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Zillow.com(R) Announces Broker Advisory Board; Appoints Influential Real Estate Industry Leaders
Friday, July 18, 2008
SEATTLE, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow.com today announced the formation
of a Broker Advisory Board to provide counsel on existing Zillow services for
the real estate industry, and evaluate ideas for future products and services.
Zillow(R) has quickly grown its number of real estate industry partners since
the launch of its listings feed program in November 2007, with nearly 3
million for-sale listings today, and hundreds of prominent listings partners.
More than five million unique users visit Zillow every month, with 90 percent
owning a home, and two-thirds buying or selling now, or in the next one to two
years.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO)
The members of Zillow's Broker Advisory Board are 10 influential leaders
in the real estate industry who are actively involved in running their
respective companies: Steve Baird, President/CEO of Baird & Warner; Ken Baris,
President of Jordan Baris; Bob Blount, CEO of RE/MAX Allegiance; Sherry
Chris, President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, LLC; Craig
Cuyar, SVP & Chief Information Officer for the Realogy Franchise Group; Dan
Elsea, President of Real Estate One; Pat Lashinsky, CEO and President of
ZipRealty; Mike Montsko, President of Weichert Lead Network; Harley Rouda,
Jr., CEO of Real Living; and Mark Woodroof, Managing Partner for Prudential
Gary Greene.
"In selecting our Broker Advisory Board, we wanted a range of different
types of companies represented -- both franchise and independent, large and
small, national and regional," said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Zillow's vice
president of partner relations. "We asked people whom we know to be leaders in
the industry, and we believe this Board will help us in planning and building
our products and services in a way that serves the real estate community to
our full potential."
The Zillow Broker Advisory Board members will meet with Van der Meulen and
Zillow's partner relations team multiple times each year, both at Zillow's
headquarters in Seattle and elsewhere.
About the Board Members
Steve Baird: Stephen W. Baird is the president and chief executive officer
of Baird & Warner. Established in 1855, the firm is the oldest residential
real estate brokerage in the United States and currently ranks among the
nation's top 12 with an annual sales volume of approximately $5 billion.
Under Baird's leadership, the firm has grown dramatically -- currently with a
sales force of approximately 1,700 sales associates, who operate from 30
strategically located offices throughout Chicago and its suburbs.
Ken Baris: Ken Baris is the president of Jordan Baris. At the age of 22,
Ken was the youngest CRS in the nation and later earned the CRB designation.
An industry leader, Ken with a partner developed and licensed to Top Producer
Systems, Top Presenter -- an interactive multimedia listing presentation that
was the awarded the best new software product of the year by the NAR when it
was launched. In the media, Ken has been heard on radio and seen on CNBC and
NBC National Nightly News as a real estate expert. Frequently in the press he
has been quoted in editorial sections of USA Today, The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal, Real Estate News, Real Estate Business and the Star
Ledger. As an author Ken has been published in The Real Estate Professional
Magazine, Real Estate Business, Real Estate Today and various industry
newsletters. As a speaker Ken has addressed professionals at numerous national
conferences on topics such as Practical Technology, Selling on the First Day
Out and Unlocking the Power of the Web for Brokers. Established in 1952,
Jordan Baris Inc. is one of the premier full-service real estate brokerages in
New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area and has a team of over 200.
Bob Blount: Bob Blount is CEO of RE/MAX Allegiance with 35 offices, 1150
agents in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. He is a Director for NAR,
MRIS, REIN MLS, and REBR. He serves on several VAR committees and work groups
and was on the NAR Gateway PAG. He is recognized as an expert in integrated
brokerage business systems. Bob is a former RE/MAX International Broker/Owner
of the Year and resides in Virginia Beach, VA.
Sherry Chris: Sherry Chris was appointed President and CEO of Better Homes
and Gardens Real Estate LLC in October of 2007. Better Homes and Gardens(R)
Real Estate, which is the 5th residential brand for Realogy, will officially
launch in July of 2008. Sherry was most recently Chief Operating Officer for
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Overall, Sherry has more than 27 years of
real estate experience, including, significant senior management positions in
the areas of sales and marketing and new technologies, and franchise
management. A native Canadian, she began her real estate career in Canada and
held increasingly senior positions with Royal LePage for 16 years before
taking on executive roles with Real Living (Ohio) and Prudential CA/NV/TX
Realty. She joined Realogy in 2006. Well known within the real estate
industry, Sherry is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology
conferences.
