How Much for This Old House?
Until a few years ago, Chuck Teller knew nothing about professional baseball. But in 2004 he joined a fantasy league, and today he knows every National League player. One evening, while he and a friend were obsessing over potential trades, they had a revelation: wouldn't it be great, they mused, if there was a fantasy game that allowed real-estate fanatics to find a similar fix—and in the process, educate themselves about the market?
The result of that idea is Realius, a San Francisco Bay Area start-up that this week will start rolling out a series of online real-estate fantasy games. In Price Me Now, users can guess the asking prices of homes for sale, then see their accuracy ranking. Major League Investor lets them assemble property portfolios to make imaginary profits. And Fantasy Flip urges housing addicts to upload photos of their own homes and solicit guesses of how much an improvement will increase their value.
With home prices slumping nationally, it seems an odd time to roll out a real-estate game. But Teller has already lined up brokers eager to boost Web traffic and snag clients. "America is obsessed with real estate," he says, pointing to HGTV addicts. If he's right, online goof-offs may soon find a new home.
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Daniel McGinn is a national correspondent, based in Boston. He writes about management and other topics, and also helps oversee Newsweek's partnership in the Kaplan-Newsweek MBA program, which launched in late 2006.
McGinn joined Newsweek in 1992 as a summer intern. He worked in New York until 1996, when he moved to Detroit as a correspondent and bureau chief. In Detroit he covered the auto industry and other Midwest business stories. He moved to Boston in 1999. He has written cover profiles of business leaders like Bill Ford and Jack Welch, along with cover stories on topics ranging from the economy to marriage to children's television. His work as won awards from the Automotive Press Association and the National Association of Real Estate Editors, and he was twice ranked among America's 30 best young business reporters.
McGinn is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, and he also holds an MBA from Auburn University. His freelance writing has appeared in Wired, Inc., Fast Company and The Boston Globe Magazine. He has appeared as a guest on NBC's Today Show, NPR, CNBC and MSNBC. His first book, "HOUSE LUST: America's Obsession with our Homes," will be published by Doubleday in December 2007. A native of New Jersey, McGinn and his wife live in Massachusetts with their three children.
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