New venture promises up-to-date info

     Everybody's on the Internet. Now it's e-this and e-that and even Madison Avenue is starting to spoof its own e-conomy ads.
      That doesn't mean all e-sites offer interesting and useful information. There's the usual con men and porn kings feeding off the bottom of the Internet pond. Anyone who has e-mail knows what's out there from the spam received daily, mostly touting "business opportunities."
      Even a computer dummy like me gets annoyed from the constant barrage of Internet pitches and confusing array of sites that are not only difficult to find, but impossible to navigate.
      Finally, an Internet site has been unveiled that actually works as touted.
      Real Time Real Estate has a search engine that allows surfers to enter the price range, number of bedrooms and baths, garage size, square footage, and section of the valley preferred for a new home. It also breaks down into master plans and other subsections such as communities.
      The site is the brainchild of four Las Vegas men who are associated with the real estate industry and believe there is a more efficient way to catalog the new homes available in the valley.
      One of the partners, Glenn Barton of Nevada Title Co., said when he was with The Meyers Group, a real estate research company, he realized that industry publications had the failing of time.
      "By the time the research was gathered, analyzed and put into print, the information was a couple months old," Barton said recently. "We understood that if this data were on the Internet, it could be updated on a daily basis, offering clients the most up-to-the-minute listings."
      He took his ideas to several friends and Regisonline was formed to offer real estate geographical information.
      The company went through many transformations and, according to partner Patrick Egger, there were some times when they wondered if they weren't just spinning their wheels.
      Egger, a licensed Realtor and longtime Las Vegas resident, has seen how the explosive growth in the valley has changed the complexion of the real estate industry.
      "Where once Realtors concentrated on resale homes, they now are tremendously involved in new-home sales," Egger said.
      "Real Time Real Estate offers them all the information on what's new and available, rather than some listing that usually is terribly out of date."
      The real bonus is that the site offers these same benefits to anyone who has a computer and is in the market for a new home.
      A family from Wisconsin can pick the home of its dreams. Before moving, they could complete a form that would sign them up for phone and other utility services, ensure the home is insured, and submit a change of address to the post office.
      How much easier could it be?
      Anyone in the market for a new home should check out realtimere.com, which also can be accessed through lasvegas.com, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Web site, and lasvegasnewspapers.com, a site that is part of the joint operating agreement involving the Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun.
      Carmel Hopkins, Real Estate Product Manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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