RISMEDIA, August 14, 2008-Roost, Inc., one of the most comprehensive search engines for finding a dream home, announced the launch of its service in San Francisco and Seattle, two of the nation’s most desirable and dynamic real estate markets. According to the company, the addition of these new listings gives local home buyers accurate and up-to-date listings of single-family homes, new construction and for sale by owner properties on the Web and provides real estate agents with a streamlined and effective new way to connect with home seekers.The addition of San Francisco and Seattle expands Roost’s network to more than 5,000 popular U.S. cities and market areas. To develop the best, most accurate listings, Roost says that the company forms partnerships with local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) boards one community at a time. The company says Roost’s listings are always current because they are tied directly to the MLS. In fast-moving markets like San Francisco and Seattle, outdated information can quickly lead to frustration if a listed property has been sold or taken off the market.
“Our team at Roost takes great care to roll out new markets, and we’re confident that these new market listings will live up to the best-in-class user experience that home buyers count on,” said Alex Chang, CEO of Roost. “These are dynamic cities where the real estate market changes quickly. By using Roost, we know users will be better armed to make smart decisions in their home buying quest.”
According to the company, Roost is a “blazing-fast” search engine that sits atop IDX, or Internet Data Exchange, sites. IDX is the national data sharing standard among all real estate brokers. Most popular real estate search sites are listing aggregators, and unlike IDX sites powered by the MLS, these sites get their listings from a variety of sources including brokers, magazine publishers, newspapers, other software companies, and sometimes, even each other. The result, according to the company, is often inaccurate and incomplete data, leading to frustration for home buyers. With Roost, users can create custom search profiles with simple filtering controls to sort by price range, square footage, numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, neighborhood, school district, new or resale properties and more – even which homes have granite countertops or pools.
Additionally, Roost’s platform and traffic-sharing approach with brokers helps agents form new connections with potential clients, serving as an important ally for real estate agents struggling to stay afloat in one of the most difficult housing markets in history.
“We’re excited to have Roost here in San Francisco,” said Randall Kostick, general manager of Zephyr Real Estate. “It’s a win-win for home buyers, home sellers and agents alike. People who start their search with Roost have a much higher level of knowledge and confidence in what they’re looking for and what’s available, and that makes the purchasing process far more efficient and productive for everyone involved.”
For more information, visit http://www.roost.com.
