by Roberta Murphy

Today, Realogy is announcing that OpenHouse.com will become available to all real estate brokers, which should send up a collective cheer from home sellers around the country. The site will be comprehensive, easy-to-use, and postings will come from an automated feed from each broker’s office.

Real estate brokers may also be smiling because this should sooner rather than later do away with the need to advertise open houses in newspapers. Given that at least 78 percent of all real estate shoppers search online, it just makes sense for all open house listings to be posted there as well.

Realogy’s President and CEO Anthony Perriello and Mike Good, President and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliate LLC, issued a joint letter to Sotheby’s Realty owners sharing the news.

“In our opinion, consumers’ extensive use of the Internet in the homebuying process is enabling our industry to shift from expensive classified newspaper advertising into the nearly-free online arena–and with this major enhancement to OpenHouse.com, we are once again leading the charge.”

As a neutral, non-denominational site, OpenHouse.com will be available to every real estate broker for a nominal, one-time set up fee to initiate each non-Realogy’s brokers incoming data feed.

Additional information will be posted on Realogy’s site later today.

© roberta for Luxury home Digest, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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I could write a catchy piece about the cluttered look of most collectors homes, but the first finger I would have to point would be at myself.

My confession?

I have inadvertently become a collector of widgets, especially those clickable social ones. Some go straight to social bookmarking sites, others go to friends, Now I have a big one that lists other bloggers. I rather enjoy them all, but have begun to hate the home page clutter.

If a blogs home page is the living room, where we greet guests and exchange ideas, gossip and news, then surely there can be other rooms where we save our esoteric collections and save our home pages from becoming eyesores.

In the virtual space of a blog, I am now constructing a dedicated widget closet. In here, I can now collect widgets with abandon. And when kind strangers offer me a widget, I can now graciously accept the gift and put it where it belongs.

The first widget to go on the closet shelf will be my diploma from The Tomato University. I love the look and am proud of the accomplishment, but tomatoes do little for the decor of the Luxury Home Digest.

The second will certainly be that large blog roll widget. I love its surprises, and have discovered more than a few new blogs that I return to regularly. But it also distracts from the home page. Others will follow and the widget collection can be a growing one.
Its to be an open closet.

Please feel free to browse, click and borrow a few for your own home. This page will become its own clickable category, so feel free to return and rummage through it at will.

© roberta for Luxury home Digest, 2007. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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