Just when it looked like national listings sites were down for the count, MSN HomeAdvisor has more traffic, more MLS deals, and more recognition than it has ever had at one time before.

Voted Best Overall Homebuying Site by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, MSN HomeAdvisor has always been popular with consumers for its high-quality tools and easy navigation. With a confident understanding of the anonymous bent of its Internet consumers, HomeAdvisor avoids obvious lead capture ploys in favor of letting consumers have fun and learn about the homebuying process at their own pace.

Yahoo! Internet Life also awarded MSN HomeAdvisor with Best Tutorials for its homebuying advice and information.

Innovative services for agents

Consumers can enter a simple zip code on HomeAdvisor's front page and find out neighborhood information.

When they get to homes, they can click and compare homes simultaneously. They can find local shops and services next to every home, cleverly provided courtesy of MSN Yellow Pages.

Getting consumers to homes quickly is an MSN HomeAdvisor specialty and listing agents are treated with the highest respect. Unlike some other sites which eliminate listing agents from their own listings, listing agent contact information is prominently displayed, and at no extra charge to Realtors. Realtors can also link virtual tour providers of their choice at no extra charge.

Buyers' agents and agents with few or no listings also get respect on MSN HomeAdvisor. While lead generation opportunities online tend to favor listing agents via their listings, MSN HomeAdvisor is the first national listings aggregator to promote any participating agent through its publication of Realty Times' daily Market Conditions Report(tm). Realty Times' members, whether they are listing, dual, transactional, fee-for-service, buyer's or seller's agents, put on their reporter hats, and dash off a few lines about what is happening in their local markets to get e-mail-close to HomeAdvisor's three million unique monthly visitors - again, with no redirection or referral fees. (Editor's note: Market Conditions Report was also recognized in the Gold Star Homebuying Sites story in Yahoo! Internet Life.)

Record-breaking traffic

And it doesn't hurt that MSN HomeAdvisor is part of the MSN Network, with 65 million visitors who may drop in at any time to view some homes.

MSN HomeAdvisor says it soared past the competition in December, attracting more than three million unique visitors, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. This is a traditionally slow month for the industry and real estate Web sites in general, yet the nearest competitor generated just two million users.

MSN HomeAdvisor says that while January figures are not yet available, their internal traffic records showed a 25% increase in unique visitors for MSN HomeAdvisor over December, showing for a third straight year that buyers and sellers start their homebuying/selling research much earlier in the year than originally thought.

A new respect from the real estate industry

Long feared by some Realtors as "the lion coming over the hill" coming to take their customers away, MSN HomeAdvisor has had an uphill battle convincing Realtors that the company makes its money from loans, not real estate agents, and that it has no agenda to sell Realtors back their own leads from their listings.

While it has taken some years, many Realtors are finding that they get a lot of leads from MSN HomeAdvisor and at no cost to themselves. This is opening the door for many MLSs to abandon exclusive agreements with other national aggregators.

"We want to help our members get leads from as many places as possible," Jay Huffman, CEO of Multiple Listing Service Of Norther Illinois (MLSNI,) told Agent News recently.

MLSNI is among 50 MLSs to have signed new listings aggregation agreements with MSN HomeAdvisor, along with Mid-Regional MLS in Los Angeles, Triangle MLS in North Carolina, Indianapolis Board of Realtors, San Antonio Board of Realtors, Long Island Board of Realtors and Realcomp II Ltd. In Detroit.

“We’re thrilled to have these new MLS partners join MSN HomeAdvisor, immediately reaping significant benefits for their REALTOR® members,” said Jim Guy, business development manager for MSN HomeAdvisor. “With these new agreements, tens of thousands of additional Realtors are acquiring more customers and selling homes faster on the Web and with MSN.”

"We've worked very hard to continually drive qualified buyers and sellers to our real estate partners each month," said Matt Heinz, lead product manager for MSN HomeAdvisor. "With the majority of buyers and sellers now starting their research online, we look forward to helping more Realtors connect with those consumers early in the decision-making process."

Published: February 27, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. 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. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.