Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

CRMLS chooses Real Estate Digital’s reDataVault

California Regional MLS (CRMLS) Selects Real Estate Digital’s reDataVault

“reDataVault addresses the real estate industry’s pressing need to simplify, standardize and streamline the MLS listing data licensing process by offering a document workflow system for all licensing-related documents and contracts (e.g., IDX and broker participation agreements). The system also offers automated dashboard alerts and unlimited cloud-based document storage and retrieval for 24/7 access.”

Nice win for everyone at RED. Congrats!

MOVE, Inc acquires TigerLead for 22 million in cash.

Move, Inc. Acquires TigerLead Solutions LLC

“Used by thousands of agents nationwide, the TigerLead platform provides real estate professionals a powerful solution for capturing, cultivating, and managing buyer and seller leads. For brokers and teams, the platform also provides an enterprise-class lead management system that gives 24/7 visibility into the entire team’s lead follow-up performance. This unique platform provides a potent closed-cycle system that combines strong Search Engine Marketing (SEM) expertise with a sophisticated IDX platform and lead management system to help agents generate “Smarter Leads,” leads that are delivered with unique insights such as how many times a user has returned to the site to search, price ranges and the amount of times homes are viewed.”

I’ve read mostly positive reviews about TigerLead in agent forums, but don’t know much about their business. 22 million is a great payday for to co-fouders Howard Tager, Art Sawyer, and Adam Ingersol

Errol Samuelson explains a bit more about TigerLeads at Move Trends…

Move Acquires TigerLead

“Additionally, the TigerLead platform delivers deep insights into the consumer’s “DNA” – insights like how many times a user has returned to the site to search, price ranges and amount of times homes are viewed. This key information and analytical data can help real estate professionals take that next step in enhancing relationships and connections via a deep understanding of consumer wants and needs.”

This seems to me to be a response to Zillow’s $10 websites. They are changing the conversation/value proposition by adding a system/platform to REALTORS that give insights to consumer behavior, not just a cheap website. It’s not just traffic, but traffic plus business intelligence.

My question is, how this will integrate with MOVE’s Top Producer CRM system.

Clareity Security signs four real estate boards in Canada to multi-year deals.

Oh Canada! Nice win for Clareity Security’s Scout of SAFEMLS.

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, CREB® (Calgary Real Estate Board), the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (collectively known as the REB4 group).

Full Press Release Below:
_________________________________________________________________

Four Canadian Real Estate Boards Sign Multi-Year Contracts for Clareity Security’s
Scout for SAFEMLS®

June 15, 2012 – Scottsdale, Arizona – Clareity Security (www.clareitysecurity.com), the pioneer of data security and listing syndication management solutions for the real estate industry, is pleased to announce the recent addition of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, CREB® (Calgary Real Estate Board), the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (collectively known as the REB4 group) to its customer family. The four boards signed multi-year Scout for SAFEMLS® agreements and will add the leading data security, account remediation and subscriber analytics tool for multiple listing services to their respective CoreLogic™ MLXchange™ MLS systems.

“After extensive multi-year research into available technologies to help protect our members’ valuable information and resources, we chose Clareity Security for their expertise in our marketplace and Scout for SAFEMLS for its abilities to address our specific business requirements”, said Mike Pedersen, Chief Information Officer, The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

“We are very excited to deploy Scout for SAFEMLS to the Real Estate Boards in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. With the addition of these four Real Estate Boards, Clareity Security proudly provides data security solutions to over sixty-five percent of real estate professionals across all of Canada.” stated Troy Rech, Vice President of Sales, Clareity Security.

Scout for SAFEMLS serves as a comprehensive solution that reduces administration and total cost of ownership compared to traditional strong authentication products. The SAFEMLS® intelligence-based authentication suite combines access intelligence and zero-footprint, strong authentication to accurately identify risks and then cost-effectively mitigate them. The foundation of the solution is an identity-profiling engine for aggregating user access data, creating statistical profiles, and detecting anomalies. Powered by patent-pending keystroke dynamics, SAFEMLS is unrivaled in its ability to accurately and transparently identify users, detect account sharing, account takeover, and differences between individual users not possible with traditional device or IP tracking.

About Clareity Security:
Clareity Security, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the leading provider of data security, Single Sign On and compliance management products and services for the real estate industry. Our Scout for SAFEMLS® and SAFEACCESS™ products help MLS organizations and real estate professionals easily and effectively safeguard sensitive consumer information against unauthorized access and provides strong authentication solutions for secure online transactions. Additionally, Clareity Security is the creator of Safe Syndication™, the leading listing syndication and IDX/VOW compliance management tool for brokerages and MLS organizations.

