David Mele and Erin Ruane Recognized by Industry Publications

NORFOLK, Va. (February 20, 2020) — Homes.com President, David Mele, and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Erin Ruane, were selected for RISMedia’s 2020 Newsmakers. This annual award recognizes the top 300 real estate professionals across the nation for their various contributions to industry excellence and innovation. 

Mele and Ruane were both honored in the “Influencers” category, which recognizes real estate professionals who contribute to the industry as “thought leaders.” In addition to year-over-year growth, their leadership has spearheaded a successful rebranding effort for Homes.com, supported by newer and more innovative product offerings like the best-selling Local Connect and Lead Concierge tools.

“I’m truly humbled to receive this award,” says Ruane. “Since our relaunch in 2018, our goal has been to offer a simply smarter home search for consumers, and make it easier for those consumers to connect with real estate professionals. This award represents the tireless efforts and constant innovation of hundreds of people.”

The RISMedia award comes on the heels of another for Mele, who was also recently recognized as a Swanepoel Power 200 leader. Ranking the most powerful leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry, this is the sixth consecutive year Mele has earned this distinguished accolade. 

“These awards are a testament to Homes.com’s commitment to providing both agents and consumers the best possible home search experience,” says Mele. “I’m thankful to the RISMedia team for the recognition, and grateful to accept on behalf of a team whose relentless efforts push the boundaries of our solutions forward.”

For more information about Homes.com real estate solutions for professionals, visit https://marketing.homes.com.

About Homes.com
Homes.com offers today’s demanding homebuyers, renters and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search. With smart search features like Homes.com Match, home shoppers now have a more personalized and conversational way to search for their next home. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online. For more information, visit Homes.com.

Homes.com and Rental Beast offer renters and landlords a fast and secure online rental application

SOMERVILLE, MA. (February 18, 2020)— Real estate tech provider Rental Beast has partnered with leading real estate portal Homes.com to offer renters and listing agents direct access to Rental Beast’s online rental application engine, Apply Now. Apply Now is a comprehensive tool that streamlines the rental application process.

To submit an application, renters can click on the “Apply Now” button next to their chosen rental listing on Homes.com and are guided through an easy-to-navigate application. Once the application is submitted, credit data and supporting information are securely gathered, and automated emails give renters, landlords, and real estate agents real-time updates. Fully FCRA-compliant, Apply Now gives listing agents and property owners fast and secure access to an applicant’s credit information, eviction history and background information, where applicable, to guide their decisions.

“Apply Now has enjoyed tremendous success on the Rental Beast platform,” said Ishay Grinberg, founder and CEO of Rental Beast. “It has effectively decreased the amount of time it takes to process applications, provided listing agents and landlords with the secure access they need to make informed decisions, and helped renters get into units faster. We are pleased to offer Apply Now to Homes.com users.”

Apply Now continues Rental Beast’s goal of simplifying the rental market for real estate agents, landlords, and tenants, and Homes.com’s goal of creating a smarter home search.

“Over 80% of the renters on Homes.com are looking for single family homes,” said David Mele, president of Homes.com. “In this often segmented market, submitting rental applications can be stressful and time consuming. Our partnership with Rental Beast will help alleviate those pain points and provide renters with a simple and smart home search experience.”

About Homes.com
Homes.com offers today’s demanding homebuyers, renters, and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search with a more personalized and conversational way to find their next home. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online. For more information, visit Homes.com.

About Rental Beast
Rental Beast offers a fully integrated SaaS platform that simplifies the entire leasing process. Rental Beast disrupts the notoriously challenging rental market and help agents take advantage of the growing renter population to build a sustainable pipeline of first time homebuyers. For more information, visit rentalbeast.com

Family-owned Brokerage Recognized for Industry Innovation and Adaptability

NORFOLK, Va. (Dec. 3, 2019) — The RISMedia Tech Titan Award was presented to Dan Elsea, president, Brokerage Services, and Stuart Elsea, president, Financial Services, for the Real Estate One Family of Companies for their 2019 technological achievements. Michigan-based brokerage, Real Estate One, was recognized during the November 8th RISMedia Power Broker Dinner as part of The National Association of REALTORS® 24th annual conference in San Francisco. Homes.com®, leading online real estate destination and provider of real estate marketing solutions, sponsored this year’s RISMedia’s Tech Titan Award. 

