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Real estate info at one's finger tips

HouseFront gives users details via cell phone

Rocky Mountain News

Published April 9, 2007 at midnight

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Using your mobile device to get information about real estate is a hot technology, and Denver entrepreneur James Eberhard is taking advantage with his launch of HouseFront.

Eberhard's latest venture is a mobile service that allows users to find property values and other information on more than 77 million homes in the U.S.

Here's how it works: You're in front of a home you want to know more about. You type in the home's address, then text message it to the short code 46873 (it spells house), and HouseFront will send a response that includes an estimated value, along with the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, last sold date, and sales trends for that neighborhood.

The service is free, though text messaging rates for your mobile carrier apply.

"From any mobile phone, just text in the address, and send it to the short code HOUSE, and we give you back (that information)," said Eberhard, 28, who sold his previous business - 9Squared, a provider of downloadable ringtones - to U.K.-based Monstermob Group PLC for $40 million in 2004.

Eberhard said HouseFront, which has an online database at HouseFront.com, took nine months to develop.

"The information comes from public records, and we use a number of evaluation tools" to value properties, he said. "We take the public records and combine it with MLS (multiple listing service) data, everything from beds, baths, square footage, year built.

"We looked at the housing market and how it's moved over the past 10 years, and the biggest thing that helps people is access to information.

"The Internet is great, but would you rather be looking at picture on a screen or be sitting out front of the home looking at the information?"

Eberhard said the service is not meant to be a substitute for a Realtor.

"You still need to have someone who can take you into the house. We can give a good depiction through MLS and public records, but we can't tell you whether someone has knocked down a wall in the home."

Users of the service can create a free account at the Web site, which will maintain an online database of properties researched so a userSource: Homefront, Rocky Mountain News can do comparison shopping.

How it works

House Front is a mobile service that allows users to find propertyvalues and other information on more than 77 million homes.

Consumer sends in property address to 46873, or HOUSE.

Reply then is sent with estimated house value, house details\ and margin of error.