This just in from CNET News Blog: Bill Gates told a crowd at a conference for Microsoft's top digital advertisers that he has used Zillow to check the value of his home. However, the exec said that Zillow's estimate is far too low and that he would never sell it for that price. He further noted that while Zillow makes good use of Microsoft's Virtual Earth for maps, the algorithm doesn't scale well to the high or low end of the market, according to the CNET post.

Nominations for the Web Marketing Association's Best Real Estate Website close on May 31, 2007. I checked past winners and notice that they have won based on design and aesthetics, and not on original functionality. I see the broker Web site, all of them now at the Web 1.0 stage delivering one-way data to the consumer, on the verge of changing drastically to embrace Web 2.0 functionality. I've always thought the strangest of the Web 1.0 real estate Web sites are those Craig Proctor Web sites that bombard the user with every possible variation of take-away information using flashing icons and a hideous presentation. Every come-on leads to the same lead generating contact form.

Andrea at Famous Agents wrote a revealing article about the Craig Proctor method last September, and some of the comments confirmed what I had expected... the consumer can recognize a lead generation site. They are reluctant to provide their contact information for a home valuation, or a free mortgage preapproval in such an obvious "lead trap."

I mention Proctor because Web 2.0 Web sites will begin to provide all that come-on information more easily in the form of widgets instead of those blinking links. The widgets can potentially offer interaction far more engaging than that exasperating "click-on-a-link-to-a-contact-form" experience. In fact, Proctor could eventually replace all those links with widgets and suddenly have a very interactive 2.0 site to sell to his clients.

At Transparent today, I describe the broker Web site of the future... it doesn't exist today, but pioneer brokers who adopt the next generation 2.0 Web sites are going to benefit greatly from increased visibility and traffic based on 2.0's functionality  for two-way interactivity and data presentation. Once adopted, I think these new sites will wipe up the local competition.

--Pat Kitano, Transparent Real Estate

Move Inc. just announced a new president, Lorna Borenstein, who will work under the direction of CEO Mike Long. Borenstein previously held several key positions at Yahoo!, as well as eBay, where she is credited with leading the team that drove the site's explosive growth in Canada. The new Move exec is also a lawyer by training, according to Move's announcement today.

Move Inc. let another clue out this morning about the new mysterious business the company is creating. David Lereah, NAR's senior vice president and chief economist for seven years, has joined Move as executive vice president of the new yet-to-be named or even explained business entity.
NAR said that Lereah will act as chairman and partner of the new enterprise under Move Inc. that will launch in the third quarter of 2007. He will serve with Allan Dalton, who will be president and CEO of the new business entity, which NAR says will be "transformational for both consumers and real estate professionals."
OK, so what is this new business? Help us solve the mystery and give us your best or funniest guess. Could it be:

1. A new live 24/7 streaming Internet video show a la Justin.tv starring Dalton and Lereah.
2. A new home price index tied to home valuations that will rival Zillow and Case/Shiller and be a tool for Realtors to price homes.
3. A new home sales marketing program.

What's your best guess?

The guys at the Sellsius blog, who have built up a following and a buzz over the past year, today launched the Sellsius Real Estate site, at SellsiusRealEstate.com. The site will feature property listings of all stripes, profiles for agents, appraisers and others working in real estate-related occupations, classified listings, and user-generated content in the form of article and forum contributions. It's free to search and there is an annual membership fee of about 30 bucks to post property information. (See Inman News.)

Arizona's Senate Bill 1291, which includes an amendment clearly exempting Zillow and other home-valuation Web sites from appraiser licensing requirements, has been revived, according to a state Web site.

Though the legislation, which would require a two-thirds majority to pass, failed in a 33-22 vote Tuesday (see Inman News), state Rep. Bob Stump passed a motion today for the House of Representatives to reconsider the legislation Monday.

The state appraisal board in Arizona has issued cease-and-desist letters to Zillow charging that the company is offering appraisals without a license in the state. But the company has continued to offer home-value estimates in the state, contending that automated valuation companies are excluded from appraiser licensing requirements and its Web site states that the company does not offer appraisals.

The American Institute of Architects today announced the creation of three-dimensional models of popular U.S. architecture that can be viewed using the Google Earth application. Google Earth is a three-dimensional model of the planet that meshes satellite imagery and computer-rendered virtual structures. The program is available for free download.

According to the institute's announcement, the three-dimensional structures added to the Google Earth tool include favorite architectural sites selected through a poll of architects and the public as a part of the group's 150th anniversary celebration.

"Google Earth users can now see many newly created 3-D models of the ballparks, bridges, buildings and memorials that characterize architecture for Americans and comment on the poll results," according to the announcement. "By clicking on the America’s Favorite Architecture layer, users can view texturized 3-D images of the nation’s most popular landmarks ... right down to the trees lining the sidewalks and flags flanking the entrances."

Also available on Google Earth is a map layer that features Blueprint of America projects, which are a range of proposals to improve communities through civic efforts that include architectural works.

"Architecture defines the communities where we live, work and play, and thanks to the technology of Google Earth, we hope to connect communities to one another by opening the door to virtual exploration of design and the design process without the constraints of distance," said Christine McEntee, the institute's CEO and executive vice president, in the announcement.

Last month, NWMLS, the MLS for Washington State and parts of Oregon, announced that its agreement with Realtor.com would terminate effective April 22, 2007. At that time, Realtor.com was in the process of sending members information about how they could continue to provide their listing information for publication on their website, but many had not received those communications and were not prepared to transition to a direct relationship with Realtor.com.

In order to ensure that members have enough time to make the transition, NWMLS and Realtor.com have agreed to extend the deadline until June 1, 2007. Realtor.com's Web site ( http://feeds.theenterprise.com ) has more information about the transition and contains a letter explaining the changes and a copy of the agreement that must be signed if brokers wish to continue to send their listings to Realtor.com on their own.

Washington State's largest real estate firm, Windermere Real Estate, has never sent its listings to Realtor.com anyway, so the site has been nearly useless in this state, and I expect it to become even more irrelevant as smaller brokers will not have the resources or inclination to enable a direct feed. With such a small percentage of listings available, clients and customers will become frustrated and turn directly to broker sites which feature an IDX feed from the NWMLS instead. Which, ultimately, is what brokers want clients to do anyway.

--Marlow Harris, www.360Digest.com

How will Google's acquisition of Double Click impact online real estate advertising? Not much... most online real estate advertising is of the "long tail" variety. Double Click is essentially a banner or image ad serving company that works with ad agencies, a B2B play, while most real estate online advertising is bought by individual broker offices and agents and are targeted to a local audience. According to a California Association of Realtors survey, agents market themselves online as follows:

Top Websites Used in Agents' Marketing Strategy (California)

With the launch of YourStreet.com today, Zillow's got some new competition when it comes to owning the buzz around local real estate.

Both companies have slightly different approaches; with Zillow chasing real estate professionals to start the conversations, while YourStreet is targeting real estate enthusiasts to jump in the fray.

So the title fight looks like it'll be the Bay Area bruiser versus the Puget Sound punisher for a real estate royal rumble. Are there any other challengers ready to step into the ring?

More on YourStreet at the Future of Real Estate Marketing.