April 23 2000
Building boom: real estate sites
But with so many, beware weak links, inflated claims real estate Web sites give a new meaning to the phrase "home page".
By Dolores Kong, Globe Staff

You can search the Internet for a home anywhere - from Maine to Massachusetts, California to Colorado - by price range or number of bedrooms or style. You can view pictures, or even take a virtual tour. And you can find out what comparable homes in your neighborhood have sold for, or what your boss paid for her new abode.

One of the newest Web sites, Domania.com, lets you find comparable sales, estimate the value of the house you already own, and calculate approximate property taxes on the home you're interested in purchasing.

Formerly known as HomePriceCheck.com, Boston-based Domania.com went online this month with financial backing from CMGI Corp.

"We like to consider ourselves a complement to the realtor. All parties benefit when you have an educated consumer," said Owen Eagan, communications manager for Domania.com.

And for people who already own a home, he said, the Web site "allows consumers to manage their most prized and valuable asset. They can keep track of their home's value over time."

Other sites, such as VirtualRelocation.com and Realestate.Yahoo.com, let you check out schools and compare cities, based on economic and quality-of-life factors.

Some specialize in houses being sold by owners, while one site bills itself as the leading online real estate brokerage. All promise to save you on commissions.

Some of the Web addresses reviewed offer links to mortgage companies, or calculators to figure out how much house you can afford and whether it makes sense to pay points for a loan with a slightly lower interest rate.

There are so many real estate sites that a Massachusetts firm that rates Web sites limits its latest reviews to 22 sites that offer at least 10,000 home listings nationally.

Gomez Advisors (www.Gomez.com) scores the online home-buying sites on such factors as ease of use and on-site resources. It also allows users to compare sites, based on whether they are old hands at buying homes or new to the real estate market.

But when making any kind of a purchase over the Internet - especially one as major as a house - a buyer must beware.

Some real estate sites offer a link to only one or two affiliated mortgage companies, which may not necessarily offer the best interest rates.

And some of the sites' claims - that they offer hundreds of thousands or, in one case, more than a million listings - may be inflated, according to a study last year by Clareity Consulting, a real estate consulting firm.

Here is a review of some real estate sites on the Internet:

www.Domania.com- With what it calls the "largest free online bank of home sales comparables," this site promises to "provide all the tools and information you need to save time and money in the real estate game."

You can check sales prices from as recently as two months ago and estimate the current value of a home you own or project its future value, based on sales data in your ZIP code.

An outgrowth of INPHO, a company that provided real estate information over the phone, Domania.com remains an information service, Eagan said.

"We're designed by homeowners for homeowners," he said. "We're not a transaction-related site," like those put up by real estate brokers or mortgage lenders. You'll find no listings of homes for sale - just data to make your real estate decision an informed one.

Domania.com also provides data to Yahoo, America Online, zipRealty.com, and other Internet companies.

realestate.Yahoo.com- You can search its ads nationwide for a home based on location, price, type of residence (single-family or condo, for example), and number of bedrooms and baths.

You can compare cities, based on cost of living, median family income, average home purchase price, and crime rates.

And there's a fun tool: You can compare salaries and the cost of living in different cities. For example, you can learn how much more you would need to earn in New York to buy what you can buy with a $50,000 salary in Boston. The site also allows you to find a child-care provider, research schools, hunt for a mortgage, and calculate whether to rent or buy.

www.Realtor.com- Earning the highest overall score from Gomez.com, this National Association of Realtors site boasts more than 1.3 million listings. You can look for a mobile home in Maine or a town house in Florida, by price range, square footage, and other factors.

One neat feature: Each listing estimates your monthly mortgage payment, based on 20 percent down and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate (7.96 percent during this review).

This site has the most listings by far, according to Gomez.com. But last year, Clareity Consulting found that Realtor.com's 1.3 million figure overstated the number of listings by nearly 100,000, according to Realty Times, a trade publication. Realtor.com didn't dispute that finding, explaining that market conditions and the winter weather at the time of the consultant's study accounted for the deviation.

www.zipRealty.com- Newly targeting the Boston area, this Berkeley, Calif.-based company says it's the world's first online real estate brokerage. Sellers and buyers who register have access to online agents, an "escrow tracker," and loan, insurance, and home-inspection options. Because of its lower overhead, the company promises cash back at the close of escrow, up to $20,000.

But because the site was just launched in Boston, on April 2, its online calculator's finding that an average three-bedroom, two-bath house in the Boston area is selling for $695,744 may have been skewed. That result was based on only 45 homes.

www.owners.comand www.ForSaleByOwner.com- These nationwide sites target do-it-yourself sellers and adventurous home buyers.

Owners.com offers three marketing deals: a free one-month trial listing, with one picture; a $99 three-month basic package, with five pictures and a customized yard sign; and a $289 three-month deluxe package, with a virtual tour taken by a professional photographer and an open-house kit.

ForSaleByOwner.com offers two deals: a $39.95 monthly rate with up to six pictures, or a $99 flat rate for a six-month listing with up to six pictures. Both sites also offer calculators, access to mortgage services, and other features.