RISMEDIA, Nov. 4, 2008-Cyberhomes.com, a leading online real estate information site for consumers from Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 provider of products, services and technology solutions to the financial and real estate industries, has been named one of the “Top Web sites of 2008” by PC Magazine. The current issue of the technology magazine recognizes Cyberhomes in the real estate/money category, tapping the site as the only real estate-related portal in the category.
“We are encouraged by this tremendous validation from the technology media,” said Marty Frame, Cyberhomes general manager. “We believe we have created a powerful Internet tool that is now the logical first stop for any home buyer, seller, enthusiast or real estate professional. We look forward to even more exciting news in 2009.”
According to the company, Cyberhomes showcases more than 2.5 million homes for sale licensed by its broker, MLS and franchisor content partners, while also providing consumers with home evaluations and full neighborhood analysis. Boasting more than100 million property, ownership, sales and mortgage records, Cyberhomes also features more than half-a-million virtual tours, and 700,000 foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings.
For its Top 100 lists, the magazine sent out an open call for nominations and then ranked each website entry on a 10-point scale, averaging the votes for a final score. The top “undiscovered” websites were judged on their content, update frequency, design, innovation and usefulness or entertainment value. Similar sites in each category were compared, but the judges also looked for a broad range of topics and categories.
As Associate Editor Kyle Monson wrote in the article’s pre-publication posting on pcmag.com, “Cyberhomes has all the usual real-estate-site features but adds a ton of nifty functionality to help you find not just the right home, but the right neighborhood, too. Get info and ratings for local schools, mine demographic data to find a neighborhood with (or without) children, or even search for a neighborhood by affluence. You can also track individual home prices and average price trends in the area.”
Cyberhomes first caught the technology magazine’s attention shortly after its 2007 launch. In a December 2007 article, Cyberhomes was included in a “Best of the Internet,” article by Jennifer L. DeLeo. The next designation came in the May 2008 issue, when Cyberhomes was one of eight “Best Real Estate Sites,” offering “all the tools you need to buy or sell a home, like interactive maps, community stats, and powerful search tools.”
The recognition by PC Magazine’s writers and editors echoes the reaction from the public and real estate industry, says the company. In its first year, broad acceptance by consumers looking for real estate information and professionals looking for a better way to engage home buyers resulted in much faster growth than anticipated. As a result, a completely redesigned and enhanced Cyberhomes.com was launched in mid-2008. It now accommodates far more content and functionality, with beautiful graphic continuity and the integration of several new technologies that speed navigation and prepare it to future expansion.
For more information, visit www.Cyberhomes.com and www.cyberhomespro.com.
