The first home online

Who was the first person to post a for-sale home listing on the Internet? Inman News Publisher Brad Inman (@BradInman) posed the question in a Twitter post (click to read) today. If you know who it is, tell us. We would like to profile this individual and learn about the inspiration for this first-ever feat. (And did the home sell?)

Flickr photo by mrbill.

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Submitted by Pam O'Connor on October 28, 2009 - 8:22am.

I believe Arthur Sterbcow, president of Latter & Blum Inc. Realtors in New Orleans, was among the first - if not the first - to post a for-sale home listing on the Internet back in August of 1988. He said people actually yelled and screamed at him for "misusing" the Internet for commercial purposes. Clearly, he was a little ahead of everyone!

 
Submitted by Marlow Harris on November 3, 2009 - 1:19pm.

Coldwell Banker claims to be the first national real estate firm on the internet to post listings online: http://360digest.com/2009/01/02/wayback-machine/

Marlow Harris
http://www.SeattleDreamHomes.com

 
Submitted by seo services on November 5, 2009 - 10:27pm.

Oh this is really a great idea those who wants to purchase the home online, and all facilities has been available online by purchasing your dream house. You can purchase the dream of your house abroad also, but you should be aware of the law and regulation also.

 
Submitted by Randy Pickard on November 13, 2009 - 10:02am.

Andy Wolf launched the InterNest Realty, the first online residential real estate broker in 2007. The Internet Archive has records of the site going back to January, 2007
http://web.archive.org/web/19970102085956/http://www.internest.com/

 
Submitted by Robert Wicker on December 3, 2009 - 2:00pm.

Homes & Land was an early player in online listings. In 1993 we used our network of magazine publishers to create perhaps the first national database of homes. The listings were posted on Prodigy. You can see examples of the promotional material on our blog: www.thinkhomesandland.com.

Although the national rollout took place in 1993, there was research and experimentation priot to that. We are confident that we posted online listings as early as 1992, but alas, we have not turned up any solid supporting evidence. (Who knew it would be so important?) Take a look at the blog. A lot sure has changed.

Rob Wicker
CMO
Homes & Land Affiliates

 
Submitted by Bob Hendren on January 12, 2010 - 4:09am.

I was the lead developer for atlantamls.com, which started up for Georgia MLS in 1994. From our research at the time, it was the first MLS to post a public consumer listings website.

 
Submitted by Derek Eisenberg on January 12, 2010 - 1:03pm.

Brad,
Robert Wicker hit the nail on the head. Please define online. Does it mean the world wide web or are we counting DOS bulletin boards, Prodigy, Compuserve and AOL?

Derek Eisenberg
http://www.mls2u.com

 
Submitted by ronny maxwell on January 22, 2010 - 1:34pm.

Another alternative for finding the right answer is to search for the first home buyer, we should have known who he is by now. As for the first home sale online I think it was made by a real estate in Chicago, this is what I recall.

 
Submitted by Claude Guzman on February 27, 2010 - 6:19am.

I think it would be next to impossible to find out who was the first. But I would say, probably on USENET? Given that USENET predates the internet as we know it, well, an impossible task. Regards tongkat ali, guitar tutorials.