NewsBriefs
Buy Your Dream Home – On Second Life
By KA Staff
Aug 3, 2007, 10:03

Most of us will never get to visit this house on Mercer Island, Washington. Coldwell Banker, the real estate agent that is trying to sell it for upwards of $3 million, will show only to a select few the 5,702-square-foot home, designed by an award-winning architect and featuring a two-story great room, an outdoor room with fireplace, a media theater opening into a gathering room and sports bar and, naturally, a full wine cellar.

But fortunately for the rest of us, Coldwell Banker has constructed a 3D reproduction precisely matching its specifications on the virtual world Second Life. Avatars can walk from room to room to view the model as if it were the actual home, and click on “touch points” in the house to ask the Coldwell Banker agent for more information. (Contents of the wine cellar appear to be off-limits to avatars, however.)

This is the first time a national real estate company has used the virtual community to market a specific home for sale, though Coldwell Banker has had a headquarters in Second Life since March and has attracted 130,000 visitors in that time. With its presence on Second Life and now with its 3D reproduction of the Mercer Island house, the company is trying to attract a new pool of potential customers who embrace technology and collaboration. Its marketing manager, Charlie Young, says, “As growing numbers of people join Internet communities such as Second Life, and use social networking sites to interact, it becomes even more crucial for us to have this type of online presence.”