The LA Times has collaborated with GoIndustry DoveBid to produce an online real estate auction site called Zetabid. The Zetabid differentiator doesn’t just stop at its auction listing style, but it extends to the sites rule of only housing or showing foreclosed homes for sale and for auction.

The Zetabid site is up and running today, but its first auction is not scheduled to take place until the end of September. In the meantime, though, anyone visiting the site will be able to view the estimated 165 properties up for auction. Each listing comes with open house times to allow those that are local to the listing to visit the actual home prior to bidding. To also ease and facilitate in the sale, Zetabid includes a “Bid Now” feature on all listings, allowing the potential homebuyer to buy the house prior to the auction, if the seller agrees.

Overall, it is an interesting concept and industry insiders will be looking to see how many homes are sold at the September auctions. With the right amount of press and attention, Zetabid could be successful, as the real estate market tries to rebuild itself. With that being said however, a few questions do come to concerning Zetabid business plan: What is the lifespan of Zetabid? Will they broaden their scope in preparation of a once again healthy real estate market? But no matter the answer to the previous questions, the current reality is still this -

• The average price of a home in the US is down 36 percent when compared to 2006
• It is estimated that by the end of 2008 there will be over 1 million foreclosures, according to the National Association of Real Estate
• Analysts believe that the home foreclosure crisis makes this the best time to buy a home in America

Therefore, if basing Zetabid’s success factor on the current reality, I think they will do quite well.

Source: Nielsen, August 2008

written by Beverly Crandon