Just like the Bermuda property market, business is booming for internet-based real estate agent My-Bermuda-House.

The company, which has only been up-and-running since the start of the year, has just signed up its 3,000th registered user and its customer base is currently growing at about 300 new users per month.

And now they are planning to introduce a range of new products to boost their profile and build on the success of the last nine months.

Salesman Duncan Dawson, who runs the firm along with operations manager Maria Luisa Aguiar and real estate broker Sau Fong Sharpe, said reaching the 3,000 mark exceeded their greatest expectations.

"We were targeting 3,000 within a year and we reached that earlier than expected," he said.

"I am pleased with how individuals have embraced the website - they are selling the properties themselves and they are listing with us and opened up to other agencies and they are using it to reach out to other buyers and the like as well."

He said the secret of My-Bermuda-House's success was down to the volume of information available to the users.

"It is all about the vast amount of information we give people," he said.

"It is not a 'temptation' style website where you see one lovely photo and you have to phone to find out more details.

"With us there are details about the address, the neighbourhood, online maps, virtual tours, aerial photos, room dimensions, property features and the floorplan - it has everything you need to know, so we are honest about everything as well.

Mrs. Aguiar added: "Once a user has identified a property they want to see in person, they can use the site to book a viewing appointment, refer a property to a friend and even to make an offer.

"These unique transactional abilities of the website are resonating with clients."

A measure of the company's success has been the fact there has been interest, not just from within the Island, but from further afield in such places as the US, Canada and the UK, according to Mr. Dawson.

"We've even had a Bermudian living in Hong Kong use the service to find a home in anticipation of returning to Bermuda," he said.

The take-up has been so good in fact that, to date, house hunters have looked at properties in detail more than 84,000 times since the company started up, an average of 300 viewings per day, while as many as 28 percent of the properties listed having already been sold and more than 25 presently on sale.

This has only been helped by a number of user friendly features on the website including the 'For Sale By Owner' product that enables users to create their own property listing, pay for it online with a credit card and take advantage of the company's distribution engine, but sell the property themselves.

Mrs Aguiar said: "For people with the time and inclination to sell themselves, this is a great new way to market their property and potentially save many thousands of dollars.

"And if you aren't sure about how to write a compelling listing, we can do that for you too."

And Mr. Dawson believes it is all about giving the user control over the buying or selling of a property.

"It is about the power that we have given people," he said.

"It applies to people who are busy all day at work and it is not until about 9 p.m. that they get to look at properties on the Internet and no agencies are open at 9 p.m., but they can just press a button and can search at their leisure and in their own time for what they want.

"We think there is a need for people to take control of their own searching at their own leisure and this allows them to do so."

On top of this, the fact that the website is unique in what it does, has proved a big hit with buyers and vendors alike, according to Mr. Dawson.

"The amount of information we make available for free is radically different to other agencies," he said.

"The customers are able to make a shortlist and discount houses without ever having to leave their living room, so it is great for both the buyer and seller.

"We have some fantastic advantages for people who are looking to sell their homes, not least of which is our unparalleled distribution capability.

"We put the seller's property right in front of thousands of people, which is something you really want as a seller."

And the savings that can be made through using My-Bermuda-House compared to a high street estate agent are clear for all to see as they carry a three percent commission charge compared to the average five percent rate offered by their competitors, the equivalent of $20,000 in savings on a $1 million property.

The future is looking bright for My-Bermuda-House and only last weekend they installed an upgrade for their registered clients to allow them to more precisely control the kind of notification that the system sends them, based on their buying preferences, said Mr. Dawson.

"We are in a tough industry with a lot of tough competitors and we know that we have to demonstrate the value of our online business model every day if we are going to change the way people do business," he said.

"But we think we've made a solid start. We have been really encouraged by the positive feedback we have received and we think we can continue to innovate and bring more value to our customers in the months ahead."