Builder Homesite Inc. Forges Broad Strategic Marketing Alliance With HomeAdvisor.com.

Business Editors & High-Tech/Building & Construction Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2001

Builder Homesite, the Builder Consortium-Based Source for New Home

Listings, to Become the New Home Channel to HomeAdvisor.com

Builder Homesite Inc. today announced an agreement to become the new home distribution channel on HomeAdvisor.com(tm), the Microsoft-backed award-winning online home and real estate guide.

BHI, which was founded by ten of the premier U.S. homebuilders to develop Web-based solutions for the homebuilding marketplace, will provide HomeAdvisor.com (http://www.homeadvisor.com/) with the most comprehensive selection of new home listings and related content currently available.

HomeAdvisor.com, the home channel within the MSN network of services, combines Microsoft technology with services and expertise from some of the most trusted names in the real estate and mortgage industries. With more than four million unique visitors per month, HomeAdvisor.com will generate tremendous traffic of potential new homebuyers to the BHI new home listing site. Recently named the 'Best Home-Buying Site' on the Web for the third consecutive quarter by Gomez Advisors, HomeAdvisor will also bring nationwide exposure for BHI member builders.

BHI is backed, endorsed and driven by eleven of the top U.S. homebuilders. This powerful consortium of builders, represented by BHI, will provide HomeAdvisor.com with the richest, most extensive new home marketplace anywhere on the Internet. This agreement also provides HomeAdvisor.com with an unparalleled relationship with the nation's premier homebuilders.

"This agreement further establishes BHI and the consortium as the premier player in serving both the new homebuyer and the new homebuilding industry," said Tim Costello, President and CEO of Builder Homesite. "One of the many highlights of the HomeAdvisor and BHI alliance will be the enhancement of the new home listing portion of the HomeAdvisor Web site. We're looking forward to forging a partnership with one of the world's leading technology companies and deepening that relationship over time.

"As Builder Homesite expands its builder membership base across the industry, it is BHI exclusive benefits like these that are attracting more builders into the consortium," said Costello.

This unique collaboration will offer the consumer an opportunity to search for new homes by accessing BHI products that were developed based on builder specifications and industry/consumer research. Builder Homesite brings unparalleled relationships with top U.S. homebuilders and will provide the extensive new home data that consumers have consistently marked as a high priority in market studies.

"This partnership is about the power of builder collaboration," said Donald J. Tomnitz, Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of D.R. Horton Inc. "It's about all the hard work the builder industry has expended over the last several months to leverage our collective strength in the area of online technology. The HomeAdvisor agreement is a perfect example of what this industry can achieve together. I fully expect that this will be only the first of many such opportunities enabled by the BHI consortium."

Research has shown that buyers who contact builders after using the Internet are better prepared and more likely to purchase a home. Studies also indicate that 62 percent of all new homebuyers already use the Internet for a source of information and service. The homebuilding industry is a $230 billion market in the United States and research has revealed that over 85 percent of consumers who plan to purchase a home in the next two years will use the Internet in that process.

About Builder Homesite

Founded in the spring of 2000, Builder Homesite is funded by the following top national builders; Centex Corporation (NYSE:CTX), David Weekley Homes, D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI), KB Home Corporation (NYSE:KBH), Lennar (NYSE:LEN), Pulte Corporation (NYSE:PHM), Beazer USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH), Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (ASE:HOV), M.D.C. Holdings (NYSE:MDC), The Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE:RYL), and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL). Builder Homesite serves the interests of new-home builders by providing products, tools and services that make finding, owning and living in a new home easier, simpler, and more convenient. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.