The Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) and EAC have launched Realestateworld.com.au today in beta mode. It is my understanding that an official launch is due tomorrow and that the site will be in full mode with listings within 2-4 weeks.

The site is pretty clean and simple to use, but be warned there are not many listings at this stage as they are just beginning the migration of data. First thing I did notice is that you must type in www. before the name ( i really do hate having to quote www. as www. is just not needed if the site is set up correctly) and this should be fixed immediately on the server side. (Update: Fixed)

I also notice that there was no RSS feeds and only a email subscription and alert service at this stage. Any new site should include RSS feeds and they can be pretty simple to set up.

Each property view shows 4 photos with an option for more and includes a decent size map or the area (Google Maps). The site has a few good little Ajax features such as the ability to mouse-over and see your last search. All in all not a bad effort and better than most new sites I have seen recently. I am a little under whelmed by it all but maybe that is because there are just so many sites popping up recently.

The site was designed and developed by EAC/Red Square who are one of the big few companies that have not been gobbled up by a major media player (Portplus as well). I do like the fact that the site is also XHTML valid and the site is clean and user friendly. We should see most of the minor glitches taken care of over the next few weeks.

Only time will tell if it does have any impact and if NSW Agents get on board en masse and although they have a decent site, it is all now down to marketing and agents perception. That my friends is a tougher sell and it will be a slow site to take on and this is where it will be interesting to see the strength of commitment from REINSW over the long haul.

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Rumours are abound that the REINSW will be launching a statewide/national portal in the coming weeks/months alongside partner EAC. Details are pretty scratchy at the moment, but whilst it may seem like a good idea, it does raise more questions than it answers.

I am all for Real Estate Institutes becoming involved heavily in the Internet but I really do think they have left things a little too late, with the only really successful Institute portal at a state level being the Realestateview.com.au website which has been around since 2001, and if you go and have a look at it, really is quite good. ( I did not go too deep)

My questions are not whether EAC can build a portal that matches it with the big boys, but how will it be marketed? How many agents will support it? What benefits will the agents receive from its success?

Expect an announcement shortly on this, I want to know your thoughts across Australia on Industry/Private portals and whether you would support it? Is this what you think an Institute should be concentrating on?

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