"We had

a major overhaul of the site just two years ago, but with the major advances

in Internet technology we knew it was time to revamp our site and make

it even more user-friendly and information-packed for today's consumer,"

Kim Hoyt, Director of eCommerce for Prudential Atlanta/Georgia Realty,

explained about the new www.prudentialgeorgia.com Web site and the sister

web sites of its sales associates.

To accomplish

providing the very latest in online tools for its real estate customers,

Prudential Atlanta/Georgia Realty turned to Seattle-based Reliance Network

to be its exclusive web hosting service. Reliance Network currently assists

some 200 real estate brokerages around the country including Prudential

Preferred Properties in Oregon, Prudential Northwest Realty in Seattle,

and Prudential Carolinas Realty.

The new sites

have taken the best of the previous sites' features the ability for Realtors

to quickly customize and update their own Web page; show up to 12 photographs

of each listing; virtual tours on current listings; and offer buyers automatic

e-mail announcements about new listings matching their criteria on a daily,

weekly, or monthly basis with numerous new and cutting edge features.

Online visitors can now:

View more

detailed information and conduct refined searches on specific neighborhoods,

including the schools, crime rate, average home age, lot size, and area

map.

Save favorite

property searches, making it easy to pick up where the customer left off

on the last visit.

Register online

easier no long forms to complete, just enter an e-mail address.

Earmark and

save favorite listings.

Have instant

customer recognition upon returning to the web site (provided viewer has

registered with an e-mail address).

See a Real

Estate news section with articles and topics changed on a daily basis.

Check the

Real Estate Tips link with answers to 500 frequently asked real estate

questions

"The new

Web site provides detailed, real time information and instant communications

for our agents and their clients," stated Hoyt. "Our goal is

to take the intimidation out of the Internet, provide helpful, up-to-date

information, and allow a more personal connection between agents and clients.

Metro Atlanta consumers now have one Web address to go to for all their

questions and concerns including an estimate of what payments would be

on a particular home, guidelines for assessing current home value in today's

market, and an inventory of homes currently available."

Prudential

Georgia Realty agent David Holihan, with more than 20 years' real estate

experience, was one of the early testers during the site's developmental

stages. He has been impressed by the updated, professional look and the

host of additional features including the expanded property search capabilities.

"I believe our site offers better search options than the much publicized

realtor.com web site. We now have the top real estate site in Atlanta."

This is an

important factor when statistics from the National Association of Realtors

say that nearly half of all home buyers now use the Internet to search

for a new home. Just seven years ago, that number was only 2 percent.

"Our improved

online presence gives our sales associates an opportunity to showcase

their listings, real estate knowledge, and technological expertise,"

explained Dan Forsman, president and CEO of Prudential Atlanta/Georgia

Realty. "This new relationship with Reliance Network gives our agents

increased productivity and the tools to run their businesses more efficiently

because, used properly, their web sites are 24/7 virtual real estate offices

on the Internet."

Prudential

Atlanta/Georgia Realty is an independently owned and operated member of

Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, a full-service residential and commercial

real estate network with offices throughout the United States and Canada.

Operating in its 39th year, Prudential has 25 offices and more than 900

sales associates throughout metro Atlanta and Nor th Georgia.

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