Realty Austin Releases New Features on Award-Winning Website

AUSTIN, Texas, March 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Realty Austin announces the launch of a new design and significant updates on its award-winning website realtyaustin.com, Austin's #1 website. Upon the heels of being named a Top 20 Trendsetter in the nation, the brokerage of the future's co-owner Jonathan Boatwright and his development team unveiled another round of improvements to one of the most advanced and innovative real estate websites, realtyaustin.com.

Boatwright said, "Our ultimate goal is to combine our high standards for design, technology and customer service into one platform that our customers like to use. Our development team revisits these benchmarks often to ensure the latest features of realtyaustin.com reflect the most current online trends." Realty Austin invests heavily in technology to provide its users the smartest functionality which has earned the company national recognition on its Real Estate Webmasters website.

Nation's #2 Best Overall Website

REAL Trends, the trusted source in real estate, ranked Realty Austin's powerful online presence as the #2 Best Overall Website in the nation. 2015 REAL Trends Rankings named the website #1 for Best Conversion Strategy and #2 for Best Map Search functionality with high honors in categories of Best Design, Best Mobile features, and Best Neighborhood Pages.

Website Quality Certification

For the second year in a row, Realty Austin was awarded the Website Quality Certification (WQC) from Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. The WQC is awarded to real estate firms that demonstrate best practices in website design and communications. Realtyaustin.com scored high marks on a range of criteria such as usability, design and content, interactivity, responsiveness, and search engine optimization.

INRIX Drive Time Integration

Realty Austin integrated the popular INRIX Drive Time tool into its map search to allows users to search for homes within a specific commute time to or from work. When users input their desired arrival time and maximum amount of time they are willing to commute, realtyaustin.com filters which homes are available. Users are also able to save their Drive Time search parameters and get notified the moment new listings become available.

Boatwright said, "With 150 people relocating to Austin, Texas each day, drive time between home and work is a top priority when making an educated decision about which area to live. By incorporating the INRIX technology into our search, we have made it easier for our clients to more accurately estimate commute times between two locations based on intelligent real-time traffic data."

The INRIX Drive Time platform analyzes billions of real-time data points from a unique combination of sources ranging from road sensors to real-time traffic speeds, and accounts for construction, accidents, and weather. The drive time tool provides Austinites and relocation buyers who are not familiar with Austin traffic with a more accurate illustration of commute times to and from their workplace and prospective residence.

Over 10 Years of Sold History

Realty Austin pioneered sold data integration in Austin on realtyaustin.com. The website users have the unique ability to see over 10 years of history on each property, including previous sold prices, and previous failed attempts to sell. This information helps consumers make informed decisions on the value of specific properties.

Jeff Burke, Director of Development for Realty Austin said, "Realty Austin has earned the title of 'Brokerage of the Future' because it is organically changing the game in residential real estate. realtyaustin.com is light years ahead of its time and will be emulated for many years into the future. It's our aim that the latest round of creative updates will bring immediate value to our agents and benefit our customers in making the home buying and selling process better."

Community Pages

Realty Austin made vast updates to 1600 community pages that feature specific neighborhood information. Neighborhood profiles were updated with current information about each neighborhood's market trends, recently sold listings, average days on market, and average prices.

Mobile Application

New features unveiled on Realty Austin's mobile application for iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod) and Android allow customers to search for a home in a specific neighborhood when driving nearby. Users can then sign up for push notifications that send immediate notifications as new listings matching their criteria hit the market. This is a valuable tool in Austin's hot market of missed opportunities and multiple offers.

Known as the 'Brokerage of the Future' for its high-tech, homegrown culture, Realty Austin continues to lead the charge in the way real estate business is done. When asked about its powerful online presence and tireless innovation at the brokerage, Boatwright concluded, "We will never stop innovating—we are just getting started."

About Realty Austin

Realty Austin is the #1 independent residential real estate firm in Austin with $2 billion in sales in 2015. Realty Austin is headquartered in Westlake with satellite offices in Central Austin, East Austin, Northwest Austin, Southwest Austin and Lake Travis with 350 full-time, high-producing agents who were hand-selected for their experience, market knowledge and career accomplishments. A member of Luxury Portfolio International® and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, Realty Austin is the most innovative and progressive real estate company in Austin, uniquely suited for its high tech, homegrown culture. For more information, visit realtyaustin.com or call 512.241.1300 or become a fan on Facebook at facebook.com/realtyaustin.

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SOURCE Realty Austin