The Tech Titan award is presented to individuals transforming the industry by integrating new forms of technology into their companies to improve and enhance overall consumer experience. Striving to provide a simply smarter home search experience for consumers has inspired Homes.com’s desire to award excellence in industry innovation. 

“It really is a great honor,” stated Dan Elsea. “The baseline, not just for our business, but for any commerce, is that we can always have someone in a garage coming up with a new idea that’s faster, more innovative and more interesting than the last.”

The Elsea brothers and the Real Estate One team are on the cutting edge of industry practices with a strategic focus on artificial intelligence currently being developed and vetted. The family of companies is adopting intuitive, automated support to elevate the productivity and visibility of their agents.

“For Real Estate One, innovation isn’t just a tool or technology, it’s our culture. We constantly try new ideas and we empower our people to experiment with different concepts and technologies knowing that in some cases they will fail, but that’s how we learn, that’s how we grow and that’s how we succeed in business,” said Stuart Elsea.

“Homes.com is pleased to recognize Dan and Stuart Elsea and Real Estate One team with the RISMedia Tech Titan award for their technology accomplishments,” added Dave Mele, president of Homes.com. “As Real Estate One continues to advance cutting edge technology into our industry, Homes.com is proud to recognize their progress and hard work.”

About Homes.com

Homes.com offers today’s demanding homebuyers, renters, and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search with a more personalized and conversational way to find their next home. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online. For more information, visit Homes.com.

About the Real Estate One Family of Companies

The Real Estate One Family of Companies is a Michigan based company and the largest real estate broker in the state and ranked 10th nationally. In their third generation of family ownership, The Real Estate One Family of Companies consists of four real estate brands, Real Estate One, Max Broock, Johnstone & Johnstone and the Charles Reinhart Company, as well as a one-stop shop of real estate services including John Adams Mortgage, Capital Title Insurance Agency, Insurance One and more. 

From their co-workers to clients, the members of this company-wide family dedicate themselves to the core values of excellence, caring, integrity, teamwork and empowerment. Demonstrating these values to their fullest potential has earned the honor of being one of Michigan’s Top Workplaces eight years in a row. In 2018, The Real Estate One Family of Companies was ranked as the 6th Top Workplace in Michigan. Every day is spent striving towards their mission of creating the best real estate experience through their family of services.

 For more information on the Real Estate One Family of Companies, visit www.realestateone.com.

NORFOLK, VA (October 30, 2019) — Homes.com announced today the launch of a new podcast designed to inspire collaboration and innovation within the MLS industry. Hosted by Andy Woolley, Vice President of Industry Development for Homes.com, the “Secrets of a Smarter MLS” podcast invites MLS leaders to share ideas about the intersection of strategy, operations, and execution that result in a smarter MLS. 

“In an increasingly challenging industry, demanding an increasingly smarter MLS, this podcast is an opportunity for MLS operators of all sizes to learn from their peers around the country,” says Woolley. “My hope is that this podcast will be a platform for collaboration, sharing ideas to empower all MLSs to operate smarter.”

Every few weeks, Woolley will interview a top executive from the MLS industry and examine the challenges they face in the rapidly evolving real estate industry. Guests will discuss industry trends, share helpful resources for MLS leaders, and offer advice for overcoming organizational challenges. The insights gleaned will equip veteran MLS executives and up-and-coming leaders alike.

The first episode features Jeremy Crawford, CEO and President of First MLS, and is now available for streaming. Interviews with Karen Cage, CEO of Realcomp II Ltd., and Glenn Cristoph, CEO of Intermountain MLS are scheduled for release in the coming weeks.  

“As the Council of Multiple Listing Services proudly promotes, each local MLS is ‘Making the Market Work,’ but no one is talking about what it takes to make the MLS work,” says Woolley. “I hope to pull back the curtain and show the remarkable behind-the-scenes effort involved in operating a successful MLS.”  

