Redmond, Wash., August 18, 1998 — Early in the afternoon on Monday, July 13, Nada Sundermeyer, a Realtor with John L. Scott Real Estate in Bellevue, Wash., received an e-mail from a couple interested in buying a home. What made this inquiry different than dozens of others Sundermeyer receives each week, however, was that the couple found the home using Microsoft HomeAdvisor – on the very first day the new service was available to consumers on the Internet.
Sundermeyer didn’t expect referrals from the new online home-buying site to come so quickly. “I knew that having our listings on HomeAdvisor would give us new business, but I figured it would take a while before we started getting calls,” she said. “What a surprise when, on the first day it went live, we began to see interest in the home listings we have on HomeAdvisor.”
Other HomeAdvisor partners, from real-estate brokers and lenders to neighborhood and mortgage data providers, have also seen significant benefits from their alliance with HomeAdvisor.
“We are very excited about the new customers that we are seeing as a result of our relationship with Microsoft,” said Paul Bognanno, president and CEO of Principal Residential Mortgage, Inc. “Consumers want convenience, control and choice when it comes to making home loan decisions and HomeAdvisor offers all three. HomeAdvisor provides us with a great new way to deliver our services to online consumers.”
Every day, new partners are realizing the benefits of joining HomeAdvisor. Just last week, HomeAdvisor announced new listings partnerships with Coldwell Banker, Douglas Elliman and Prudential Long Island Realty.
“As soon as we saw the HomeAdvisor site, we knew it was something we wanted to be a part of,” said Dorothy Herman, president of Prudential Long Island Realty. “It provides our sellers with great exposure for their listings while alerting prospective buyers to new homes through features like the HomeTracker. This will help our agents be even more productive.”
HomeAdvisor is also taking steps to broaden the exposure of its listings and services through distribution and advertising agreements. Last week, HomeAdvisor announced deals that would make the site available to users through links on Infoseek, Switchboard, Pathfinder, WhoWhere?, Tripod, Big Yellow, GTE InterNet and DoubleClick. The site also will be heavily advertised on Yahoo!
“Wide-scale distribution dramatically increases the visibility and reach of real-estate listings and loan offerings on HomeAdvisor, giving our information providers exactly the type of exposure they are looking for on the Internet,” said Ian Morris, lead product manager for HomeAdvisor.
HomeAdvisor was designed to walk consumers through the entire home-buying process, from tips and checklists when just getting started to home-inspection tips and closing advice. The heart of the product — the listings, loan offerings, data and expert advice — comes from many of the most trusted names in the industry.
Designed from the ground up after extensive research and industry collaboration, HomeAdvisor can be used as a tool for both consumers and Realtors alike. The HomeAdvisor Advisory Board, composed of leaders from throughout the real-estate and mortgage banking industries, was created more than a year ago to help guide the team in shaping the product strategy while using technology to address real estate and mortgage lending issues.
