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California Joyce Essex joyce@essexharvey.com www.EssexHarvey.com 310-777-6375 phone 310-922-7476 cell observers with track records of accurate research and forecasts. The California-based online real estate marketplace plans to make the findings available to the public so those in the industry can make informed business decisions. "We all benefit from a healthy real estate marketplace," said Monte Koch, Auction.com co-CEO. "Making Auction.com Research's findings publicly accessible will facilitate smart growth and sound business practices that support ongoing market recovery." The division will publish regular reports and forecasts related to single- and multifamily housing, retail, office, hospitality, and industrial real estate. Industry veteran Peter Muoio, Ph.D., leads the division. He is the founder of the research and consulting firm Maximus Advisors, which was acquired by Auction.com in December 2012. Muoio has also served as managing director and global head of Deutsche Bank's real estate research group, and previously founded and led the real estate research group at Bankers Trust Company. The division released its first reports on the single-family market, which were authored by Muoio and can be found online at Auction.com/Market-Research. Short Sale Agent Finder Matches Homeowners with Agents Short Sale Agent Finder offers a free service so distressed homeowners can locate qualified short sale agents in their area. Since not all agents are ready to list short sales, Short Sale Agent Finder was created so homeowners can connect with experienced agents. 80 "When it comes to a short sale, if the agent doesn't know what he's doing or how to negotiate the deal, it can result in an unnecessary foreclosure for the seller, who was doing the responsible thing by pursuing a short sale before being foreclosed on," said David Tal, co-founder of the company. "That's what inspired us to create Short Sale Agent Finder— so people could be matched up with the most qualified agents with short sale experience." Through Short Sale Agent Finder, homeowners can search an agent network of short sale specialists and compare agents. The San Diego-based company has a nationwide network of more than 15,000 partner agents. The company refers seller leads to their agents for a standard 25 percent referral fee agreement with the partner brokerage. Rather than simply offer leads, Tal explained the company calls each seller, screens them, and qualifies them before introducing agents to leads. "Our model is set up so that we make money when our partner agents close deals, so the better we can line up the lead for them, the better for both of us," Tal said. According to a company release, more than 50 percent of their leads turn into listings. Carrington, Equator Partner to Provide Rental Asset Management Suite Carrington Technology Solutions and Equator, a default servicing technology provider, teamed up to provide financial institutions, institutional investors, and largescale property management companies with a single-family asset management suite created to maximize the performance of multipleproperty portfolios. RentPointe, Carrington's proprietary software application for managing diverse portfolios of single-family rental properties, is being integrated into Equator's EQ Investor Platform. According to the announcement, RentPointe enables real-time, simultaneous oversight of multiple property managers, while the EQ Investor Platform provides due diligence, acquisition, asset transfer, REO rental, and REO disposition through its virtual Equator Marketplace. Integrating RentPointe within Equator's platform provides benefits such as a higher, more efficient workflow, access to Equator and Carrington data for net present value modeling, full transparency and audit compliance, and an electronic marketplace for real-time management of vendor orders. Access to and delivery of RentPointe information will flow through Equator's existing interface. "Understanding the growing need for a product that is both tailored to portfolio management and has the ability to manage multiple property managers, we designed RentPointe to be a 'manager of managers' software solution," said Brent Rasmussen, EVP and CIO for California-based Carrington. "Offering RentPointe through this partnership presents a win-win as it marries Carrington's operational expertise with Equator's reputation as a leading technology solutions provider for the real estate and mortgage industries." RealtyTrac Offers New, Exclusive Network for Top Brokerages RealtyTrac is now offering RealtyTrac Network (RTN)—a licensed network for leading independent and franchised brokerage companies. Through RTN, select brokerages will have an exclusive relationship with RealtyTrac that comes with access to local real estate data and trends, seller and buyer leads, and additional neighborhood data. RealtyTrac stated companies will have a competitive advantage in their local market through the network. The real estate data provider plans to award just one license in each market. The California-based company also added it has expanded its database to go beyond foreclosure information over the past few years. In April, RealtyTrac acquired Homefacts, LLC, broadening its database to include a wide range of information such as school reports and crime statistics. "Supported by the powerful resources of RealtyTrac, these brokerages and their agents will be poised for strong growth for the long term while providing RealtyTrac valuable neighborhood and hyper-local market expertise that will enrich our comprehensive data and content," said RealtyTrac CEO Jamie Moyle in a release. Prudential California Realty in Yorba Linda has already joined the network. "The visionary team at RealtyTrac has the