New "Community Scout" app gives Canadians unique access to community and real estate information

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada launches free mobile application and website that allows users to make better purchase decisions

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Jan. 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Building on its continued commitment to lifestyle-based real estate, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada (BHGREC) today launched Community Scout, a new specialty search app that is exclusive to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada and offered through iPhone and iPad. The free application - launched in conjunction with its web-based companion Lifestyle Search - offers consumers a more thorough look into communities across Canada, ensuring that they have the clearest picture possible of a community before making a decision on their next home.

"We understand what lifestyle means to Canadians and how important community is when deciding where to purchase a home," said Rob Vanden Broek, president, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada. "We recognized the gap in the market for a consumer-focused tool that would serve that purpose and developed Community Scout, as well as the web-based Lifestyle Search in response to the demand. With informative infographics and in-depth neighbourhood insight, it allows consumers to dig deeper to find their desired neighbourhood in a simple and effective way - through a mobile device or our website."

BHGREC proprietary assets, Community Scout and Lifestyle Search, provide users with access to data on over 2,000 communities and 465,000 points of interest across Canada. Users can search by neighbourhood or amenities to get a more detailed look at community assets such as banks, restaurants, schools, parks, and grocery stores, as well as other details such as population and employment rates. The app and website also allow consumers to compare neighbourhoods by home prices, levels of home ownership, and most popular age groups in a convenient side-by-side format. The search tools build on BHGREC's lifestyle and community-based approach to real estate by arming consumers with all the information they need to make an informed decision. Community Scout and Lifestyle Search are the first search functions of their types in Canada to be offered by a national real estate brand. With these community search tools, Canadian and international consumers now have an in-depth snapshot look at local communities across the country.

"Studies indicate consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to access everything from driving directions to restaurant recommendations to hailing a taxi to home design," said Nelson Goulart, vice president of network services, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada. "We've combined our unique knowledge of communities - what they have to offer and which amenities are nearby - with a sleek, simple and easy-to-use platform that provides a tool that is useful to Canadians consumers when making the important decision of where to buy their home."

BHGREC's Community Scout is now available to consumers across Canada and available for download on iTunes or through the BHGREC website at http://bhgcanada.ca/mobile. Lifestyle Search is available at http://www.bhgcanada.ca. A demonstration video is available via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4KAIhik74.

For more information on Community Scout and Lifestyle Search by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada, please visit: http://bhgcanada.ca/

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada is a lifestyle real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. My Lifestyle Brand Inc. is a master franchisor of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand. For more information, please visit www.BHGCanada.ca.

Better Homes and Gardens® is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC and Realogy Corporation and used with permission. Each Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Franchise is independently owned and operated.

SOURCE: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Canada

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