RealtyTrac and Bid4Homes Team to Provide Online Auction Marketplace

RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today announced a new partnership with Bid4Homes, an online auction site specializing in distressed property from banks, government agencies and private parties. The partnership enables RealtyTrac users to research and bid on a wide selection of online real estate auctions nationwide. The Bid4Homes proprietary Web-based applications and patented deposit system make it easy for real estate brokers, agents, REO asset managers and private sellers to list homes for auction on RealtyTrac.

In addition to bank-owned properties and properties from private sellers, Bid4Homes offers forfeited properties from the U.S. Marshals Service, seized properties from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and tax-foreclosed properties from more than 50 counties nationwide.

RealtyTrac’s foreclosure property listings will also now be accessible through the Bid4Homes website, providing users with more choices and the ability to compare properties with others up for auction on the Internet.

“We’re excited to team up with Bid4Homes and its sister site Bid4Assets, which have experienced enormous success in the online real estate auction space, with more than 50,000 property sales in 50 states,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at RealtyTrac. “This partnership affords our users more choices of properties and another convenient way to buy real estate. Our users will now be able place online bids on properties being auctioned by Bid4Homes while never leaving the RealtyTrac website. And these online auction properties will be paired with the extensive research tools available on RealtyTrac — including comparable sales, loan and sales history, extensive neighborhood information, and nearby MLS listings for comparison — helping users to evaluate a property before they begin bidding.”

“Combined, Bid4Homes and RealtyTrac have more than 3 million subscribers who are interested in buying real estate. That’s tremendous value for REO asset managers. It only makes sense to capitalize on the efficiencies of the Internet, particularly in a slow market. Online auctions have unlimited reach,” said Lisa Lauroesch, vice president of business development and REO sales at Bid4Homes. And she should know. Lauroesch has seen the real estate market in all types of conditions with her past experience at Freddie Mac, most recently as Senior Director of Offerings Development. “Since the market became soft, 58 percent of all properties we’ve sold at Bid4Homes have been sold to out-of-state buyers. Greater reach means more bidders and more bidders mean more properties move quicker at higher prices. That’s ideal for the seller in any market.”

“Bid4Homes integrates online auctions with listing and buyer’s agents or directly with the homeowner to provide end-to-end asset disposition services for banks and home sellers,” Lauroesch continued. “Our sellers experience incredible success rates on Bid4Homes. Over a quarter of the properties listed sell within 14 days and of these, 60 percent exceed the seller’s asking price.”

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new construction properties, with more than 1 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

Bid4Homes is the real estate-only Web site from Bid4Assets, Inc., the nation’s online auction expert in selling distressed assets since 1999 for government agencies, financial institutions, private sellers, bankruptcy attorneys, trustees, for sale by owners, real estate agents, brokerage firms and non-profits. Bid4Assets has had a legally binding real estate auction platform since 1999 and has more experience with online real estate auctions than any other online auction service in the country. More than 53,000 forfeited, tax-foreclosed, distressed, REO and new to market properties have been sold through these sites including homes, unimproved land, commercial, residential and agricultural property.

Founded in 1999, Bid4Assets developed one of the first sales platforms for government-controlled property on the Internet and formed its premier relationship with the U.S. Marshals Service. Bid4Assets has conducted sales of seized, surplus and non-strategic assets for more than 80 federal, state and local government agencies nationwide. Clients include the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and many of the states and counties throughout the United States. The company is located in Silver Spring, Md., phone (301) 650-9193, fax (301) 650-9194.