves as the MLS changes. New matches appear, and sold or off-market homes drop out during each sync.

How does MLSimport turn MLS data into WordPress content you can curate?

Imported MLS listings behave like normal WordPress posts, so you can query and filter them in flexible ways.

When MLS data comes in, MLSimport creates a real custom post type in WordPress, usually called “Property,” and stores fields as postmeta. Each listing becomes its own page on your domain, for example /property/123-main-st-mls123456, which search engines can read and index. Because every property sits as a standard post in the database, your theme and any custom code can run normal WordPress queries on them.

The plugin talks to your MLS through the RESO Web API, the modern JSON standard many boards use now. MLSimport maps RESO fields like price, beds, baths, status, and location into the exact meta keys your real estate theme expects. At first this mapping feels invisible. It is actually what lets your existing search forms, sliders, and archives treat imported listings like the ones you add by hand.

Data keeps changing, so the plugin keeps pulling. MLSimport runs an hourly sync by default, adding new listings, refreshing prices and statuses, and removing inactive ones. In practice, curated pages don’t freeze on day one. You set your rules once, and the plugin keeps your WordPress property posts lined up with the MLS every 60 minutes, without you re-importing anything.

Can MLSimport auto-build luxury, waterfront, or zip-code-based collections for me?

Once you define filters, curated listing collections stay updated automatically as MLS data moves around.

Inside the import setup, you choose what you want: price ranges, cities, ZIP codes, beds, baths, property type, and often office or agent IDs. MLSimport lets you save those filters into separate import tasks, so you might have one task for “over $10,000,000 in Beverly Hills” and another for “waterfront in Malibu” running side by side. Because the plugin only pulls listings that match each task, every import stream becomes the base of a different collection on your site.

After that, your theme handles the front-end using these filtered posts. Most real estate themes understand the property post type and can show a grid based on meta queries, like “price >= 10000000” and “city = Beverly Hills,” or “waterfront = yes” and “city = Malibu.” MLSimport feeds those fields into the database, and your theme’s shortcodes or blocks read them to build focused, named sections without you tagging each listing by hand.

Each hourly sync checks the MLS again, so new matching listings appear in their right sections soon after they hit the board. Homes that no longer fit the rule, for example after a price drop under $10M or a change to sold status, quietly fall out. To keep life simple, many sites run 3 to 10 focused import tasks and let those tasks drive every collection instead of micromanaging hundreds of single properties.

• Use one import task per niche, like “Luxury Beverly Hills over $10M” or “Malibu Oceanfront.”
• Filter by price, ZIP, city, beds, baths, and property type in each task.
• Point theme listing grids at those tasks’ results using meta-based or taxonomy-based queries.
• Rely on hourly sync so new MLS matches show up without manual edits.

How do I display these curated MLS collections in my theme without extra plugins?

Your theme’s existing property templates and shortcodes can power curated sections using MLSimport listings.

Most modern real estate themes, including ones like WPResidence or Houzez, already know how to read a “Property” post type with meta fields for price, beds, city, and more. MLSimport fills those same fields, so your theme’s built-in grids, sliders, and search results work with imported data. You don’t need to stack extra display plugins or iframe widgets on top just to show collections.

In practice, you create normal WordPress pages and drop in the theme’s property shortcode or block, then set filters such as minimum price, city, or property type in that shortcode. The plugin has already stored values from the MLS, so those filters pick up the correct posts for something like “Beverly Hills Estates over $10M.” Because location fields also map into taxonomies like “City” or “Neighborhood,” your city archive pages double as live location collections that grow as new MLS listings are imported.

Can I manage ‘featured’ or spotlight listings without breaking MLS sync rules?

You can safely mark spotlights using a featured flag that the MLS sync doesn’t touch at all.

The key idea is to separate “IDX data” from your own highlight choices. MLSimport controls core facts that must stay in sync with the MLS, such as price, beds, address, and status, so those remain clean. For featured logic, you add a custom field or taxonomy on the property post type that the plugin never overwrites, and that becomes your on off switch for spotlights.

Your theme usually supports some kind of “featured” tag or category already, and you can assign that by editing the property post or using bulk actions. MLSimport keeps updating the listing’s status and details, but your featured flag stays in place unless you change it yourself. Then, any “Featured” carousels or grids simply query on that flag, which means when a highlighted listing goes off-market and MLSimport removes or unpublishes it, the spotlight areas clean themselves up with no extra work.

How does MLSimport handle growth from a few curated pages to full-market coverage?

You can expand import filters later and your curated sections will just grow as new listings appear.

Many sites start small, for example with a single city or one luxury band, then add more areas or price points later. MLSimport lets you widen your filters at any time, or add new import tasks, and it will only create posts for listings that don’t already exist, so duplicates don’t pile up. That way, your existing curated pages keep working while new posts slide into the same grids and taxonomies as they arrive.

A strong hosting setup matters more as you scale. As a rule of thumb, a managed WordPress plan with around 1 GB of PHP memory and a real cron job can safely handle thousands of listings syncing every hour. At first that sounds like overkill. But MLSimport has shown imports of about 8,000 properties within a few hours on a mid-range server, which is enough for most broker and team sites.

The idea is simple, but people still stress about it. As your import rules reach more of the MLS, you upgrade hosting, not the whole setup. MLSimport keeps using the same custom post type, the same meta fields, and the same curated pages, so when you go from 500 to 5,000 listings, your “Beverly Hills over $10M” and “Malibu Oceanfront” sections just show more options. No redesigns, no big switch, just more properties filling the same rules.

FAQ

What happens to my curated collections if I cancel MLSimport or lose MLS access?

Curated collections stop updating and the listing pages should be removed for MLS compliance.

If the feed shuts down, MLSimport can’t sync status, so your site would slowly drift out of date if you left posts online. The right move is to unpublish or delete imported properties, which means your “Beverly Hills over $10M” and similar pages lose their content and their URLs start returning 404s. Over a few weeks, search engines drop those listing URLs from their index and your traffic shifts back to your static pages and blog posts.

Is MLSimport pricing tied to number of listings, visitors, or agents on my site?

MLSimport uses a flat price per site with unlimited listings, not per visitor, listing, or agent.

Whether you import 100 properties or 10,000, the plugin cost stays the same for that WordPress install. Your costs only rise if you add more sites or extra MLS feeds, or if you upgrade hosting to handle more traffic and data. That flat pricing helps when you grow a team or add new curated sections, because adding more collections never triggers new metered fees inside the plugin.

Can I mix manual “pocket” listings with imported MLS posts in the same collections?

You can show manual and imported properties together in one grid if your theme supports that setup.

MLSimport uses the same custom post type as your theme’s manual properties, so a pocket listing you add by hand sits next to MLS-based posts. If your theme’s shortcode or archive pulls all posts of that type, your “Malibu Oceanfront” page can show both imported IDX listings and an off-MLS pocket listing in one view. The plugin keeps syncing only the feed-driven ones, leaving your manual posts fully under your control, which is what you really want.

How many MLS boards does MLSimport support for building these collections?

MLSimport connects to over 800 MLSs that offer RESO Web API access, including many large boards.

As long as your MLS exposes a RESO-certified Web API and you have the right credentials, the plugin can usually add it. That means curated collections like “Harbor condos in Houston” or “Austin hill country estates” can be built off live data from well-known boards such as HAR(Houston Association of Realtors) or ABOR. If your exact MLS isn’t listed yet, their team can often add support quickly because the RESO standard keeps field formats consistent.