IRVINE, CA-Online marketplace for foreclosure properties RealtyTrac has acquired online data aggregator Homefacts in the company’s latest move to grow its market presence and effectively arm consumers with the information they need during the home-buying process. As part of this agreement, Homefacts founder James Moyle will join RealtyTrac’s executive team as president and COO.
RealtyTrac enters this agreement “poised to expand upon its data-collection capabilities and broaden its data analytics offering with innovative new products that will further enhance the company’s value proposition,” according to a RealtyTrac statement. Homefacts offers homeowners and prospective real estate buyers an online due diligence resource for making informed decisions regarding property-specific characteristics and health, environmental and safety information that are outlined in real estate disclosure documents but are not otherwise easily accessible to homebuyers.
“We are excited about the new opportunities that adding Homefacts’ incremental data sets allow us to explore, from new product offerings and stronger real estate analytics to better data collection methodologies,” says RealtyTrac’s CEO Brandon Moore. “RealtyTrac’s trusted leadership position in the marketplace combined with the financial backing of our strong ownership team to make strategic acquisitions such as this puts us in a position of leadership to empower homebuyers, providing them with the important information they need in the home-buying process.”
Moore tells GlobeSt.com that the company’s interest in this investment was fueled by its intentions to solidify long-term growth, nurture expansion into untapped areas of the market and continue its mission of dramatically improving the overall experience of transacting real estate. “The acquisition of Homefacts is an opportunity to increase RealtyTrac’s industry footprint.”
Regarding other data-company acquisitions planned for RealtyTrac, Moore tells GlobeSt.com that the infusion of capital brought on by Renovo’s acquisition of the company late last year has put it in a better position to take advantage of growth opportunities such as this, “enabling RealtyTrac to build upon its reputation as the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, and to establish the company as a leader in other key areas of the real estate market.”
Moore adds that the firm will continue to focus on its core mission of dramatically improving the experience of buying and selling real estate, a mission that has remained consistent since 2005. “More specifically, RealtyTrac will work toward continuously improving the user experience on our website, developing new innovating products for customers and further refining our unparalleled foreclosure data as we investigate additional ways to positively impact the real estate market. Having the financial means to act on opportunities such as the acquisition of Homefacts and attract the talent of proven Internet industry leaders like Jamie Moyle puts RealtyTrac in an optimal position for growth.”
According to RealtyTrac, Moyle possesses a proven track record as a forward-thinking Internet entrepreneur, having grown the popularity of Homefacts to garner more than three million page views per month in the absence of a marketing budget or external financing, and previously founding and serving as president of the prominent online vacation-rental sales retailer SkiWest before selling it to Overstock.com in 2005. In his new role alongside Moore, Moyle will play an important day-to-day role managing RealtyTrac’s product development and consumer-facing teams in addition to shaping the strategic direction for the business going forward.
“Our value position is simple,” says Moyle. “It’s time.”
GlobeSt.com has previously reported on numerous RealtyTrac findings in the foreclosure market, including the company’s recent reports of a yearly nationwide pre-foreclosure sales increase of 33% between January 2011 and January 2012, a yearly national decrease in foreclosure filings of 16% from first-quarter 2011 to first-quarter 2012, and a slower rate of decline in default filings from January to February of this year.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
