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findwell Partners With Estately to Upgrade Real Estate Search

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 August 2009, 11:15 CDT

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- findwell, a Seattle-based online real estate broker, launched a major upgrade to its real estate search website today at Inman News' Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, incorporating real estate search technology from Seattle-based Estately. New features include the ability to search for homes based on local transit stops and "walkability" to local amenities, virtual neighborhood tours with Google Street Views and local school and neighborhood information.

"Home buyers want a real estate website that is loaded with data about neighborhoods and homes, but is also simple and easy-to-use. Estately provides that and more," said findwell CEO Kevin Lisota. "We think that Estately is one of the top two real estate search sites in Seattle. Their search website is way better than anything the big brokerages provide at the moment. "

"We are excited about the future potential of our partnership with findwell," said Estately CEO Galen Ward. "It seems like a natural fit by allowing both companies to do what they do best. findwell can continue to perfect their innovative, low-cost real estate brokerage services while Estately can continue to focus on developing the best home search technology."

New findwell Search Features

findwell's new search is based on data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS), so buyers can be assured that they are viewing the most current available listings in the Seattle area. To help home buyers searching for homes in Western Washington, the new findwell .com features:

• My findwell - Save personalized lists of properties, get automatic updates for new listings, and easily share your favorites and searches with friends. Friends can also comment on your listings.
• Transit Search - Limit your home search to homes that are near light rail and bus stops.
• Walk Score(TM) Search - Find a walkable place to live by searching for homes that are close to nearby stores, restaurants, schools and parks.
• Hide a Home - Hide listings from your searches that you no longer want to include.
• Neighborhood Search - Find homes in a specific neighborhood simply by typing the name of the neighborhood.
• Free Text Search - Looking for a "fixer" or something "funky"? Simply type in those words to quickly sift through listings.
• Google Street View - View images of the surrounding neighborhood online.
• School Details - Quickly view nearby schools and school ratings.
• Listing History - Look for past price and status changes to identify seller motivation.
• Previous Sales - Find out when a home last sold and what the sale price was.
  

Customers Love New Search Capabilities

Early feedback from customers indicates that they love the new search capabilities. "We think findwell's new search is the best search site we have seen in the Seattle area. After searching homes online for several months, we were impressed by how simply the information is presented and how easy it is to dig into detail when we need it," said findwell home buyers Liz & Riley Althauser. "Estately's search is a pleasure to use and definitely far more user friendly than the majority of competitor offerings," said Nicholas Wood, another first-time home buyer working with findwell.

Partnership Shows Continued Momentum

The new search partnership demonstrates the continued momentum of Estately in the real estate marketplace. After expanding over the previous 12 months to new markets such as Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Long Island and most recently Atlanta, traffic to Estately's website is up 500% - and up 20% month over month. Transactions have increased at an even faster rate.

The new partnership also bodes well for findwell's future. "With Estately already providing real estate search in many major cities, future expansion for our brokerage services will be that much easier," said Lisota.

Consumers in the Seattle area can check out all of the new search features at www.findwell.com. Estately also provides real estate search and referrals to top real estate agents for California, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Washington and Georgia at www.estately.com.

About findwell

findwell (www.findwell.com) is a real estate brokerage that offers a smart approach to buying and selling your home. We are a full service brokerage offering exceptional customer service, technology-based marketing and data-driven market analysis. Founded by real estate professionals and technology industry veterans, we have "done the math" and are able to offer real estate services at 1/2 the "traditional" rate. Buyers receive a rebate that is 1/2 of our commission, and sellers pay 1/2 of the typical listing commission. Our average customer saves $7,500 on each transaction. Visit our website at www.findwell.com or stay on top of the Seattle real estate market at blog.findwell.com.

About Estately

Estately (www.estately.com) was created with the belief that home buyers need context when they're looking for a home. At Estately you can learn about the surrounding area, the nearby shops, the character of the neighborhood and the style, size and price of a property. Estately.com lets people interested in real estate search for homes from the most comprehensive database of homes in select United States cities and find the best agents from dozens of real estate brokerages. Estately currently provides real estate search services in Washington, California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, and Oregon. Visit Estately's website at www.estately.com or take a peek behind the curtain on our blog at http://blog.estately.com

SOURCE findwell

Source: PR Newswire

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