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Windermere Real Estate Launches New Home Search Software Featuring Google Maps and Super-Size Photos

Posted on: Monday, 25 September 2006, 15:00 CDT

Searching for real estate online just got easier. Windermere Real Estate, the largest independent real estate company in the West, today debuted its new PropertyPoint(TM) home search tool and announced the availability of its real estate listings on Google.

Windermere's proprietary PropertyPoint(TM) home search tool, available at www.windermere.com, utilizes Google Maps to allow consumers to search and view all listings from every real estate company in 35 different Multiple Listing Service (MLS) systems throughout the West -- currently about 400,000 homes. Windermere was the first real estate company in the country to offer interactive mapping search on its Web site. This new tool has been designed to improve the consumer's house shopping experience by providing the greatest amount of relevant information in the fewest clicks. Users can access data on multiple listings from a single screen, eliminating the need to open new windows to view property details. Windermere PropertyPoint(TM) also features a Super-Size Photo Gallery, which displays Windermere Photo Gallery listing photos 225% larger than previously available.

To make listings more accessible, Windermere is providing continuous feeds of all their listings directly through Google Base, a service that enables content providers to submit information to Google to improve the quality and breadth of online search results. Data on every Windermere listing -- including markets in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Washington -- will be accessible via Google search. Users will be able to refine their search to receive the most relevant listings. This initiative with Google underscores Windermere's commitment to delivering the most relevant and complete information available to consumers.

"Where your customers are is where you need to be," said Geoff Wood, CEO of Windermere. "And when people search for information today, they search with Google. Our collaboration works because Google and Windermere share the belief that if you put the customer's needs first the rest will follow. Moreover, when they get to our site we want them to have the best possible experience. Today the consumer will find state-of-the-art maps and photos on our latest version of PropertyPoint that let them see and know more about what they are looking for."

Windermere has long taken a leadership role in sharing information with consumers. When the company was founded in the early 70s, it became the first real estate brokerage to include home addresses in all its advertising. Windermere pioneered sharing listings online with other brokerages in Washington State, and has aggressively advocated for brokers in every market they serve to share data.

About Windermere Real Estate:

Windermere Real Estate is ranked as the largest independent real estate company in the West, with over 330 offices and 8,400 associates serving communities in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Washington. Windermere's award-winning Web site ranks among the top real estate sites in the country, and receives over 3.5 million visits a month. For more information, visit www.windermere.com.

 For more information contact: Sonja Riveland Windermere Media Contact Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=012402D69C3095EF (206)784-1718  

SOURCE: Windermere Real Estate

Source: MARKET WIRE

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