Will You Google Your Next Home?

A lot of people – techno geeks, real estate folks and Web developers among them – are watching and waiting for the next big thing to come out of Google’s corporate offices. That “thing” just may be Google Real Estate. By all accounts, Google will unveil their search engine for a national, Web-based real estate platform in a year or so. As we speak, technology wizards are testing and re-testing Google’s system, which is much like the MLS (multiple listing service) only better. Google claims their platform will have far more bells and whistles (e.g., Google’s patented maps) than the traditional MLS. Google Real Estate won’t be the exclusive purview of real estate agents either; the entire Internet world can jump on board.

While I wholeheartedly believe that Google will deliver on all these promises and more, debates rage over whether or not the face of real estate will change as a result. After all, Google is not the first company to try making real estate a national event. Century 21 has attempted for years and so has RE/MAX. Recently, Yahoo and Prudential Real Estate teamed up to create a national real estate Web site, which, unfortunately, has only received mixed reviews.

So why would Google fair any better than these heavyweights that have gone before them? Here’s why. Google, like Apple, continues to define “cool” in America. They have their finger on what America wants from the Internet and how they want it. Secondly, Google has the resources (money and manpower) and the creative genius to go where no ones else has thought to go. And Google’s timing couldn’t be better. Zillow, Trulia, Redfin and other real estate portals are all duking it out to see who is going to come out on top with the greatest market share as well as the best revenue ad model.

If I were a betting man I wouldn’t bet against Google. There’s no company more equipped to launch a national real estate search platform than the tech heads from Mountain View, California. I believe they will revolutionize the industry where others have failed. In fact, don’t be surprised if someday we turn over our money and notice it’s stamped “In Google We Trust.”