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Technology | | They don't make 'em like they used to...
Preserving Our Heritage
BY CHRIS LEPORINI
A strip center sprawls where an early Queen Anne cottage once stood; a housing development sprouts in what was once the front yard of an antebellum plantation…. Some people call it progress; AntiqueRealEstate.com is for those who think it's desecration. The stylishly crafted site guides users to the classic home of their dreams and works to protect antique properties from demolition.
The site provides listings—searchable by state or region—that include a home’s age (homes must be at least 50 years old to be listed), its asking price, photographs of the property, and the seller’s contact information. You can browse the listings for free, but the site charges for posting a home. There are three price levels—individual salespeople pay $39.95 per listing, per month; real estate offices pay $149.95 per month for an unlimited number of listings. Purchasing unlimited listings for a year drops the price to 1,195.95.
The site also works to preserve antique real estate that faces extinction. It provides free listing for “endangered properties” that face a specified demolition date if not sold to a private individual or preservation group. Groups that obtain structures for preservation purposes can also list on the site for free, as long as they do not also list the property with a real estate company.
The site is also supplies contact information, including e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and Web sites for federal and state preservation offices across the country. This can be a great resource for current or perspective homeowners who want to take advantage of tax benefits and renovation grants available for historic properties.
The site also offers several, non-real-estate features designed for historically minded visitors. For example, “Honoring Our Past” is a weekly online publication devoted to American genealogy and history. The site collects and publishes stories from readers about their family histories and supplies a list of genealogical links so that readers can delve into their own family’s past.
Reasoning that people who love antique buildings probably have a deep-seated love of history and tradition, the site also provides a visitor’s guide to overlooked historic destinations in the United States. Currently, it features the world's first coal mine open to tourists, the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine and Museum, in Pocahontas, Virginia. This section is still in its starting stages, but AntiqueRealEstate.com eventually plans to cover both annual and year-round events and destinations.
Progress might be inevitable, but that doesn't mean that we can't respect and preserve our past. AntiqueRealEstate.com is the perfect resource for those who believe that newer isn’t always better.
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Suggest a Site For Review
Every week, REALTOR® Magazine Online's Web review editor surfs the Internet to find sites useful to your business and off-hours lives. Have a favorite real estate Web site that you would like to see reviewed? Send your suggestions to Chris Leporini at mediatech@realtors.org. All decisions on which sites will be reviewed are completely at the discretion of REALTOR® Magazine Online's editorial staff. Please note: this column does not review individual practitioner or brokerage sites.
The column's focus includes free sites, as well as sites that charge for goods and services, but which still offer a free component of practical, sustained value to real estate practitioners, such as a free newsletter or regular news information.
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REALTOR® Magazine Online's "Web Review" summarizes the content of Web sites that may be of interest to members. NAR and REALTOR® Magazine Online are not responsible for, and nothing in the Web site profile shall constitute NAR's or REALTOR® Magazine Online's endorsement of, the web site, its content, products and services, or its provider. NAR and REALTOR® Magazine Online believe the information contained in this profile was correct and accurate as of the time it was prepared, but do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information and are not responsible for changes in the Web site. Members should conduct their own independent review of the Web site prior to any use of Web site, its content, products, or services to determine their suitability for the member's intended purpose. | |
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