Niceville, FL

COLDWELL BANKER AGAIN LEADS REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY NOW WITH INNOVATIVE USE OF MICROSOFT SURFACE TO ENHANCE THE HOME SEARCH EXPERIENCE

Dynamic, Interactive Interface Allows for ‘Hands-On' Engagement in All Aspects of Home Search Process

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, - March 3, 2009 - Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC today announced the launch of their customized real estate application developed for Microsoft Surface^TM, unveiled at the Coldwell Banker^® International Business Conference being held this week in San Antonio, Texas. It's new Microsoft Surface home search application allows users to interact with home listings, mapping and other www.coldwellbanker.com features in a way that is familiar, by using simple hand gestures. Similar to the intuitive technology featured in the futuristic film, "Minority Report," this exploration on the use of Microsoft Surface represents yet another way in which Coldwell Banker is working to harness innovative technologies to benefit home buyers and sellers.

The first commercially available surface computing platform from Microsoft, Microsoft Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. Its 30-inch diagonal, table-like display provides effortless access to digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects placed on the display.

Coldwell Banker leveraged the unique interface and capabilities of Microsoft Surface to develop a home search application that will provide a new interactive and intuitive way to explore real estate listings and neighborhoods. Over the course of the roll-out, the following features are scheduled to be released:

• Explore. Home listings can be viewed via area maps, specific search criteria such as city, state and price, and by standard number of bedrooms and bathrooms. With a simple touch of the screen, users expand or contract the search area and locate listings, Coldwell Banker offices and area amenities including restaurants, hospitals, schools - gauging the distance between them.

• Learn. Details of a particular property listing are displayed and arranged by screen touches. Images of the home are easily accessed, enlarged and moved by hand movements.

• Interact. File listings by "grabbing" content with their hands from the display and "dropping" it into the appropriate folder, thus creating an itinerary that they can email to a sales associate.

Coldwell Banker unveiled its home search application by conducting demonstrations of Microsoft Surface during this week's International Business Conference. More than 1,700 attendees were provided with specially tagged badges that, when placed on the Microsoft Surface, unveiled that individual's profile and contact information.

Coldwell Banker plans to continue rollout of this technology at brand events and at offices across the country this year.

"As a leader in the real estate industry with a strong heritage of innovation, we recognized that the Microsoft Surface technology has some very interesting potential to change the future of the real estate search," said Michael Fischer, senior vice president of marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "Microsoft Surface allows us to showcase listings in a very unique way that offers users a different experience with the entire real estate search process literally at their fingertips. We believe the technology can increase consumer engagement to an entirely new level."

Last year Coldwell Banker became the first national real estate brand to put its listings on in-car GPS devices through an exclusive feed to Dash Navigation launch and launch a customized online platform for iPhone^TM and BlackBerry users.

About Coldwell Banker^®

Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker^® organization has been a premier full-service real estate provider. In 2008, Franchise Times magazine's prestigious Top 200 issue ranked the Coldwell Banker system No. 1 in real estate for the ninth straight year and 12th among franchisors in all industries. The Coldwell Banker System has approximately 3,500 residential real estate offices and 105,300 sales associates in 46 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker System is a leader in the industry in residential and commercial real estate, and in niche markets such as resort, new home and luxury property through its Coldwell Banker Previews International^® division. It is a pioneer in consumer services with its Coldwell Banker Concierge^® Service Program and award-winning Web site, www.coldwellbanker.com. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. Coldwell Banker^® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated.

COLDWELL BANKER^® NAMES GRAND-PRIZE WINNERS OF NATIONAL

"MY HOME: THE AMERICAN DREAM" CONTEST

PARSIPPANY, N.J., (Mar. 2, 2009) --Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, in collaboration with Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced the three grand-prize winners in the fourth consecutive My Home: The American Dream contest. Fausto Rojas, a second-grade student from Downey, Calif., Alyssa Menko, a fourth-grade student from Kulpmont, Pa., and Emily Williams, a seventh-grade student from Vandalia, Ohio, will each be awarded $2,000 for their contest submissions. Also being recognized as the "classroom" winner for their exceptional group effort and receiving a $2,000 prize is Melissa Lanin's first grade class from Lafayette Regional School in Franconia, N.H.; and additionally, the teachers of the three grand prize-winning students and the winning class will each receive a new digital video camera for their classrooms valued at approximately $600.

The Coldwell Banker^® organization, together with Scholastic, invited students in kindergarten through eighth grade to share their personal stories- through images and words - about what makes their house a home. Over 2,000 submissions were judged on excellence in creativity, originality and overall quality. A grand prize winner was selected from each of the three grade categories (grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8) and seven runners-up were selected from the overall participant pool. This year's runners-up, consisting of six individual students and one classroom, will each receive a $500 prize.

