Internet Advantage

At CyberSunshine, a Naples-based technical development company that works exclusively in the real estate industry, changes in the industry-specifically broker reciprocity-have increased brokers' interest in the Internet. When the National Assoc-iation of Realtors recently allowed all members to access all MLS listings, "that opened a floodgate into the online world," says vice president Cassandra Bontly.

Broker reciprocity allows even a small brokerage with only a few realtors to put thousands of homes on sites such as www.cybersunshine.com. A customer can view a variety of homes that suit the criteria-whether the listing belongs to that realtor or to someone else-then with one click, get information on all.

The award-winning Web site for London Bay Homes, one of Southwest Florida's largest homebuilders, is primarily an information source, with photo galleries and video tours of model homes, says spokeswoman Patricia Wyche. The site-www.londonbay.com-also includes relocation information about Southwest Florida.

For the custom client, London Bay offers a private entrance to the site, where customers can view photographs of their new home as it's being built and get details about the construction and any variances.

Homebuilder associations are taking notice, with London Bay garnering a Pinnacle Award from the Lee Building Industry Association, a Sand Dollar Award from the Collier Building Industry Association, an Aurora Award from the 13-state Southeast Builders Conference plus a regional award from the local sales and marketing council of National Home Builders Association followed by a silver award at the national level. "For a little guy like us, we regard this as fairly significant," Wyche says.