Yes, MLSimport handles open house information from your MLS so upcoming open houses show automatically on your site. The plugin reads structured open house date and time fields from your MLS feed and attaches them to each listing. As long as your MLS provides open house data and your theme shows that field, visitors see current and upcoming open houses without you re-typing anything in WordPress.
How does MLSImport pull open house dates and times from my MLS?
Open house dates and times come in directly from your MLS feed as structured fields for each property. They stay with the listing.
Most modern MLS boards send open house start and end times in RESO Web API feeds, and the plugin reads those fields as normal data. MLSimport connects to over 800 MLS boards across the US and Canada that follow the RESO standard, so the open house pieces arrive in a clear, predictable format. Each open house entry stays linked to its listing, not drifting around as a random event.
The plugin maps every property based on its unique MLS ID, which keeps open house updates tied to the correct home. When an agent edits an open house in the MLS(Multiple Listing Service), the next import pass finds that listing’s ID and updates only those open house fields for that single post. Because of that ID mapping, you do not end up with duplicates or mismatched events on different properties.
For Canada, the CREA DDF feed that MLSimport uses already includes current and upcoming open house events in the listing data. The plugin reads those events just like it does for US MLS boards and saves them into WordPress custom fields your theme can reach. In practice, the whole process is hands-off for you, at least once the feed is connected and working. The open house dates and times simply ride along with every listing import.
Will upcoming open houses show automatically on my WordPress property pages?
Upcoming open house events appear automatically on listing pages after each scheduled data sync with your MLS. You do not need extra clicks.
Once the data reaches your site, MLSimport stores open house fields alongside price, beds, status, and other listing details. Your real estate theme then decides where to show those values, such as an “Open House” block near the top of the property page. If your theme already has a built-in open house section, you just map the plugin fields to those theme fields during setup.
The plugin’s default schedule is an hourly sync that pulls new or changed open house entries without any manual edits from your team. When your MLS adds a fresh open house to a listing at, say, 3:00 PM, your site usually picks it up on the next run, often within about 60 minutes. You do not have to touch the WordPress editor for that listing at all.
When the MLS removes or changes an open house, the plugin updates that property record on the next import cycle so you are not showing old times. MLSimport keeps these open house fields in step with every other bit of listing data, so price changes, status flips, and event updates all move together. After the first setup, the flow is mostly “set and forget,” and the only real limit is how often your MLS sends fresh data.
- Hourly imports bring in new open house events as soon as your MLS publishes them.
- Existing listings are updated in place, so you never re-enter open house info.
- Expired open houses disappear automatically once they stop appearing in the MLS feed.
- All of this runs via cron, so no one on your team triggers updates manually.
How often are open houses refreshed so I’m not showing outdated events?
Open house information refreshes on an automatic schedule that usually runs about once per hour. That schedule applies sitewide.
The plugin’s standard setup is an hourly import, which means open houses, prices, and statuses all get checked roughly every 60 minutes. Many MLS boards themselves push updates every 5 to 60 minutes, while some smaller ones only send data a few times per day. MLSimport can never refresh faster than the MLS sends data, but it does grab whatever is new each time it runs.
When an open house is canceled or its time changes inside the MLS, the next import job finds that change and updates or clears the open house fields for that single listing. A proper server cron job on your hosting makes sure these checks still run even when your site has very low traffic. With that cron in place, you avoid the common WordPress issue where imports only fire when visitors load pages.
Can MLSImport highlight open houses in searches, maps, and special pages?
Because listings are native posts, you can build custom pages and tools that only show properties with upcoming open houses. This gives you room to experiment.
When MLSimport brings in data, each property becomes a normal WordPress post with custom fields for open house status, date, and time. That means your theme or a developer can build queries like “only show listings where the open house field is not empty.” Many real estate themes already include options to filter by “has open house,” and the plugin fills those filters with actual data from your MLS.
You can build special archive pages or widgets that show only properties with future open houses, such as “This Weekend’s Opens” or “Today’s Open Houses.” Open house fields can also power map pages that plot only listings with an upcoming event, which works well with popular map blocks in modern themes. Because everything lives in your database, you can even combine filters, like “condos under $600,000 with an open house this week,” using normal WordPress query tools. At first this sounds complex. It is mostly about picking the right theme options.
| Use case | How open house data is used |
|---|---|
| This Weekend’s Open Houses page | Query listings with an open house date within a set time window |
| Search filter for open houses | Add a checkbox that limits results to listings with open house fields |
| Map of live open houses | Plot only properties with future open house events on a map view |
| Homepage highlights | Show a small carousel of upcoming open house listings from imported data |
The table shows how the same open house fields can drive several front-end views without extra data entry. Once MLSimport brings those values into WordPress, you can design whatever open house pages, filters, or map blocks your theme can handle. I should add one thing here, though: some themes still need a developer to wire up the fancy bits.
What happens to open house data when listings sell or go off-market?
When a property goes off-market, its open house information disappears from public view automatically. That part is simple.
As soon as the MLS marks a listing as sold, expired, or otherwise off-market, the next import run updates that post in WordPress. MLSimport either removes the listing from public results or changes its status according to your chosen settings, and in both cases the open house fields no longer show on the front end. Since the plugin only mirrors what the MLS sends, open house data naturally drops away once the MLS stops exposing events for that property.
If you keep sold or off-market listings in a private archive on your site, the stored open house values stay in the database but remain hidden from normal visitors. That way you keep a full history for your own records without confusing buyers who only need to see active, accurate information. Then again, some teams decide they do not care about old open house data at all and just ignore it.
FAQ
Do I have to add or edit open house events manually in WordPress?
You do not need to add or edit any open house events by hand in WordPress. That work stays in the MLS.
Open house data flows from your MLS feed directly into listing posts through MLSimport, based on each property’s MLS ID. When agents create, change, or cancel open houses in the MLS, those changes arrive on your site during the next scheduled sync. Your job is only to make sure your theme shows the open house fields, since the plugin keeps the values current in the background.
Can a listing show multiple upcoming open house dates from the MLS?
Yes, a single listing can show multiple upcoming open house dates when your MLS provides them. The plugin will not cut them down.
Many boards let agents enter more than one future open house for the same property, and those all come through the RESO feed. MLSimport reads every open house entry attached to that listing and stores them so your theme can render a list of upcoming dates. The exact layout, such as stacked times or a small schedule block, depends on how your theme templates are built.
What if my MLS only updates its feed a few times per day?
Your site still updates automatically, but only as often as new data is available from the MLS. That delay can feel slow.
Some smaller or rural MLS boards only publish refreshed data 3 or 4 times daily, which is outside any plugin’s control. MLSimport will check on its normal schedule, but it cannot pull changes that your MLS has not pushed out yet. In practice, that can mean open house tweaks take several hours to appear, yet your site stays in step with the official MLS data.
Does open house support work the same with Canadian CREA DDF listings?
Yes, open houses from the Canadian CREA DDF feed import and display in the same way as other supported MLS data. There is no special setup.
The DDF feed includes fields for current and upcoming open houses, and MLSimport reads them when it imports your Canadian listings. Those events then show up wherever your theme displays the mapped open house fields, such as property pages or special “Open House” sections. From a visitor’s point of view, there is no difference between US and Canadian listings in how open houses appear.
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