Edina Realty Launches New Website

Edina, Minn. – Aug. 17, 2011 – Edina Realty, which has the leading real estate website in the area with around one million monthly visits, today revealed its new website at www.edinarealty.com.

Simplifying the site and enabling consumers to quickly and easily find properties in communities they're interested in was the primary objective of the website redesign, according to Bob Peltier, president and CEO of Edina Realty Home Services. "We even have popular searches that can be accessed with just one click: foreclosures and short sales, lakeshore properties, and open houses," he said. Peltier added that another key goal was to give consumers easy access to current market data, including sold home data. In fact, they can search active and sold property information from over 210,000 MLS listings.

"A more educated buyer or seller is a better one," Peltier said. "We believe in giving consumers all of the tools and information they need to make informed real estate decisions. Then our job as real estate professionals is to help determine market values, negotiate prices, help explain financing options, provide resources to help determine available down payment assistance programs, work through the mire of paperwork and documents, and make sure the consumer is protected in the process."

The new Edina Realty website was designed by 1000 Watt Consulting, an interactive marketing communications and design agency that specializes in the real estate industry. Citing consumer research from the National Association of REALTORS®, 1000 Watt Consulting partner Brian Boero said that the new Edina Realty website remained focused on what consumers want, without getting sidetracked by different agendas.

The new Edina Realty website was designed by 1000 Watt Consulting, an interactive marketing communications and design agency that specializes in the real estate industry. Citing consumer research from the National Association of REALTORS®, 1000 Watt Consulting partner Brian Boero said that the new Edina Realty website remained focused on what consumers want, without getting sidetracked by different agendas.

Edina Realty is continuously adding new features and functionality to its website. In March, sales prices and other data for homes that sold in the last two years was incorporated into searches. Users can simply change the search criteria from "active" to "sold" on the property search page.

A mobile version of the Edina Realty website can be accessed at m.edinarealty.com, which includes geolocation capabilities for users to search nearby properties. Users of the iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android phones can also access the most popular features from the Edina Realty website through free property search applications. The Edina Realty mobile website and the property search applications allow users to search virtually all MLS listings in Minnesota, western Wisconsin and eastern N.D., including property photos. Consumers can also find open houses and see current mortgage rates.

According to data available from online competitive intelligence service Experian Hitwise, which measures market share on the internet, edinarealty.com is the preferred website for Minnesotans searching for properties and real estate information, even ranking ahead of national real estate websites. In fact, data supports that the company's website has maintained top market share ranking in Minnesota real estate* for many years. Additionally, Edina Realty has led Minnesota in sales for the past 11 consecutive years.

For more information on Edina Realty's website, mobile applications, to view homes for sale and property listings, or to find a Realtor® who specializes in your community, visit www.edinarealty.com or the mobile website, m.edinarealty.com.

*Source: Experian Hitwise*

Edina Realty, a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, is one of the nation's largest real estate companies with approximately 60 real estate offices throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and western Wisconsin and nearly 2,300 REALTORS®. Edina Realty's family of companies includes Edina Realty, Edina Realty Title, and Edina Realty Mortgage. Edina Realty handled more than 25,000 transactions and $5.3 billion in sales volume in 2010. For more information, visit www.edinarealty.com.

1000 Watt Consulting is a full-service interactive marketing communications and design agency with a unique emphasis on the real estate industry. Their client list includes some of the top real estate brokers, brands, media and technology companies and MLSs around the world.