In Yahoo! Internet Life's newest annual look at the "Best Homebuying Sites." Realty Times is featured throughout the report, winning a Gold Star Site award for "Best Real Estate News" and kudos for its new local Market Conditions Report™.

In contrast to past years, Yahoo! Internet Life writer Alan Cohen turns in a sobering post-dot-com-meltdown assessment of "Gold Star" homebuying sites on the Web, where it is clear that times have changed for homebuying sites and their customers.

The February issue of the print magazine features the "Best Homebuying Sites," which once were determined by which had the most listings. Now, the criteria has changed to which provides the best homebuying information, resources, advice and tools to consumers.

The article begins with a post-battle look at the marketplace, pointing out that while it should be a great time for homebuying sites, some are "struggling to survive." The reason? Lead generation on competing sites proved too expensive for agents who felt they weren't getting their money's worth compared to other forms of advertising.

But there's still a place for buyers and real estate agents to meet in the middle. More than 50 percent of homebuyers are using the Internet to get homebuying information, according to the National Association of Realtors. They start the homebuying education and preparation process online, where they also look at homes. They may not be ready to select or hire a Realtor for a while because they have to get ready to buy before they can buy.

That's where MSN HomeAdvisor gets it right, writes Cohen. Winning both "Best Overall" and "Best Buyer Tutorials," HomeAdvisor is lauded by Cohen for its fresh listings, ease of use, neighborhood statistics, and organization. "You'll learn everything you'd ever want to know about the home-buying process...."

Homebuying news, advice and information is also where Realty Times earned its Gold Star as the winner of the "Best Real Estate News," a first-time category for the annual homebuying site review. "With prices and interest rates constantly fluctuating," writes Cohen, "homebuyers who aren't in a hurry need to know the best time, and place, to buy. Realty Times does a crack job of keeping you up-to-speed on industry trends…"

"Particularly useful is the Local Market Conditions link, where agents weigh in on how their own markets are faring," continues Cohen. "You get city-by-city reports from local real estate agents who magnanimously share their insights with you (okay, so they want you to check out their listings, too.)"

More Gold Star Sites

"Best Apartment Rentals" honors go to Homestore, for the most listings, direct appointment scheduling from some listings, and the inclusion of corporate and senior housing.

Improvenet.com continues its reign as "Best Fixer-upper Resource" as the only contractor location service that puts consumers in touch with over 30,000 contractors nationwide.

With a name like MonsterMoving.com, you would expect big features. Cohen dubs the site as "Best Relocation Help" for its cancel/transfer/add utilities and newspaper subscriptions feature.

Newhomesource.com gets "Best New Home Listings" with over 200,000 new property listings compiled from the site's big-name builder partners over 66 strong.

Published: February 13, 2002

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