Iowa Realty, HomeServices of Iowa Announce Leadership Changes

West Des Moines, IA—Iowa Realty and HomeServices of Iowa announced major leadership changes as part of an ongoing succession plan. Kim Bakey, formerly senior vice president, chief financial officer of HomeServices of Iowa, has been named chief executive officer of HomeServices of Iowa. Brennan Buckley, formerly senior vice president and general manager for Iowa Realty, has been promoted to president of Iowa Realty. Mike Knapp, formerly president and CEO of HomeServices of Iowa is assuming the role of Chairman Emeritus. These changes are effective immediately.

“Kim and Brennan are proven leaders,” said Mike Knapp, Chairman Emeritus of HomeServices of Iowa. “They’ve both played a critical role in helping evolve our organization into what it is today, and they’re the perfect team to lead us through the next phase of our growth.”

As chief executive officer, Bakey will help oversee all aspects of HomeServices of Iowa’s extensive operating companies, including Iowa Realty, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices First Realty, Midland Title and Escrow, Iowa Title and Iowa Realty Insurance Agency. “I’m excited at the opportunity to help lead the state’s most complete one-stop solution for all aspects of home ownership,” said Kim Bakey, CEO of HomeServices of Iowa. “The agents and employees of our companies are the best at what they do, and we look forward to building upon our presence as the market leader.”

Bakey has been with HomeServices of Iowa for 22 years, beginning as vice president of finance and working her way through the financial and operational areas of the company. She also serves on the board of directors of Blank Children’s Hospital and the West Des Moines Student Scholarship Fund. She and her husband Tom have three adult daughters.

As president of Iowa Realty, Buckley will help oversee the state’s largest real estate company, including its 15 offices and nearly 1,000 agents in Central Iowa, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, as well as Iowa Realty’s statewide franchise network in more than 40 other communities. “I’m both humbled and excited to lead Iowa’s largest real estate company,” said Brennan Buckley, president of Iowa Realty. “Our foundation is strong, our vision is clear, and we look forward to many more years of serving the needs of buyers and sellers across this great state.”

Buckley has been with Iowa Realty for 10 years, beginning as vice president of marketing and most recently served as the company’s general manager. He’s also president-elect of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Council in West Des Moines, and serves on the boards of the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors and The Greenlee School of Journalism at Iowa State University. Brennan and his wife Sarah have two children in middle school.

In his role as Chairman Emeritus of HomeServices of Iowa, Knapp will provide leadership support to Bakey, Buckley and the entire organization. Knapp began his career at Iowa Realty in 1972 as a sales associate, and has served in virtually every leadership role in the organization. “I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my career, and I’m very excited with the leadership team we have in place to carry the organization into the future,” said Knapp. “We’ve had great years behind us, and we’ll have even greater years ahead.”

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About Iowa Realty
With offices in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, plus a statewide affiliate network of 42 independently owned and operated real estate firms, Iowa Realty is the state’s largest real estate broker. Iowa Realty is a division of HomeServices of Iowa, and is part of the second largest real estate brokerage operation in the country.

About HomeServices of Iowa
HomeServices of Iowa is the leader in all aspects of home ownership, including brokerage, mortgage, title and closing. It’s made up of several operating companies, including Iowa Realty, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices First Realty, Midland Title and Escrow, Iowa Title and Iowa Realty Insurance Agency. HomeServices of Iowa is a division of HomeServices of America Inc. – an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.

HomeServices of America, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Allie Beth Allman & Associates

Minneapolis, Minn. (November 11, 2015) – HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, today announced the acquisition of Allie Beth Allman & Associates, a recognized leader within the Dallas luxury real estate market. Terms were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Dallas, Allie Beth Allman & Associates serves the Dallas–Ft. Worth metropolitan area and surrounding communities with 335 sales associates. Since 2007, Allie Beth Allman & Associates has consistently ranked in the top-five market share in Dallas County by sales volume and in 2014 closed nearly 2,100 units and $1.5 billion of volume.

Founded in 2003, Allie Beth Allman & Associates is recognized as the highest-grossing, single office residential real estate firm in Dallas, and the name is synonymous with exclusive estates, high-profile clientele, and superior customer service. Allie Beth Allman, founder and chief executive officer, is among the most influential leaders in North Dallas and is known for her industry expertise and leadership, as well as her extensive civic and philanthropic contributions. Allman, together with her executive and sales management team, will continue to lead the firm’s growth initiatives and manage day-to-day operations.

The acquisition represents HomeServices’ entry into Texas and the Dallas–Ft. Worth region. With this transaction, HomeServices has nearly 26,500 real estate professionals operating in 480 offices across 27 states. In 2015, the company’s associates will facilitate over $77 billion in residential real estate sales and more than 220,000 transactions.

