GOOGLE'S ANSWER TO OODLE

Listings for real properties on sale are getting better by the day.

Last Aug. 3, ERA Real Estate announced that it has started providing its residential property listings throughout the country to Google Base. You’ve heard of Google but what’s Google Base? Google Base is a service that allows its users to submit all sorts of offline and online content that can be searched on Google. Even if the content isn't online yet, Google Base will search for you.

By providing this service, ERA Real Estate aims to help make listings of home sellers more accessible online. That’s because the firm can now provide specific attributes of a certain property that will appear during searches. In addition, your listing will appear in other services, such as Google Maps, thus allowing potential buyers to look at where the house you're selling is actually situated.

"A large majority of today's real estate consumers are starting their home search online, but they are getting to this information in a number of different ways," said ERA Real Estate president and CEO Brenda Casserly.

"By working with Internet search leader Google, we have created another important online marketing venue that, in addition to our brand web site, will generate exposure for our affiliates and their listings," she exaplained.

Those who prefer to shop for homes online can now see information on ERA Real Estate's listing on Google. This information is guaranteed to match a buyer's needs and preferences. Results of these searches can be linked to ERA Real Estate's website, so more information can be provided on a certain property. This will also allow contact with a sales associate or provide other real estate-related services.

"As a company founded on technology, ERA Real Estate is committed to utilizing the Internet to provide the best service possible to both our affiliates and the homebuyers and sellers they serve. Working with Google is just the latest example of our ongoing effort to maximize the power of the Internet to help our affiliate brokers and sales professionals best market their clients' properties," Casserly said.