For more information on the Secrets of Smarter MLSs podcast, visit
https://secretsoftopsellingagents.com/smarter-mls-podcast/.

About Homes.com

Homes.com offers today’s demanding homebuyers, renters and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search with a more personalized and conversational way to find their next home. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online. For more information, visit Homes.com.

About Andy Woolley

A 23-year veteran of the real estate media and technology industry, Andy Woolley has been closely working with the MLS industry dating back to his time with IRIS, eNeighborhoods, and WyldFyre Technologies from 1996 through 2010. More recently, Woolley was named Vice President of Industry Development for Homes.com, a division of Dominion Enterprises, and is responsible for cultivating and developing MLS, broker, franchise, and other growth-oriented industry partnerships.
https://marketing.homes.com/about/about-us/andy-woolley/

About Secrets of Top Selling Agents

The Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar program was launched in 2006 to share the secrets of top selling agents with those still finding their path. The Secrets of Top Selling Agents platform has grown to include an Amazon best-selling book, live events throughout the country, and multiple real estate industry-specific podcast series.
https://secretsoftopsellingagents.com/

Homes.com Survey Shows Multiracial Support for Diversity as a Social Goal

NORFOLK, VA (October 24, 2019) – Nearly half of future Generation Z homebuyers who plan to buy a home in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods are motivated by a belief that diversity is a positive force in society, according to a new Homes.com survey of 1,300+ 18- to 24-year-olds. These opinions are shared almost equally by white, Hispanic, African-American and Asian respondents, suggesting an emerging post-racial mentality. 

When asked to select the two major reasons for preferring to purchase a home in a heterogeneous community, 44% of those who expressed that preference answered that diversity is “good for America” while almost 36% said they were interested in being exposed to other cultures. Just 13% of respondents cited either their own racial or ethnic identity or that of a spouse or partner as a factor in their choice.

 The new survey followed an April Homes.com poll that found 58% of future Gen Z homebuyers prefer a diverse community compared to 12% who prefer a homogeneous neighborhood with people who “look like me.” The followup survey examined the reasons why these young Americans value living in a diverse neighborhood as well as the amenities and house types preferred by this age group.

“Gen Z homebuyers have more opportunities to live in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods than previous generations because of demographic shifts that have occurred over the last few decades,” said David Mele, president of Homes.com. “Both of our surveys indicate that Gen Zers will take full advantage of these opportunities and continue to change the complexion of U.S. neighborhoods, given that they are the largest generation in history to soon become homeowners.”  

Homes.com’s recent survey also found that:

• Only 33% of Gen Z members grew up in diverse neighborhoods. Nearly 60% of white respondents grew up in homogeneous neighborhoods, while a majority of Hispanic, African-American and Middle Eastern or North African respondents lived in diverse communities as children.
• 48% of respondents now live in communities with heterogeneous populations, reflecting shifting neighborhood demographics as well as Gen Z relocations during their college and post-college years. This trend will continue to accelerate as Gen Z overtakes millennials to dominate real estate markets. 

In addition, the survey revealed clear Gen Z preferences in home design. For example: 

• 46% of Gen Z homebuyers prefer single-family homes over townhomes (7%), detached multi-family units (5%) and condominiums (4%). This is unusual for young first-time homebuyers, but it may change if single-family home prices continue to rise over the next few years before the first Gen Zers begin house hunting.
  
• Outdoor entertainment space and open interior design topped the list of desired home features, with 54% wanting a backyard area with amenities like a patio and deck and 44% looking for rooms that flow into one another. Both factors surpassed traditional preferences such as a garage (40%) and hardwood floors (34%).
• Surprisingly, eco-friendly design and smart home systems ranked last in feature preferences at 22% and 17%, respectively, despite increasing industry attention to both, rising environmental concerns, and the comfort level of younger people with technology.

For more information regarding the Homes.com survey, visit http://go.homes/gen-z-homebuying.

 About Homes.com
Homes.com offers today’s demanding homebuyers, renters and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search experience. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online.  For more information, visit Homes.com.