Craig Cuyar: Dr. Craig Cuyar is Senior Vice President and CIO for the
Realogy Franchise Group. Realogy is a franchisor of six of the most recognized
brands in the real estate industry: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate,
CENTURY 21(R), Coldwell Banker(R), Coldwell Banker Commercial(R), ERA(R), and
Sotheby's International Realty(R) Realogy franchises its leading brands to
residential and commercial real estate brokerages throughout the United States
and around the world. Cuyar is a regular speaker on the Business Value of IT
and serves on a number of advisory boards in both the technology and
professional services industries. Dr. Cuyar is also an Executive Board Member
and President of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society for Information
Management.
Dan Elsea: Dan Elsea is the president of brokerage services for the Real
Estate One Family of Companies. Dan has been in the real estate business for
over 25 years in a number of capacities within the company from commercial and
residential sales to branch and division management. He and his brother Stuart
share the leadership of the company and its affiliates. The company is in its
third generation in Michigan, having begun as Elsea Realty in 1929 under
Staunton Elsea, Dan and Stuart's grandfather. Real Estate One brings in $2.4
billion annually, and is the 13th largest brokerage in the nation, employing
1500 agents.
Pat Lashinsky: As the Chief Executive Officer and President of ZipRealty,
Pat Lashinsky serves on the Board of Directors and is responsible for the
company vision, planning, and overall strategy in addition to day to day
oversight of the company's overall operations and its growth and innovation
initiatives. Mr. Lashinsky has previously served as President, Executive Vice
President of Product Strategy and Development, Vice President of Marketing and
Business Development, and as Vice President of Sales at ZipRealty.
Mike Montsko: As President of the Weichert Lead Network, Mr. Montsko
oversees Weichert, Realtors' state-of-the-art customer contact center. Prior
to his promotion he spearheaded the huge technological initiative that created
Weichert's industry-leading contact center. The only one of its kind in the
industry, the Weichert customer contact center uses sophisticated technology
to deliver responsive personal service to online and 800-number customers
seven days a week. In 2005 and 2006, Mr. Montsko was listed as one of the "100
Most Influential Real Estate People" by Inman news.
Harley Rouda, Jr.: Harley Rouda is chief executive officer of Real Living,
Inc. Rouda spearheaded the creation of Real Living in February 2002 by
acquiring several regional real estate firms to create an agent-centric
company that would lead the industry in marketing, technology and professional
development. In 2006, REALTOR(R) Magazine named Rouda one of Real Estate's Top
25 Most Influential Thought Leaders. Inman News also named him one of the Most
Influential People in Real Estate. He earned the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year award in June 2002, in recognition of his industry leadership,
innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. In April 2007, he was selected as the
vice chair of The National Association of Realtors' Real Estate Services
Advisory Board.
Mark Woodroof: Mark Woodroof is managing partner for Prudential Gary
Greene, and has been active in the Residential Real Estate brokerage business
for nearly 24 years. In March 2000 Mark became a principal at Prudential Gary
Greene, Realtors. This new entity was formed with partner Marilyn Eiland by
acquiring the residential assets of Gary Greene, Realtors Better Homes and
Gardens and four Prudential affiliates, ultimately creating a market-leading
force of over 1100 associates in 18 owned and 9 affiliated offices throughout
the greater Houston area. Mark and Marilyn are actively involved in the
leadership and daily operations of the company. Mark has been involved with
the Houston Association of Realtors since 1991 serving as its chairman in
1999. He has also been active with both the state and national associations
serving on numerous committees and is a past director of the Texas Association
and current director of the National Association of Realtors as a large broker
representative.
About Zillow.com(R)
Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers,
sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital
information about homes, for free. Launched in early 2006 with Zestimate(R)
values and data on millions of U.S. homes, Zillow has since opened the site to
community input, data and dialogue. One of the most-visited U.S. real estate
Web sites, Zillow's goal is to help people become smarter about real estate in
every stage of the home ownership process -- buying, selling, remodeling and
financing. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has raised $87 million
in funding.
Zillow.com, Zillow and Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.
Better Homes and Gardens(R), CENTURY 21(R), Coldwell Banker(R), Coldwell
Banker Commercial(R), ERA(R), and Sotheby's International Realty(R) are
registered trademarks owned or licensed by Realogy Corporation or its
subsidiaries.
SOURCE Zillow.com
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