Arvida Realty Services to Put Entire Inventory of Homes for Sale On MSN HomeAdvisor

CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 24, 1999 — Arvida Realty Services, the nation’s fifth largest real estate brokerage firm with annual sales of nearly $6 billion, and Microsoft Corp. today announced an agreement that will place the real estate firm’s more than 10,000 listings of homes for sale on the MSN TM HomeAdvisor TM online real estate service. The agreement enhances Arvida Realty Services’ position in the competitive Florida real estate marketplace by providing its customers with additional local, regional and national exposure for their homes on MSN HomeAdvisor. Arvida Realty Services is Florida’s largest brokerage firm with nearly 90 offices and more than 2,700 agents.

The more than 1 million home buyers each month who use MSN HomeAdvisor to shop for and compare homes and receive information on the home-buying process will now have direct access to view information, color photos and virtual tours of homes for sale listed with any Arvida Realty Services sales associate. Consumers will also be able to immediately contact an agent via e-mail from each of the company’s listings. This announcement comes just two weeks after HomeAdvisor announced it had surpassed the 750,000 listing mark nationwide.

“Our Internet strategy focuses on using the Web as a tool to ensure that we deliver a great set of services to our Arvida Realty Services customers. We set out to work with the leading software company that had the tools and technology to help us remain two steps ahead of our competition,”
said Richard W. Cope, CEO of Arvida Realty Services.
“Microsoft and its HomeAdvisor Web site have a proven track record in both of these areas. We are able to give our customers the best price for their home in less time, thanks in large part to the unmatched technology, service and Web presence of HomeAdvisor.”

“Arvida Realty Services’ decision to work with MSN HomeAdvisor is another strong endorsement of our site and technology – an endorsement that comes from one of the premier real estate organizations in the country,”
said Ian Morris, group product manager of HomeAdvisor.

Information supplied by Arvida Realty Services is available in the Homes section of HomeAdvisor. HomeAdvisor consists of five core areas, designed around the tasks and information that home buyers care most about: understanding the home-buying process, finding the right neighborhood, finding the right home, securing a mortgage, and understanding the offer and closing process.

Arvida Realty Services, the fifth largest broker in the nation, was responsible for more than $5.9 billion in real estate transactions last year. The company, with more than 2,700 sales professionals and 600 employees in nearly 90 offices throughout Florida, is recognized throughout the country as a leader in technological innovation and customer satisfaction.

About MSN HomeAdvisor and Microsoft

MSN HomeAdvisor is the Internet’s most complete guide for finding homes and loans, combining Microsoft® technology with services and expertise from some of the most trusted names in the real estate industry. It empowers consumers through every step of the home-buying process and is the first Internet site to fully integrate content and services such as neighborhood, crime and school statistics with homes, loans, editorial content and expert Inman Innovator Award as the best residential real estate site, HomeAdvisor is a PC Magazine Top 100 Web site, a Yahoo! Internet Life Best of the Best winner and a Family PC Web Site of the Month. Part of the MSN network of Internet services, HomeAdvisor launched in July 1998 and is free on the World Wide Web at http://homeadvisor.MSN.com/ (connect-time charges may apply).

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, MSN and HomeAdvisor are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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