They may have different business models and operate on different scales (national vs. local), but two real estate web sites are the harbingers of change and their message is the same. Consumer-controlled online real estate transactions are the newest way to model a real estate business.

Homebid.com has just announced that it is the first company to offer online real estate transactions with an event in south Florida which will highlight an assortment of broker-listed properties for sale. Offered until October 25th, the home sale event will represent the public's first opportunity to make online offers on private homes in Florida or elsewhere.

Reinventing itself from on institutional auction-only site to "the online marketplace," Homebid.com currently offers bank-owned, REO, or builder listings in quantity, but it clearly has the capacity to serve individual brokers, and, perhaps one day, even sellers, although it has not announced intentions to do so.

Homebid offers a 360-degree video tour of each available property along with information such as school districts, recent property taxes, financing options, local demographics and special features of the home. Potential buyers are encouraged to visit the properties in person after viewing the virtual tours and examining the information on the Web site. There, the site departs from its online listings competitors by offering a tracking mechanism, a personalized online workbook, one for the buyer, seller and the agents involved. The buyer can track other homes of interest, for example, and look at the bids and offers coming in, creating a realistic marketplace. This key point of difference will effectively do away with the closed offer.

Since its inception in January, Homebid.com has sold more than 200 broker-represented houses totaling $19.5 million, using the online auction model. While the auction model is offered as an alternative or supplemental approach to traditional MLS marketing methods, the online presentation/transaction model will also change the way homes are bought and sold now and in the future.

E-Realty.com, blasting off in Houston, Texas, is an online brokerage firm providing online transaction services between buyers and sellers. According to its debut announcement, the firm is the first of its kind to "allow consumers to manage the entire home buying or selling process online." Where its point of difference lies is that the company clearly outlines savings due to online operations. The company sidesteps the "who pays the transaction costs" issue by working with sellers on a 4.5 commission basis, and rebating buyers one percent of the purchase price at closing. Buyer's agents from competitors are offered a "hefty" 3 percent of the commission to encourage more offers from the marketplace.

E-Realty.com's business model is based on retaining a high touch team of real estate professionals on hand to assist consumers, while saving them time and money by putting over 80% of the transaction online.

Both Homebid.com and E-Realty.com call themselves full service providers.

George Stephens, real estate consultant, explains that while there aren’t many people out there willing to make one of the largest purchases of their life on the Internet, they are "ready to have the Internet play a major role in facilitating that process, as long as there is a credible, experienced professional available to provide analysis and advice, online or face-to-face, when needed."

Both Homebid.com and E-Realty have that proviso covered.

Recent studies by the National Association of Realtors® show that these companies and others which are sure to follow are on the right track. Nearly one-quarter of potential homebuyers have searched for a home online, and over 64 percent of Web surfers have searched for property online at one time or another.

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Published: October 5, 1999

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.