# # #
Contact:
Amy Geddes, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
480-444-0014
Amy.Geddes at ClareitySecurity dot com

iMapp and Discover MLS partner to take on Corelogic in Miami

It was only a matter of time. With CoreLogic existing MLXchange MLS system only being able to work on Internet Explorer and their new Fusion MLS system not able to work on mobile devices like the iPad it looks like Miami agents have had enough.

This move seems to be unprecedented. The Miami Association of REALTORS is now paying for two different MLS solutions. This isn’t a vendor just setting up a free MLS system in hoping to gain traction, their getting paid.

I’m told that the Discover iMapp solution will be different than any of their other installations.

This is setting up to be The Showdown In The Sunshine State!. The real question is will the iMapp/Discover MLS solution gain enough traction and be able to push CoreLogic out and become Miami’s single solution? What about Greater Fort Lauderdale REALTORS? RMLS? They all must have similar issues.

One thing is for sure, mobile matters.

Full Press Release Below:

MIAMI Association of REALTORS® Selects Discover/iMapp
as Alternative MLS Application

TAMPA, FL — May 7, 2012 — iMapp® and Discover MLS today announced that the MIAMI Association of REALTORS®, the largest REALTOR® Association of the National Association of REALTORS®, have signed an agreement to launch Discover iMapp, the new initiative merging MLS and tax data into a unified, property-centric application.
“Our members demand the best tools available and Discover iMapp gives them a powerful, easy way to access the MLS on any computer, including Mac and iPad, on any browser and the ability to effectively use their mobile devices and stay in contact with their clients.” said Teresa King Kinney, CEO of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS®. “We are excited to be the first association in the country making this powerful benefit available to our members. They deserve the best and it’s our job to make sure they always get it.”

Keeping Agents at the Forefront
Existing MLS software providers have been slow to embrace mobile technology while consumer access to listing data has skyrocketed. By putting agents first, Discover iMapp emphasizes the MIAMI REALTORS’® role as the leading source for real estate information and marketing tools for agents, brokers and their clients.

“Our REALTOR® subscribers are used to having iMapp running on their iPads and all other mobile devices.” said Bill Rovillo, CEO of iMapp. “Now they can share MLS and any public record data with consumers from a single, mobile solution using trusted, MIAMI Association of REALTORS® data.”

Strong Demand From Associations

“The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® saw our presentation for the first time just three weeks ago.” said Bret Wiener, CEO of DiscoverMLS. “They instantly recognized the value to their members and approved the product for launch.”
Discover iMapp includes a real-time client portal with a live-chat feature that allows agents to interact with their clients, react to feedback on properties and instantly modify results to include the dynamic changes that often occur in the challenging search process. Discover iMapp is optimized for mobile and runs on all major web browsers, freeing users from PCs and allowing agents to use their preferred devices.

Roll-out Scheduled for Summer, 2012

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® anticipates having the Discover iMapp System running with their existing MLS data in Summer 2012. An implementation team and work group will guide the launch and work with iMapp and Discover MLS to insure a smooth transition for all MIAMI REALTORS®.

CoreLogic extends Matrix deal and does rev share with CRMLS

Big announcement, when you think about it. CRMLS is the largest in the country in both membership size and the population is covers. Congrats!

Full Press Release Below:

California Regional MLS Joins Partner InfoNet by CoreLogic
Nation’s Largest MLS Also Extends Matrix System Agreement
May 10, 2012, Santa Ana, Calif. –

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, and California Regional MLS (CRMLS), the nation’s largest multiple listing service (MLS) provider, today announced that CRMLS has joined Partner InfoNet™ by CoreLogic. The companies also announced that CRMLS has agreed to a multi-year extension of its Matrix™ MLS system contract.

Launched in June 2010, Partner InfoNet is an innovative revenue-sharing program in which MLSs license their listing data to CoreLogic for use in risk management products for mortgage lenders, servicers, and capital markets (but not consumer outlets). With the addition of CRMLS, Partner InfoNet now encompasses nearly 1.1 million active listings and more than 450,000 real estate professionals from 78 MLSs.

Matrix is an enterprise-class MLS system that provides real estate brokers and agents with a flexible, high-performance platform for managing real estate listings. 16 MLSs serving more than 163,000 real estate professionals currently use Matrix, and six more installations are scheduled for this year. In total, CoreLogic serves approximately 550,000 real estate professionals with its MLS systems—more than half the North American market.

“Through our local member associations, we strive to provide the most dependable, convenient and affordable listing technology services available,” said Art Carter, CEO of CRMLS. “Matrix has proven to be an extremely fast and reliable MLS system that meets the needs of our progressive subscribers by supporting virtually all computing platforms and devices. Partner InfoNet supports our goal of keeping costs down for our members by simply and securely leveraging the value of our listing data.”
“This new agreement with CRMLS is a powerful endorsement of both Partner InfoNet and our Matrix MLS platform,” said Ben Graboske, senior vice president of Real Estate and Financial Services for CoreLogic. “We are honored to serve the nation’s largest MLS in these critical capacities and are working hard every day to provide the highest level of service and security in the industry.”

