COVER STORY

The world of real estate is rapidly becoming a galaxy of virtual estates.

Consumers who once came into a real estate office with little idea of how to begin the buying process now have usually seen more than one house online by the time they enter the agency. Many of them have seen the inside and outside of these homes and can rattle off a list of their features to an agent.

Elaine Engelhardt, foreground, and Linda Watters work in the computer lab within Coldwell Banker located in downtown Portsmouth. Amy Root-Donle photo

Driving this abundance of information is the Internet, which is continuing to revolutionize the real estate business.

The move to Web sites that are designed to enlighten the home buyer or seller has made the real estate business more streamlined, more information-based, and less of an ordeal for all parties involved. With it, the role of the real estate agents themselves has begun to evolve.

"We're still very much a part of the process," said Richard Whitney, the broker/owner of Mariner Realty in Durham. "But instead of being the provider of the info, now we're serving as the interpretation of the info."

Consumers expect to be able to access what they're looking for in a matter of seconds, and they expect the same access to information online that they can get out of a book or from an expert.

That places an enormous amount of pressure on companies to provide that information and have their agents remain vital, and real estate businesses are attempting to ride the wave of the future with innovative Web sites.

It all starts with getting listings and contact information online, and increasingly evolves a lot further than that.

Richard Burbine, regional vice president of the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said his Web site uses video to give consumers a look at the houses they aim to sell. The company sends in teams of videographers to a house for sale and posts the results on their Web site.

In addition, consumers who hit the inquiry button on the company's site for more information on a property have their questions instantly routed to an agent's cell phone. From there, the agent can call and answer the inquiries without the consumer ever having to leave a work station.

"The Internet has changed the face of real estate exponentially," Burbine said. "Content is king, and people have to be able to find what they're looking for."

Burbine called his company's technological features the newest wave, and said he expects to see mobile devices becoming more of a feature as the necessary software and hardware to view housing on them is already available and improving quickly.

Dan Twombly, an associate broker at Prudential Rush Realty, estimated that more than 70 percent of potential home buyers make their first contact with the brokers through the Internet. Prudential Rush allies itself with Yahoo Real Estate to provide wider access to the Internet giant's searchable database of properties, Twombly said.

Prudential Rush offers a variety of virtual tours on its site. A series of pictures typically offer a good look at the style and condition of each room in a house, Twombly said. He said consumers have a big advantage by being able to scout locations well before they visit them.

"Customers come in more motivated and ready to go. They've already selected houses they've seen online as ones they'd be interested in," Twombly said.

Even sites without the allure of virtual touring are awash with details, facts, and pictures. Mariner Realty's site lists everything from the type of heating fuel to the dimensions of each room in the house.

For Whitney, this is a reflection of the increasing desire for consumers to know everything they can at the moment they access a Web page.

"It used to be if a company responded within two to three business days, that was acceptable. But today people want the information now, not tomorrow," Whitney said.

Burbine, of Coldwell Banker, said the New England Moves site his company and others maintains gives home shoppers a convenient place to look for properties all over New England. The site offers details and one-hit buttons for scheduling appointments, saving the property to a favorites list and looking at mortgage pre-approval.

The rush for information even includes real estate blogs. For example, the RealTownBlogs offers regional perspectives from agents designed to give fellow agents and their customers tips and information about surrounding areas.

Amid the fields of Blackberries and seas of information, Realtors are confident that the technology is making sales even easier. And consumers have an easier and more information-intensive path to their local real estate agency, according to Burbine.

Where the technology will go next is somewhat uncertain, but Twombly said he expects wireless listings to be available on Palm Pilots, the idea of a "talking" virtual house that tells the consumer about its features, and faster and better access to information in general.

"All of these things are going to improve knowledge for the consumer," said Twombly. "People are seeing the evolution of real estate."