( BW)(HOMESHARK-2) More Than One Million Listings Put HomeShark On Top;
Combined Listings and Mortgage Resources Make HomeShark the Leader in
Online Residential Real Estate
Business Editors & Real Estate Writers
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 1998--HomeShark(TM), Inc., the best place to shop
for a home and a discount mortgage, today announced the next generation of its HomeScout property
listings search engine which now has access to over one million home listings and features a significantly
upgraded search interface.
By forming alliances with the top online listings sites and upgrading its listings search engine,
HomeShark now offers consumers the fastest, easiest access to the most comprehensive listings search
available online. HomeShark's open model sets the standard in the online real estate industry by
aggregating the lowest-cost mortgages from national lenders and the broadest selection of listings from the
leading online listings sites.
HomeShark's listings search engine, HomeScout, is the only national listings source that includes
comprehensive listings for every major metropolitan U.S. market, including New York City. A significant
portion of these listings come through recent alliances with three of the top four online residential listings
sites (CyberHomes(R), HomeSeekers.com, and Homes & Land) and emerging Real Estate Book, as well
as from the top brokers and offices of each of the major real estate chains. The alliances with HomeShark
will give the listing services improved visibility and access to HomeShark's broad base of home buyers.
HomeShark is also an online provider of aggregated for-sale-by-owner listings, including those from the
top owners site, the Abele Owners' Network, and new home listings, including those from the top new
construction site, New Homes Search.
The HomeScout model was the first of its kind in the country and represents a major step forward for
the real estate industry by aggregating listings from more than 350 real estate web sites. Partnering with
the top online sites gives HomeScout access to more than one million non-duplicative listings, with many
more listings to be added over time.
In addition to growing HomeScout to the most comprehensive home listings search available to
consumers, HomeShark also unveiled a much-improved HomeScout search and results interface. In just
one click from the front page of the site, users receive a targeted comprehensive list of homes for sale that
can be ranked and prioritized according to price or age of listing. On the search results page itself, users
can easily change, narrow or expand their search with different criteria. HomeShark quickly provides
users with a rate and monthly payment quote for a specific property, allowing them to apply for deeply
discounted mortgages from national lenders within two clicks from each listing. Customers who continue
their search over time can sign up for weekly email updates of new listings that match their search criteria.
"The online Real Estate wars are heating up, and no one player has emerged from the pack," noted Peter
Krasilovsky, vice president, Arlen Communications Inc. "But HomeShark has great utility. It has also built
up a fairly strong distribution system. We expect it to be one of the finalists in the field."
"Finding a home and getting a mortgage doesn't have to become a second job. Once consumers visit our
site and see how simple and fast it is to search for their home and their mortgage, more and more people
will turn to the Web to find and finance their homes," commented Ned Hoyt, HomeShark's CEO. "The
HomeShark model of integrating home listings with mortgages in one convenient location has set the bar
high for the industry. Already, companies have started to copy our successful model, but we will continue
to provide the most value for consumers based on our experience and expertise in the online real estate
industry."
About HomeShark, Inc.
HomeShark, homeshark.com, is the best way for consumers to shop for a new home and a
discount mortgage. HomeShark's core offerings are discounted mortgages from national lenders at less
than half of traditional mortgage fees, and the HomeScout search engine that delivers the largest selection
of online home listings from top real estate sites. HomeShark is accessible through major sites including
Excite Classifieds Network, HotBot, Infoseek, InfoSpace, Lycos, and Metacrawler. HomeShark, Inc. was
founded in October 1996 and has offices in San Francisco and Concord, California.
Note to Editors: HomeShark and HomeScout are trademarks of HomeShark, Inc. All other names are
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
--30--slw/sf* ms/dc/sf
CONTACT: Antenna Group
Margaret Henry, 415/896-1800
margaret@antennapr.com
or
HomeShark, Inc.
Laurel Peppino, 415/659-6820 x5138
laurel@homeshark.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET REAL ESTATE
COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
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