CAR Virtual Headquarters Open for Business in Second Life

The California Assn. of REALTORS (C.A.R.)  cut the virtual ribbon on its new Second Life headquarters building, accessible at http://secondlife.car.org or through www.secondlife.com. Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its more than 9.3 million “Residents” from around the globe.

“C.A.R.’s foray into the virtual world of Second Life through our headquarters building features numerous interactive and informational items, including the top five reasons to use a REALTOR; information about the Association’s upcoming trade show, the CALIFORNIA REALTOR® EXPO 2007; and informational take-away note cards for visitors,” said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. “The virtual building replicates the C.A.R. logo, with an open-roof design to accommodate "fly-ins," the primary means of locomotion in Second Life.”

Second Life Residents create avatars – virtual representations of themselves – and can buy, sell and trade with other Residents. According to Linden Labs, the creator of Second Life, the site’s marketplace currently supports millions of U.S. dollars in monthly transactions, handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to U.S. dollars at the Linden Dollar Exchange.

“The C.A.R. Second Life headquarters also features an interactive 65-inch plasma TV capable of streaming up to five different on-demand video clips from C.A.R., which visitors can watch while relaxing on a virtual sofa,” Badagliacco said.

Visitors to C.A.R.’s Second Life headquarters will need to have Second Life installed on their computers. To install, go to http://www.secondlife.com/download .

Leading the way...® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the California Assn. of REALTORS is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with nearly 200,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.