PRIVATE HOME SELLERS GO ON-LINE
By Adnews Staff
The On-Line Real Estate Network Inc. of Toronto has created a one-stop shopping real estate service on the Internet for people selling their homes privately. Currently the service just advertises re-sale homes, but it will begin offering new homes in three weeks and commercial space in six months. It will advertise homes and apartments for rent in two months. OREN will also advertise the properties in magazines and local newspapers. Visitors to the site can calculate mortgage rates, and find out what the monthly payments would be on a home. They can also fill out a mortgage application to get pre-approved for a mortgage. OREN is in negotiations with Canadian banks to offer mortgage applications for final approval. Users can get information on home insurance and fill out an insurance application to get a price quote. The service became available in the Toronto area late last month. It will be in Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton in six months if the service does well in Toronto. OREN is hoping to make the service available nationally in 12 to 18 months. Radio and print advertising is promoting the network. It was created in-house. TV will be launched within the next three weeks. The Web site address is <http://www.ROEN-realestate.com>.