About CoreLogic
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) is a leading provider of consumer, financial and property information, analytics and services to business and government. The Company combines public, contributory and proprietary data to develop predictive decision analytics and provide business services that bring dynamic insight and transparency to the markets it serves. CoreLogic has built one of the largest and most comprehensive U.S. real estate, mortgage application, fraud, and loan performance databases and is a recognized leading provider of mortgage and automotive credit reporting, property tax, valuation, flood determination, and geospatial analytics and services. More than one million users rely on CoreLogic to assess risk, support underwriting, investment and marketing decisions, prevent fraud, and improve business performance in their daily operations. The Company, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., has approximately 5,000 employees globally. For more information, visit www.corelogic.com.

About CRMLS
California Regional MLS is the nation’s largest Multiple Listing Service, providing products and services to over 70,000 subscribers from 33 REALTOR® Associations. California Regional MLS, located at 180 Via Verde, Suite 200 in San Dimas, California, provides access to listing data throughout the State of California. California Regional MLS has been a regional MLS for over 30 years and is dedicated to making a REAL Difference in the day-to-day business of Real Estate Professionals. For more information on California Regional MLS, contact communications@crmls.org.
CORELOGIC and the stylized CoreLogic logo is a registered trademark owned by CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. MATRIX is a common law trademark of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. CRMLS and the stylized CRMLS logo is a trademark of the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. No trademarks shall be used without the express written consent of their respective owners.

There’s a New MLS Vendor In Town.

Annie Ives, CEO TheMLS/CLAW
17 years ago, TheMLS/CLAW was just an empty office space and had less than 1,700 members. These members sold some of the most coveted real estate in California: Beverly Hills/Los Angeles. Two local brokers were heading an effort, called CLS, to start their own MLS company and had hired all The MLS/CLAW staff.

Then Annie Ives walked in to the building.

The rest, as they say, is history. CLS failed, and TheMLS/CLAW grew back to over 12,000 members. Since then TheMLS/CLAW has built their own MLS system dubbed, THEMLSPRO®, and taken an almost fanatical approach to customer service. Annie is fond of saying “We’ve been successful because we know that we are running a software company and a service organization, and that both are of equal importance,”

Annie isn’t afraid of a challenge either. When the Palm Springs Association of REALTORS (900+ members) decided to look for a new MLS provider Annie knew she could provide the level of customer service that the members of Palm Springs association would demand. Some would think the obvious choice would be CRMLS, the ever growing (70,000 members) MLS provider born from the failed California state-wide MLS effort calREDD. Some might think that, but they would be wrong.

In the end, the Palm Springs Association signed the agreement with TheMLS/CLAW. Which makes two things very clear.

Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight in Beverly Hills and the MLS game in California is far from over.

Market Leader pays Imprev 1.45M early termination fee

Market Leader, Inc Form 8K filed 12/30/2011

“The termination was effective December 31, 2011. As a result, Imprev has released Market Leader from future minimum contractual liabilities totaling $2.6 million, as well as any and all future revenue sharing payments related to the revenue generated from the premium SaaS solutions being provided to Keller Williams professionals. Market Leader will pay Imprev early termination fees totaling $1.45 million, which the Company expects to record as contract termination costs in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Concurrently, both parties entered into a transitional services agreement for the period January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012 for which the Company will pay Imprev $600,000.

Starting in the first quarter of 2012, Market Leader will offer its own marketing, design, and printing capabilities as fully integrated components of its SaaS platform and products based on the solutions that were acquired as part of the August 2011 acquisition of SharperAgent.”

Ouch.

Canada selects Point2 as exclusive listing syndicator.

Oh Canada!

My sources tell me that the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has selected Point2 as the exclusive listing syndicator for all of Canada’s MLS listings. Word is Point2 beat out other potential companies, including ListHub.

Point2, which is headquartered in the Saskatchewan province of Canada, should announce something soon. While Zillow and Trulia do not operate in Canada at this time there are other sites such as Oodle and Zoocasa that do.

I think that International Real Estate is going to be a big topic in the upcoming years and Point2 is moving in the direction of providing multinational listing syndication services, which could differentiate themselves going forward.

Early congrats to Saul, Walt and their team for the win.

RE/MAX signs deal with Homes.com

I heard through the grapevine last week that RE/MAX International (LLC?) has signed a deal with eNeighborhoods Homes Media Solutions, for it’s new marketing system Home Connect. Details are a bit early but it appears RE/MAX agents will have access to some of Homes Connect features and will be able to upgrade to other features. Sounds similar to the Market Leader and Keller Williams for eEdge. But as I said details are still forthcoming.

