One of the largest national home listing sites on the Web has continued to grow at a steady pace and is close to doubling its number of property ads in a three-month period.
With little fanfare, CyberHomes should soon secure a second spot in sheer listing volume behind Realtor.com, the National Association of Realtors-sponsored site, said Cindy Buyck, Internet manager for Moore Data Management Services, which runs CyberHomes.
With eight Realtor boards added in the last two months and another 34 boards coming online, CyberHomes will have more than 650,000 listings representing a total of 89 boards nationwide.
Realtor.com advertises more than 1 million listings. HomeSeekers has 400,000 listings with current contracts in place to have 500,000 by early next year.
HomeScout, which calls itself a listing warehouse and links consumers to hundreds of board-sponsored and For-Sale-By-Owner Web sites, currently accesses about 535,000 listings.
Buyck said the goal is to have 1 million property listings online by the first quarter of next year.
“We think the quality is important and that’s why we spent a lot of time, money and effort on the infrastructure and the daily updates,” Buyck said.
Not quite three months ago, CyberHomes advertised 350,000 listings from 40 participating MLS boards in the U.S. and Canada. Right now 55 boards are online.
Buyck said listing volume is only part of the site’s consumer benefits, mentioning CyberHomes’ free school data, street-level mapping and nightly updates.
“The main thing for the consumer is to be able to go in and see the best services on the Web,” she said.
CyberHomes gets its data both from Moore’s listing customers and other vendors, Buyck said.
Quick studies
It’s often predicted that real estate agents of the future will earn less commission per home sale but will have to list and sell more properties. If that’s true, agents will need quick access to listings.
One company forecasting that trend is IRIS LLC, whose current product, Lightning 97, claims to be the only multiple listing service software program with both Internet and e-mail capabilities.
IRIS, which launched its first Lightning product nearly five years ago, found success as an alternative to the software provided by MLS vendors. The company says it has 20,000 customers in 150 realty associations.
“Interealty and Moore Data (the two largest vendors) make their own software, which only works with their systems,” said Greg Robertson, IRIS’s sales and marketing director. “We were the first company out there that had an alternative to what the vendors were providing, and a Windows piece of software to do it.”
As vendors caught on to Windows presentation, IRIS regrouped and put out a newer version of Lightning that it says can integrate with any vendor or browser.
Lightning 97 offers both frame relay or T1 access, as well as “Property Gallery,” an off-line photo and data viewer that lets agents convert MLS listings and photos to HTML format for Web pages. It retails for $159.95
While integrating browser technology is a step forward, the future of MLS access software isn’t entirely secure, Robertson admits.
“We’re all on a limited timeline, because browsers are going to take it over,” he said. “But I think there’s always going to be a row of closed systems out there.”
MLS access software, Robertson said, “is really something that doesn’t get a lot of attention. But I think if you ask an agent, it’s probably their most used computer program.”
Shark bytes
Online lending and information provider HomeShark announced it had captured a multimillion-dollar round of venture capital financing with a group of investors for a Web site expansion and campaign.
Mike Zimmerman, HomeShark vice president of corporate development, did not disclose details of the financing or the investors, but said two of the backing firms were Doll Capital and HomeShark seed investor, Altos Ventures.
“The money will be used to expand the functionality and features of our services, and significantly increase our investment in marketing, distribution and branding,” Zimmerman said.
Most of the firm’s promotions will take place online, he added.
HomeShark’s site already has a new look. A new logo replaces HomeShark’s signature marine character. Content is organized by “centers” for buyers, renters, owners and Realtors, along with the Discount Loan Center.
Zimmerman said software company Intuit’s introduction into the online lending arena last month helped bring credibility to the industry. But he believes HomeShark offers better loan discounts and more services than Intuit’s Quicken.com or its other main competitor, E-Loan.
Fast lane
Don’t look, but someone’s trying to build a freeway through your home.
At Home Network, a cable-based Internet provider, and Microsoft are developing software for At Home’s high-speed Internet delivery service, and Microsoft will customize its Explorer 4.0 browsers for At Home’s subscribers.
At Home’s business division, Work, will support Windows NT for the company’s small business services. Microsoft will provide support and resources.
At Home Network provides high-speed Internet services using cable television connections that are hundreds of times faster than traditional telephone modems.
“This technology initiative will provide users with a broad set of solutions for delivering broadband content,” said Tom Jermoluk, chairman and chief executive ofifcer of At Home Network.
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Chicago Tribune Homes
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