In collaboration with several real estate brokers, agents and MLS partners, HomeHunter offers extensive listings to aid the real estate agent and consumer in finding a home with extreme ease and efficiency. Knight Ridder Real Cities has extended its partnerships to enrich the content, listings and Web services to benefit both the real estate community and the consumer.

HomeHunter Web sites offer comprehensive services, including the nation's top real estate news and advice and a host of unique features to help consumers make smart home-buying decisions. Photographs of homes and property details are only a click away. Home searches can be done by either city listing or by map - complete with door-to-door directions to interested properties. Realtors and home seekers will find a wide selection of community information on topics such as education, health, churches, parks and recreation, leisure and shopping. A library of home-related services and businesses is only a link away.

"We've been experts in the classifieds industry for years and know our realtors well," said Bob Ingle, president of Knight Ridder New Media. "We're bringing that long-standing expertise to the Web. HomeHunter sites are another example of bringing buyers and sellers together for mutual benefit."

Important tools such as mortgage calculators, payment tables, loan information and the ability to find out how much one can afford are offered with HomeHunter. Other features include customizable search preferences, personal Web pages to track and save properties of interest and an agent that alerts the user when properties that fit a customized description become available. Additional features available by the end of 1997 will include: listings of open houses which can be done by agents from remote locations, home tour videos, quick search, and agent/realtor photographs.

"HomeHunter sites demonstrate our commitment to real estate agents, brokers and MLS partners," said Bonnie Levine, HomeHunter product manager. "Our new partnerships enable us to provide unique value-added tools to help realtors market their offerings and provide wide-ranging choices to consumers. Contacting an agent using HomeHunter sites is fast and easy to do."

HomeHunter Internet sites are locally focused and are products of the Knight Ridder Real Cities Network. Twenty-five of Knight Ridder Real Cities have real estate listings. HomeHunter is powered by Zip2 Corporation, a leading technology provider for the online newspaper industry. Zip2 is headquarterd in Mountain View, CA. Visit www.realcities.com for other Internet sites and services in the Real Cities Network.

Knight Ridder New Media, located in San Jose, Calif., is a division of Knight-Ridder Inc. Knight-Ridder Inc. is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 36 daily newspapers in 34 U.S. markets, reaching 9.8 million readers daily and 13.4 million on Sunday. It maintains 32 associated Web sites and has investments in two newsprint mills. The company also owns Technimetrics, a creator of global financial marketing databases and consulting services for investor relations. Knight-Ridder is headquartered in Miami.

HomeHunter is a registered trademark of Knight-Ridder Inc. Knight Ridder Real Cities is a trademark of Knight Ridder New Media.

Contact:

Cynthia Funnell National Communications Manager Knight Ridder New Media (408) 938-6076 cfunnell@newmedia.kri.com