REBNY launches ResidentialNYC.com

Real Estate Weekly,  July 11, 2007  by Steven Spinola

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I'm thrilled to announce that The Real Estate Board of New York's newest venture, Residential NYC.com, will be up and running this September.

ResidentialNYC.com will be geared toward New York City's homebuyers and renters and will be the first time the public will have access to REBNY's broker members' exclusive listings. As you all know, this is completely new for REBNY. In the past there has been a disconnect between those home-seekers relying on the web and the residential real estate community as a whole. This is the problem REBNY is tackling with ResidentialNYC. com.

ResidentialNYC.com will feature only signed exclusive listings so there is no chance of duplicate listings. These listings will be pulled directly from the REBNY Listing Service (RLS), an exchange service set up a number of years ago to promote co-brokering between REBNY's residential brokers. Once RLS was up and running it proved to be an amazing tool for our members, To REBNY, the natural next step was to inform the public of those brokers connected to this concentrated wealth of real estate information. Our members have the information, the public needs it, and ResidentialNYC.com will become a bridge between the two.

ResidentialNYC.com's operating and advertising budget will be funded by the site's membership fees. Any residential brokerage firm throughout the five boroughs, whether a REBNY member or not, can simply join REBNY's RLS and post its exclusive listings on ResidentialNYC.com. As membership fee's for the site are in addition to REBNY membership dues, member firms of REBNY are in no way obligated to join the website but, we can't imagine why a firm would not want to take advantage of this opportunity to market their exclusive listings. In addition, a company can sign up at any time, either before the site's launch or after, by going to the REBNY website (www.rebny.com) and clicking on the ResidentialNYC.com logo on the left hand side of the page.

So what, exactly, will ResidentialNYC.com be? It will be a complete website with an easy search functionality allowing users to search for properties by neighborhood, price, type of property, number of rooms or any combination of the search criteria. When a user finds an interesting listing, he can do a number of things. He can click directly on a link that brings him to the Listing Agency's website for complete details, including photos, floorplans and detailed descriptions as well as the broker contact information.

Users can also save the listing in their "favorites" for easy accessibility at a later time. Or they can email a direct link to the property to anyone they choose with their own notes and observations, a terrific tool to communicate with a roommate, spouse or even current real estate broker (and this feature can work both ways. If a searcher is already working with a broker, the broker can create a user profile and email properties that fit the client's criteria directly from the site to the client).

In addition, Residential NYC.com will offer helpful articles and tools for the homebuyer or renter, including a calendar of open houses, standard real estate terms, frequently asked questions, an explanation of the difference between a buyer's and a seller's agent, how to prepare for an open house, the usefulness of co-brokerage to a buyer and seller, financial tools, foreign language assistance and a complete list of each participating firm, their agents and links to participating firms' websites.

As our marketing campaign rolls out this September, ResidentialNYC.com will become the website destination for New Yorkers searching for a home, and I hope you will all join REBNY in creating an outstanding website.

It'll truly be a September to remember, for REBNY, its members, and New York City homebuyers!

STEVEN SPINOLA, PRESIDENT, REBNY

COPYRIGHT 2007 Hagedorn Publication
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