At its annual International Business Conference in Las Vegas, ERA Real Estate today announced enhancements to its Sellers Security Plan, consumer Web site and the launch of ERA.com Mobile, a wireless software tool for real estate professionals and their customers.
Introduced by ERA in 1976, the Sellers Security Plan is a guaranteed sale and equity-advance program with the unique “We Will Sell Your House or ERA Will Buy It” slogan. The Sellers Security Plan changes from a mandatory commitment fee for consumers to an optional activation fee. In the past, customers who wanted to utilize the program were required to pay a commitment fee of 2.75 percent of the eventual sale price of their home. Now, consumers simply choose to pay for the cost of two appraisals and a home inspection at the onset of the agreement. After that, they pay the 2.75 percent fee only if they take advantage of the equity-advance option, or take the ERA purchase offer after the 180-day selling period has been completed. The revised plan allows customers to try the program without committing to a fee at the start.
Create A Room and My Virtual Assistant are home planning tools that have been added to MyERA.com. Create A Room can be used to design a virtual room layout for moving or redecorating purposes, while My Virtual Assistant helps a consumer track and record activities involved in the purchase or sale of a home, including inspections, title searches and utility information.
ERA.com also updated its My Listing Editor feature to allow ERA professionals to enter new property descriptions, additional features and amenities, and even increase the number of photos for a particular listing. Any photos added to a listing by a broker or sales associate will automatically be presented in a new photo treatment called the Photo Gallery, which displays photos in a slide show format.
ERA.com Mobile allows ERA real estate professionals, as well as their customers, complete access to ERA.com home listings from wireless tools, including cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Now, consumers with Web-configured cell phones or handheld systems can log on to their browser, type in “www.ERA.com” and connect instantly to thousands of property listings. In addition, this features aims to make the company’s real estate professionals better equipped to meet the needs of the rapidly growing number of mobile, tech-savvy consumers looking to buy or sell a home.
ERA Franchise Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Cendant Corp. (NYSE: CD), is a residential real estate company.
