RealSelect, Inc., operator of REALTOR.COM, the nation’s premier real estate site on the Internet, and the National Association of Home Builders launched HOMEBUILDER.COM.

The launching of HOMEBUILDER.COM marks the next step in RealSelect's and NAHB's strategy to jointly develop a dedicated new homes Internet site. HOMEBUILDER.COM is designed to facilitate and simplify the new home buying process for consumers and home builders and features newly constructed homes, plans, models, and other products and services of builders and remodelers.

HOMEBUILDER.COM displays 7,000 builders and their 100,000 new homes, specs, and models, in 63 markets throughout the United States. The database of new home related information is the largest of its kind and is aggregated by NewHomes Search Systems, a Dallas based company, which RealSelect acquired last month. Complimenting HOMEBUILDER.COM's industry leading content, RealSelect brings the strength of it’s traffic/distribution alliances with six of the top Web portals, including AOL, Yahoo, Excite, Netscape, Infoseek and Lycos.

"With NAHB's member network, our marketing experience and NewHome Search Systems present content, HOMEBUILDER.com will become the overnight leader in the builder/new homes category," said Stuart Wolff, CEO and chairman of RealSelect, Inc. "Our goal was to a launch a site that would be as useful as possible to a new home buyer right out of the gate, and with HOMEBUILDER.com we are offering the most comprehensive collection of builders’ new homes, models, and plans on the Internet."

RealSelect will work with NAHB's extensive network of members and associations throughout the country to help NAHB’s 65,000 builder members take advantage of the Internet’s marketing power. HOMEBUILDER.COM will provide builders the opportunity to display their inventory, purchase home pages and advertise at the best possible value so they can provide information to a wider audience than through traditional media and can drive greater leads to their businesses.

"A strong online presence will be of tremendous value to our members," said Charlie Ruma, first vice president of NAHB and a home builder from Columbus, Ohio. "By launching HOMEBUILDER.COM, we have created the ideal vehicle for our builders to leverage the power of the Internet and communicate with today’s online home shoppers and buyers."

According to Ruma, the potential market is enormous. The nation’s home builders are expected to construct nearly 1.6 million new residential units, including 1.2 million single-family homes, this year. New home construction and remodeling account for about five cents of every dollar spent in the U.S. each year.

With HOMEBUILDER.COM, buyers can search for a new home or for a specific builder to construct a house on an existing lot. HOMEBUILDER.COM’s mapping features provide the site user with a clear understanding of the new home’s location, a feature that is particularly useful to the user who is unfamiliar with a specific community. Home buyers can search by multiple criteria including price range, number of bedrooms, number of baths, square footage and desired move-in date.

When searching for a new home within a neighborhood, the consumer can select from several different community and lifestyle amenities. Once the home buyer has found the new home that meets their needs, they can browse floor plans, elevations, and amenities of the new homes.

"HOMEBUILDER.COM provides the prospective new home consumer with a powerful decision tool to help select the right builder, neighborhood, or new home," said Fred White, President and founder of recently acquired NewHome Search Systems. "The past success of NHSS was built on providing a hassle free data collection service to our home builder clients while delivering the most current new home data to today’s homebuyer and HOMEBUILDER.COM promises to build on that success right out of the gate."

The launch of HOMEBUILDER.COM signals the completion of the first phase of the feature and content development of the site. It will be continuously enhanced and will soon be expanded to include 20 of the nation’s strongest new home markets.

RealSelect, Inc., located in Westlake Village, Calif., is the leading online real estate information and tools provider. RealSelect operates REALTOR.COM, the official Internet site of the National Association of REALTORS®, which features existing and new home listings and real estate agent and broker services. REALTOR.COM is the leader in both content and traffic with over 1.3 million listings, almost 95% of available inventory, and over 3.8 million visitors a month.

The National Association of Home Builders, with more than 195,000 member firms, is the most influential trade association representing the housing industry.

Published: September 16, 1998

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