Virtual Open House

Bah. Who wants to spend a Sunday afternoon going around to open houses? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Second Life, where prospective home buyers could take a virtual tour of their potential dream house?

Oh, wait. There is.

Last month Coldwell Banker became the first real estate company to offer a real-world home for sale in the online virtual community. The Mercer Island, WA property (www.coldwellbankervirtualhome.com) can be yours for a cool $3.1 million.

Coldwell Banker has been involved in Second Life since March, when it began developing virtual land and selling homes there. The site encouraged the company’s involvement, to help deter