"We are moved by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the students who entered this year's My Home: The American Dream contest," said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "I congratulate each of our winners and runners-up and thank them for providing inspiration for all of us at Coldwell Banker as we continue to help families achieve the ‘American Dream' of home ownership."

"Scholastic was delighted to work with Coldwell Banker for the fourth year of this successful contest," says Jennifer Prescott, editorial director of custom media. "The quality and variety of entries impressed our team of judges, and participating students built valuable communication skills, both visual and verbal."

Kindergarten to Grade Two

Fausto Rojas, Second Grade, Downey, Calif.

Fausto Rojas, a 7-year-old second grader from Rio Hondo School, won for his creative drawing of his family and house accompanied by an original poem comparing a "house" to a "home."

Grades Three to Five

Alyssa Menko, Fourth Grade, Kulpmont, Pa.

Alyssa Menko, a 9-year-old fourth grader from Mt. Carmel School, won for her personalized scrapbook submission titled, "A Celebration of Home." The album was an impressive compilation of photos and accessories brought to life by incorporating poems and words such as "family," "love" and "memories."

Grades Six to Eight

Emily Williams, Seventh Grade, Vandalia, Ohio

Emily Williams, a 12-year-old seventh grader from St. Christopher School, won for her "What H.O.M.E Really Is" album collage. The collage describes how "a home is nothing tangible" by giving personal meaning to each of the letters in the word home.

Classroom

Melissa Lanin, First Grade, Franconia, N.H.

Melissa Lanin's first grade class from Lafayette Regional School won in the "Classroom" category for its original DVD submissions. Each student wrote about what makes their house a home and provided illustrations. The essays and drawings were then brought to life in individual videos narrated by each of the children.

For more information on this year's contest visit www.coldwellbanker.com/AmericanDream. Video of the winning entries can be viewed on the Coldwell Banker YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/cbankervideo.

Runners-Up

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology and children's media. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs and school-based book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, television networks and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.

About Coldwell Banker^®

Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker^® organization has been a premier full-service real estate provider. In 2008, Franchise Times magazine's prestigious Top 200 issue ranked the Coldwell Banker system No. 1 in real estate for the ninth straight year and 12th among franchisors in all industries. The Coldwell Banker System has approximately 3,500 residential real estate offices and 105,000 sales associates in 46 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker System is a leader in the industry in residential and commercial real estate, and in niche markets such as resort, new home and luxury property through its Coldwell Banker Previews International^® division. It is a pioneer in consumer services with its Coldwell Banker Concierge^® Service Program and award-winning Web site, www.coldwellbanker.com. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. Coldwell Banker^® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated.

The details of the housing bill were a disappointment for most people in the housing industry. It does very little to keep home values from falling or stimulate home purchases. Seems to be a whole lot smarter to support home values so that those in trouble can sell their homes instead of having to be "bailed out'. If home values were not falling and there were more buyers we would not have a foreclosure crisis. Two things make a foreclosures 1. economic hardship on the borrower (loss of income) 2. inability to sell the house for more than what is owed on it.

"Toxic assets" is a moving target. As more people lose their jobs and home values continue to fall, more and more of the assets become "toxic." The "value" of real estate is not a set number. It moves as the "supply and demand" for housing changes and the ability of the borrowers to repay changes. Economics is a dynamic model. Everything effects everything else. We who are in the real estate industry see the "toxic assets" increasing rapidly as more and more homes go into short sales and foreclosure, and more and more jobs are lost increasing the number of people who can no longer make payments on their home.

Lenders are required to give a buyer a good-faith estimate of their closing costs within three days after they apply for a loan. Some will give such an estimate even before they apply if asked. Even if it is no guarantee, this written estimate will give an idea of what kind of fees the buyer can expect to pay, as well as an opportunity to negotiate for a better deal.

If the buyer is a good credit borrower they can challenge fees if they seem excessive. Lenders don't control many fees that show up on the statement.

Keep in mind that the good faith estimate doesn't include such out-of-pocket costs as state mortgage taxes, homeowners insurance and property taxes, which the buyer may be expected to pay at the time of closing. In fact, the total tab at closing could be several times more than originally estimated.

It is important that realtors impart this knowledge to their buyers to avoid surprises that make a client angry when they are already stressed about the magnitude of their decision.

For other ideas and comments, contact me at www.MykeTriebold.com or www.Destin-Foreclosures.com