MEDIA CONTACT:
Jen Sondheim
206/695-5959
jsondheim@windermere.com.com    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINDERMERE REAL ESTATE ENHANCES OPEN HOUSE EXPERIENCE WITH UNPARALLELED IN-HOME DETAILS, NEW SEARCH TOOL

Agents prepare to participate in network-wide Open House Weekend in neighborhoods across the West

SEATTLE, Wash. – October 1, 2007 – Windermere Real Estate has long understood that choosing a home begins before the purchase offer and that a strong personal connection to a home can be sparked during an open house viewing.  Furthermore, Windermere sales associates know that every home has a unique story to tell, and are ready to share that story from the moment a visitor walks through the door.  Windermere’s latest innovation takes a holistic approach to enhancing the open house experience for the customer by way of a marketing program for agents featuring tips, resources, and merchandise designed to help deliver an unparalleled open house experience, from searching to shopping. 

“Our agents are encouraged to pay meticulous attention to detail in order to aid the visitor in visualizing what home means to them,” said Jan Edmondson, Windermere’s chief marketing officer.  “Welcoming guests by providing seasonal furnishings, cheerful lighting, fresh flowers, relaxing aromatherapy and fresh brewed coffee is just the beginning.  A chat with a Windermere agent can reveal landscaping ideas for the garden, intimate knowledge of the local school district, the best dessert at the nearby bakery, or an introduction to the neighbors who’ve been invited by.”  The agent may even log on to Windermere.com from a laptop at the open house to help a visitor find other local open houses using Windermere’s new Open House search tool. 

Now, finding several suitable open houses on a weekend afternoon takes less than one minute on Windermere.com.  In its ongoing pledge to be the gold standard in real estate service, Windermere is pleased to unveil a state-of-the-art convenience for home shoppers: Windermere’s Open House search tool.  The new feature, found on the Windermere.com homepage or by clicking on the Search for Properties button, makes it effortless for visitors to find and compare the locations of Windermere open houses across the West. 

The Open House tool allows visitors to set parameters for listing price, geographic area, and preferred open house dates ranging from “today” to “this weekend.” The tool interacts with Windermere’s PropertyPoint mapping technology to display up to 100 open house matches.  The visitor can quickly narrow down the search by specifying additional criteria, including choosing to view only brand new open house listings.  A summary of open house times, property particulars and agent information is easily viewed for each match.  The visitor is able to “clip” and save a desired listing, or print it out as a convenient flyer. 

Windermere agents have welcomed the addition of the Open House search tool to Windermere.com with enthusiasm and are prepared to participate in the first ever network-wide Windermere Open House Weekend next month in neighborhoods across the West.  Participating offices from throughout the network will host an open house blitz on the weekend of October 13 and 14 and invite the community in to see why a Windermere open house exceeds the expectations of visitors and homebuyers and provides immense value for sellers. 

“Windermere is proud to be the first real estate company to offer its agents a comprehensive toolkit of resources to improve upon the open house experience,” says Edmondson.  “Preparing for a Windermere open house is a detailed and deliberate process, and our agents are prepared to tell the story of a home through all five senses, from what a visitor sees when they walk in the door, to the music playing in the living room, to the feel of a throw pillow or cozy blanket.  Some go so far as to utilize commercial-grade scent devices to create an atmosphere that is relaxing, comfortable, or energizing. 

Check out the Open House search tool at Windermere.com today and stop in at a Windermere open house this weekend.  You may just feel you’ve come “home”. 

About Windermere Real Estate

Windermere Real Estate is the leading residential real estate network in the West with more than 375 offices and 8,500 associates serving neighborhoods in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Washington and British  Columbia. Windermere has been consistently ranked as the largest regional real estate brand in the western United States by REAL Trends, a primary source of industry data. Windermere has a proud heritage of serving communities by way of the Windermere Foundation, which provides funding to social service agencies that offer housing and services to low-income and homeless children and families.  Windermere’s Web site, Windermere.com, receives over 2 million unique visits per month, and is regarded as one of the leading real estate sites in the country in terms of customer usability.  In 2006, Windermere was selected as an Official Honoree of the 10th Annual Webby Awards based on excellence in Web site content, design, functionality and overall experience.