It seems nobody is immune from the power of the internet—or the inevitability of progress.

Now it's time for Realtors and Active Rainer's to enjoy a turn of the tables. I am chuckling--sorta....

Zillow rattled the real estate industry (and many homeowners) with last year’s unveiling of its near-instant online real estate valuations.The complaints came primarily from Realtors who feared the public would come to rely on Zillow Zestimates for home valuations—and from homeowners whose property values were decimated by the Zestimates. After all, Zillow has no way of knowing about property upgrades or negatives. It bases its valuation on comparative sales in the neighborhood.

Now attorneys may get to wrestle with a similar online competitor called AVVO, whose business model has not yet been revealed.  

Their current Googled mission statement is mysterious enough to keep us all wondering: 

Avvo: Helping Consumers Navigate the Legal Industry (providing) law resources and consumer tools to help people make informed decisions about legal services and navigate legal business.

As interesting as the similarities in the two companies might be, the familiarities are almost more interesting. Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s  great blogger John Cook reveals the relationship between the founders of each company in his blog. According to Cook, AVVO CEO Mark Britton and Zillow’s CEO Rich Barton both worked at Expedia. They left the online travel company at different times, but took similar extended sojourns in Italy after leaving their jobs. Both returned to Seattle with industry-shaking ideas.

Now these two friends are linked by more than their history. It appears Barton iserves on Britton’s AVVO Board of Directors—and that Barton even helped come up with the AVVO name, which is taken from the Italian avvocato (ie lawyer). And the business model for this legalistic site is just as secretly shrouded and discussed as Zillow’s before its online debut. Could this be a searchable legal site, a rating service for attorneys, or perhaps even a “bid for service” model? The mystery surrounding this venture is great—and is likely also part of the marketing buzz and plan.

Forgive the pun, but it appears the bar is being raised in online ventures.

San Diego Real Estate