On October 15th, 1997, Agent News, the precursor to Realty Times, was published for the first time on the Internet. Since then, the company has thrived through one of the most exciting yet turbulent periods in business history. Today, Realty Times is the recognized leader in online real estate news and advice for both consumers and real estate professionals.

A brief history

"Originally, Agent News was designed as a 'sticky' feature for Realty Locator, our online real estate directory," recalls Jody Lane, president of Realty Times. "But it developed into a force on its own."

A strategic alliance offer soon came from RealSelect, the Homestore company that operates Realtor.com for the National Association of Realtors. RealSelect wanted more consumer-friendly stories, so Real Times became the front page, or consumer page of the site, and Agent News continued to grow as a premier section of Realty Times and a stand-alone news source for real estate associations and professionals. When negotiations to purchase and incorporate Real Times into the Homestore family of Web sites failed, Lane bought back his interest, changing the name of the company to Realty Times in December 1998.

That was about the time that Realty Times also changed its business model. Anticipating the slowdown in online advertising rates, the company followed a plan which has been widely imitated since to introduce its free-news subscriber base to lead generation and follow-up products. The Real Estate Update, the nation's most popular real estate e-newsletter, was introduced as a free trial, and became available via subscription in 2000.

The strategy worked. Realty Times turned a profit for the first time that year, and has been profitable ever since. The site continues to grow, and is the highest-ranking real estate news service on Alexa.com.

Quality journalism

On board since the first day of operation, Agent News publisher Blanche Evans has helped Realty Times earn its reputation for solid journalism. In 2000, Evans, also a noted real estate author and speaker, was voted by the editors of REALTOR Magazine as one of the "25 Most Influential People" in real estate.

"We have the strongest writers in the business," says Lane. "Their expertise on consumer issues and industry issues is second to none."

"They filled an important void," adds Evans. "People are starved for information, and no other publications were addressing hard real estate news or advice. Consumers want to save money, and real estate professionals want to be more profitable. We backed the real estate industry, while trying to tell both real estate consumers and Realtors the straight story. Now, industry leaders realize that people use our news to make decisions - to hire a Realtor, to apply for a certain kind of loan. Agents use our news to decide which Web-related products to buy, which MLS information service providers to hire, and more. They are trying new ideas that they find on our site. We have the respect of the industry and we are here to stay."

In March 2002, Yahoo! Internet Life, a leading publication about the Internet, awarded Gold Site recognition to Realty Times for "Best Real Estate News."

This year

Realty Times has made tremendous strides in its online strategic partnerships thanks to two key developments - the efforts of John Giaimo, vice president of business development, who came on board in October 2001 and the introduction of Market Conditions Reports, the lead generation tool that takes consumers straight to brokers and agents with no interference and no referral fees.

Giaimo, a former CEO with HomeSeekers, has strength in product development as well as forming alliances. Working with Kate Kemp, product manager, Realty Times has announced strategic partnerships with companies as diverse as Homes.com, Best Image Marketing, Advanced Access, Realty Executives, The Orange County Register, MRIS, and NAHREP, among numerous others.

Market Conditions Reports (MCRs) is an innovative lead generation tool that allows brokers and agents to tell consumers what their opinions of their local marketplace are. The reports are then blasted out along with other consumer news stories to Realty Times' distribution partners for publication. MCRs are the only lead generation tool that can put a broker or agent on key pages of leading portals such as Realtor.com, HomeAdvisor, Lycos, and HomeSeekers, all at the same time for one low subscription fee. Consumer inquiries go directly to the agent's Web site, e-mail or Real Estate Update.

"Agents want one thing - to be found by consumers," says Lane. "Our approach helps them promote themselves and their Web sites without worrying about classified advertising fees, search engine placement or other entry barriers."

Lane has pulled off what many thought would be impossible - a nonpartisan business model based on promoting agents and brokers that is endorsed and supported by competing service providers to the real estate industry.

"I'm proud that we are trusted by the consumers and at the same time have a great working relationship with the Realtors, and especially the NAR," says Lane. "Every day we send many, many consumers to Realtors."

So, the office is closing early to celebrate. Margaritas on us.