Broker Public Portal Selects Homesnap

MINNEAPOLIS, MN--(Marketwired - May 19, 2016) - Broker Public Portal (BPP), a collaborative venture between real estate brokerages, real estate franchisors and Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), has executed a binding letter of intent with Homesnap, creator of highly-rated real estate apps for consumers and agents, to launch a national home search experience defined by simplicity, integrity and common sense under the Homesnap brand.

The BPP launch will include an iPhone app, Android app, and mobile and desktop website. The experience will be free from ads and paid agent placement. Instead, consumers can easily collaborate with their own agent, or connect instantly to the listing agent, ensuring information and answers from a pro who truly knows the home, neighborhood and local market conditions.

For real estate professionals, the BPP launch will include Homesnap Pro, already the leading mobile app for agents to access real-time listing information, collaborate with their clients and work with each other.

"We selected Homesnap because it is a young, innovative company with a track record of creating highly engaging real estate apps and websites that align with our mission to deliver a straightforward consumer experience with a direct connection to real estate professionals," said Merle Whitehead, Chairman of the BPP and CEO of Realty USA, a real estate brokerage operating in New York and Pennsylvania. "The Homesnap team is extremely bright, has proven that it can earn the respect of the MLSs that provision and safeguard real estate listings data, and absolutely has what it takes to build an outstanding product."

"We could not be happier to partner with the BPP," said Guy Wolcott, co-founder and CEO of Homesnap. "This was a natural fit for us, as we share the BPP's vision of a single brand and unified platform that serves and connects both consumers and agents. Now, we've joined forces to make that vision a reality on a national scale. And we'll be working even harder together to build the best tools for consumers, agents, brokers and MLSs."

The BPP is backed by 115 MLSs and real estate companies, including franchisors, independent brands, big brokers, and small brokers, operating in diverse markets across the country and collectively representing over 500,000 real estate agents.

The BPP will be funded by, and rolled out through, local MLSs. For about the same price as a simple mobile app, an MLS can now provide: best-in-class consumer apps across platforms, industry-leading mobile tools for every agent, and a robust broker dashboard to track agent, office and market activity.

Prior to this announcement, only BPP MLS Board members could sign up for the BPP. Now, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), an MLS with nearly 40,000 agents and brokers in greater Chicago; Connecticut MLS (CTMLS), with 10,700 agents and brokers across Connecticut; Northstar MLS, with 16,300 agents and brokers in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin; and Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors^® (BNAR), with more than 3,000 agents and brokers in Western New York, have each announced their intent to participate in the BPP at launch. More MLSs, both current Homesnap customers and new, are expected to follow suit immediately.

John Mosey, BPP Vice-Chair and CEO of NorthstarMLS, said, "For 20 years, how people find properties online has been imagined and defined by those who sell ads, not homes. This is our turn to speak, to imagine and to deliver a better experience for consumers and the agents that help them in their real estate decisions. Most importantly, the BPP is organized to be for the industry, by the industry and owned exclusively by the brokers and MLSs that supply quality listing content to power the industry."

About BPP

The Broker Public Portal LLC is a collaborative venture between real estate brokerages and MLSs to create a national consumer home search experience defined by simplicity, integrity and common sense. The portal aims to provide consumers with direct access to the most comprehensive, timely, and complete property information while adhering to fair display guidelines. More information can be found at http://brokerpublicportal.com.

About Homesnap

Homesnap is the highest-rated mobile real estate app, used by millions of consumers to explore homes and search listings. Homesnap Pro, the professional version of Homesnap, is the fastest-growing mobile app for agents -- now available to every agent in 40 MLSs with over 300,000 members. Both are powered by a specialized homes database that combines MLS data, property tax records, census data, geographic boundaries and more.