There are a couple things I like about this:

1. It’s great to see eNeighborhoods Homes Media Solutions get their enterprises sales mojo back. With products like Mercado sun setting, and the siphoning off their IDX business, it was huge to see a deal of this size come out of the pipeline.

2. It’s good for RE/MAX. Outside looking in it appears the franchise is going through a transition period (isn’t everybody in this market?) and it’s good to see them making investments toward the future.

I have a lot of questions still. How does Homes.com fit in? What about LeadStreet? What components are included? How much does it cost to upgrade? But I’ll save that for a later post.

Congrats to Andy and his boys for a nice win!

Saccacio out as CEO of RealtyTrac, as Renovo Capital takes control

Hard to believe that RealtyTrac co-founder, James Saccacio, has stepped down as CEO and now acts as a “executive advisor”. As I first reported some time ago (Inman News just posted something today) it looks like my sources were correct and a equity group from Texas has bought a majority interest in the company.

Full press release below:

RealtyTrac Secures Capital Investment from Renovo Capital, Positioning the Company for Continued Growth
Capital Infusion Enables RealtyTrac to Focus on Improving User Experience by Developing Innovative Products and Refining its Nationwide Foreclosure Data

IRVINE, Calif. – Nov. 28, 2011 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today announced that the company has obtained a substantial capital investment from Renovo Capital LLC through the private equity firm’s Renwood Opportunities Fund. Renovo’s investment in RealtyTrac provides the capital necessary to fund growth, nurture expansion into untapped areas of the market, and continue the company’s mission of dramatically improving the overall experience of transacting real estate.

Moving forward, RealtyTrac will focus on expanding its data collection capabilities and footprint while constantly improving the user experience on the nation’s leading foreclosure website, www.realtytrac.com, and developing innovative new products to enhance RealtyTrac’s value proposition for individuals, investors and real estate professionals.

Brandon Moore will assume the CEO role. Moore successfully led the expansion of several online ventures and has specific expertise in subscription-based marketing. He was most recently the senior vice president and general manager of One Technologies, where he was instrumental in growing the company’s annual revenue exponentially over a four-year span.
RealtyTrac’s co-founder, James J. Saccacio, will continue to help shape the company’s future as a member of the RealtyTrac board, and as an executive advisor and continuing to impart his trusted market knowledge as a spokesperson for the company.

“I am excited to move forward with this venture as it will empower RealtyTrac to better serve its customers, providing them with a wider data reach, more robust foreclosure search and real estate research capabilities, and an enhanced user experience,” said Saccacio. “With this capital infusion, RealtyTrac’s leadership can expand on its core competencies of collecting, analyzing and democratizing the availability of U.S. foreclosure data. We have identified just the right investor to partner with, and the timing of this investment is well synched with our plans for maintaining RealtyTrac’s reputation as a go-to company that exceeds the needs of its customer base and addresses the exciting challenges the dynamic real estate market presents.”
“We are pleased to complete this transaction and continue working with RealtyTrac’s management team to preserve and expand upon this widely respected brand,” said Renovo Managing Partner Mark Barbeau. “This company is a valuable resource to real estate professionals, investors and financial institutions alike, as well as for various organizations within the public sector.”

About RealtyTrac Inc. 

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million default, auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed property, loan and home sales data. Hosting millions of unique monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing in real estate. RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has also been used by the Federal Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking Committee, U.S. Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking departments to help evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues related to foreclosures.

About Renovo Capital LLC

Renovo Capital LLC (www.renovocapital.com), through its Renwood Opportunities Fund, invests in companies across a variety of industries in North America. Renwood Opportunities Fund was formed by Renovo Capital and Rosewood Private Investments, the private equity arm of The Rosewood Corporation, a prominent family-owned company with diverse worldwide operations and investments. Renovo Capital has offices in Dallas, Denver, and Irvine.

About James Saccacio

RealtyTrac Co-Founder James Saccacio became the company’s chairman and CEO in October 2000. Since then, he has transitioned the company from a local provider of foreclosure data to the nation’s leading online foreclosure marketplace. He was named one of the 100 most influential real estate leaders in 2010 by Inman News and received the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the SMU Cox School of Business, for which he currently serves on the Executive Advisory Board. Saccacio is a sought-after industry expert on mortgage and foreclosure-related topics. His knowledge and opinions have been solicited by major national media outlets, government agencies, business associations and educational communities alike. He remains intimately tied to RealtyTrac’s mission: to dramatically improve the overall experience of transacting real estate for individuals, investors and real estate professionals by making the process easier, more affordable and less time-consuming.
 
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Media Contacts:
Christine Stricker
 949.502.8300, ext. 268
 christine.stricker@realtytrac.com
Michelle Schneider 
949.502.8300, ext. 139
 michelle.schneider@realtytrac.com

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