Realty Times' founder Jody Lane is in tall cotton, but not because his real estate news service is located in Dallas, part of the Texas agricultural belt. Tall cotton in "Texan" means you're in the black.

"We're celebrating four years in the online real estate news business," says Lane, "and two years of profitability. That's saying a lot."

In a tense economic climate, most advertising-based businesses have done poorly, points out Lane. "We're one of the few that have figured out how to make money in the news business," he says, "without relying on advertising."

Realty Times began operations in September 1997. It was known then as Agent News, an independent news service for real estate agents. Other media companies took notice right away, prompting a strategic alliance offer from RealSelect, the Homestore company that operates Realtor.com for the National Association of Realtors. RealSelect wanted the consumer side of Agent News beefed up, and thus Real Times was born. 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 companies and agents.

Negotiations to purchase and incorporate Real Times into the Homestore family of Web sites failed, and Lane bought back his interest, changing the name of the company to Realty Times in December 1998. "We still fight rumors that Homestore owns us," says Lane, "but I think we've proven our independence as a news organization."

Quality journalism

One of Lane's most potent weapons in the quest for dominance is Agent News publisher Blanche Evans. Evans first appeared on the industry's radar with a series on MLS information management services which found that some vendors were deliberately stalling Internet roll-outs to force agents to buy proprietary software they didn't need. She also exposed Websuite, the NAR's former e-PRO technology vendor which wound up in a bankruptcy court, saving the NAR from exposure to further losses. In 2000, Evans was voted by the editors of REALTOR Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential People in real estate.

By 2000, Realty Times and Agent News were getting 400,000 visitors a month, making it the most widely visited online real estate news service, according to Alexa.com, an independent source.

In December 2000, author, columnist, and Internet pioneer Peter G. Miller was brought in to replace Lane as the publisher of the front page. Miller is the author of six books, including The Common Sense Mortgage, and was the creator and host of America Online's Real Estate Center. His long-standing reputation for journalistic excellence is coupled with his ability to attract top name writers to the front page. Miller is also an accomplished speaker and has been invited to speak at the NAR convention in November.

Looking ahead

With Miller and Evans in charge of editorial content, Lane is working on an innovative site redesign that will accelerate opportunities for subscribers to promote their services and minimize advertisements from vendors.

"With some of the major sites being knocked out due to money problems, there's no reason why Realty Times can't become one of the top four or five real estate destinations on the Web," says Lane. "We have the consumer information that people want, and we are the only site that directs them straight to real estate agents -- and we stay out of their commissions."

Recently, several companies have recognized Realty Times' potential and approached Lane with offers. "We're always looking at new business models, and this is where our independence continues to serve us well. We don't have any conflicts of interest or compete with strategic partners. We've been asked to do a technology conference, and so we're looking at that, among some other things.

"We're not worried about survival like some other companies," he says. "Realty Times is only going to get bigger and better."

Published: September 6, 2001

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