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M R EP O RT | 5 MTECH Predicting Home Buyer Trends REALTOR.COM LAUNCHES ENHANCED LISTING INTELLIGENCE FOR AGENTS N ew enhanced listing intelligence features from Realtor.com put predictive insights from listings at agents' fingertips, making it easier for agents to demonstrate their value and knowledge of local market conditions, amplify their market- ing tactics for their clients, and close deals. Millions of home shoppers visit Realtor.com monthly and understanding how these buyers are searching in a local market can be a valuable resource and powerful selling tool for agents in today's shifting market. With the new suite of features, real estate professionals now have access to valuable listing intelli- gence, including: • Buyer info: See the total num- ber of potential buyers in their local market on Realtor.com and those who've submitted inquiries on the site with a budget range that matches the listing. • Buyer demand: View the top three ZIP codes from which a listing's buyer interest is coming on Realtor.com. Moreover, the new features share the per- centage of Realtor.com listing traffic coming from within the listing's city, the listing's state, other states, and internationally. • Listing completeness: Gain insights about how complete their Realtor.com property listing is and suggestions for improving it with additional photos or listing description information. • Performance score: Understand a Realtor.com property listing's performance and how it's at- tracting and engaging potential buyers compared to similar listings in that price range and ZIP code on Realtor.com. • Market trends: See local market trends seen across Realtor. com, including median days on market, median list price, total number of homes with price reductions, and more. "With rich insights from Realtor. com about active buyers in their market and how their listing stacks up against others in the area, sell- ers' agents can boost their value, make smarter decisions for their clients, and refine their marketing strategies to better target home shoppers and get their clients' homes sold," said Donna August, VP of B2B Marketing at Realtor. com. "Enhanced listing intelligence is just one of the many ways Realtor.com is empowering real estate professionals with the tools they need to grow and sustain their business in today's market." According to a recent consumer survey from Realtor.com, nearly nine out of 10 home sellers worked with an agent to list their home for sale. Agents and brokers can use Realtor.com's advanced listing intelligence features to help convert leads into clients with superior market intelligence and trends insights, as well as to help inform and manage seller expectations. Agents can also use the intel- ligence solutions to keep their homeowner clients informed and engaged throughout the selling process with automated, person- alized and customizable reports about their home's performance on Realtor.com. The report also provides sellers with insights about recent trends in their local market that have been seen across Realtor.com, such as median days on market, median list price of homes, the percentage of homes with price reductions, and more. Optimizing the Customer Experience FIRSTCLOSE ADDS NEW VENDOR GATEWAY A ustin, Texas-based First- Close Inc., a fintech pro- vider of data and work- flow solutions, has launched its next generation Vendor Gateway that enables home equity lend- ers to select and integrate their preferred settlement services vendors into FirstClose Equity. FirstClose Equity reduces operational touchpoints, and improves the overall customer experience for borrowers. The end-to-end platform includes a borrower-facing point-of-sale solu- tion that gives consumers instant online feedback on their home valuation, available home equity, loan options and delivers credit decisions in minutes. Automated workflows, including the ordering of settlement services, enable lend- ers to complete the application through closing process in seven to ten days versus the industry average of 45 to 60 days. FirstClose Gateway will deliver significant advantages for both lenders and their vendor partners by: • Supporting an enhanced bor- rower experience by delivering consistent data and order fulfill- ment • Simplifying contracting and vendor management by en- abling FirstClose Equity lenders to connect with preferred pro- viders with one contract, one bill, one support team "We designed the Gateway to give lenders greater control over the home equity process: everything from the customer experience they deliver to their operational and risk manage- ment choices," said Ramiro Castro, Chief Product Officer for FirstClose. "While our latest release includes a core set of vendors that are accelerating the origination process, our platform is vendor agnostic." Streamlining the Home Buying Process REDFIN LAUNCHES MODULE TO ORGANIZE HOME SEARCHES R edfin has launched Favor- ites Lists, a new tool that allows Redfin's app and website users to organize their favorite homes into custom lists and share them with their home search partner. Approximately seven out of 10 Redfin app users have chosen at least one favorite home, and nearly 40% have compiled a list of more than 30 homes. With According to a recent consumer survey from Realtor.com, nearly nine out of 10 home sellers worked with an agent to list their home for sale.