“Allie Beth Allman & Associates is a strong company with an exceptional reputation in a growth market,” said Ron Peltier, HomeServices’ chairman and CEO. “This transaction aligns with our vision of acquiring distinguished companies in leading markets that share our core values.”

“We are proud to be part of HomeServices of America,” said Allman. “We are joining an organization known for its strength and stability; one that is consistent with our high standards of service, integrity and community involvement, making this a win/win for our clients and our agents.”

“We are excited to be in Dallas and are looking forward to having Allie Beth and her team join the HomeServices family,” Peltier said.

NAR’s Realtors Property Resource® Executes Definitive Agreement with UPSTREAM™, Begins Development

WASHINGTON (November 5, 2015) — The National Association of Realtors® and its wholly owned subsidiary, Realtors Property Resource®, have signed a technology agreement with UPSTREAM™, a revolutionary industry-owned and controlled data management company, to develop UPSTREAM™’s cross-industry, state-of-the-art platform for real estate data entry, collection and distribution for real estate brokers.

UPSTREAM™ will create a single entry point for brokers of all sizes to manage property data—including its distribution to multiple listing services, publishers and vendors—saving time, effort and expense and ensuring more accurate, consistent data. The goal of UPSTREAM™ is to create a resource for brokerage firms of all sizes and models to provide a better consumer experience for today’s home buyers and sellers and enable brokers to more easily manage where and how their listing information is displayed as well as the terms for the licensing and use of that property data. These benefits – efficiency, control, risk management and customer experience – all represent a major step forward in the real estate data space.

“As leaders in organized real estate, NAR and RPR have looked forward to the opportunity to work with the brokerage industry for many years on an initiative that truly can be thought of as ‘game changing,’” said NAR President Chris Polychron, executive broker with 1st Choice Realty in Hot Springs, Arkansas. “This initiative will be done in full collaboration with the real estate brokerage and franchise community to deliver a high-value benefit to companies of all sizes nationwide, ultimately benefitting NAR’s one million-plus members.”

“UPSTREAM™ is not a multiple listing service, or a service that interfaces with the public in any way,” said Robert Moline, chairman of the UpstreamRE, LLC Board of Managers. “The platform is designed as a true neutral technology, giving no advantage to those companies involved with the initial vision, but rather, extending its value proposition to agents in all brokerage firms, franchises and networks. Partnering with NAR for the financial backing and RPR for its impressive technology and data capabilities is a win-win for UPSTREAM™ and the industry.”

            Formed by a broad-based coalition of brokerages, brokerage networks, and national franchisors representing real estate companies of all sizes and business models, the UPSTREAM™ platform will be designed to follow industry standards, ensuring the quality of and accessibility of data across the industry.  It will also manage the distribution of information through a rules-based engine to support the specific requirements of all participating brokers. The RPR platform will be the framework for the development and implementation of the UPSTREAM™ platform.

The agreement between UPSTREAM™ and RPR officially launches the initiative that has been a hot topic of conversation since the May 2015, decision by NAR’s Board of Directors to allocate significant resources to fund UPSTREAM™’s technology build and initial deployment through NAR’s RPR division.

“NAR’s investment in the RPR technology platform has created the largest and most comprehensive database in the industry. This, along with RPR’s integrated member servicing operations over the past five years put NAR and RPR in the perfect position to develop and support the UPSTREAM™ platform,” said RPR CEO Dale Ross. “This initiative was driven by the industry to create a new and innovative way to enter, collect and distribute data at the brokerage level. RPR looks forward to working with NAR and UPSTREAM™ to successfully execute the project.”

Since no vendor or regional cooperative of industry institutions would be able to develop a solution that would deliver the scope and depth of equal benefits to all agents and brokers that UPSTREAM™ has created with this cross-industry coalition, NAR’s investment ensures the success of the UPSTREAM™ mission and an effective solution for everyone who deals with real estate data.

UPSTREAM™ is in the process of hiring an owner’s representative to work directly with RPR while simultaneously conducting a search for a CEO to head the company. Beta testing is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2016, and following this extensive process in multiple markets, UPSTREAM™ will be made available to all brokerages nationwide that choose to participate.

UPSTREAM’s board met October 28, 2015, and voted to approve the current agreement, which was negotiated jointly by UPSTREAMTM, RPR and NAR leadership over the preceding months. UPSTREAM™’s board will continue to provide strategic oversight for the project while RPR will be responsible for development, implementation, operations, training and support RPR, NAR and UPSTREAM™ will all provide marketing and communications for the project, since each works with various constituencies.

According to UPSTREAM™ and NAR/RPR leadership, this is a historic moment uniting common interests in a large and fragmented industry. UPSTREAM™ has responsibility for governance of the new enterprise, NAR is providing initial funding, RPR is developing the technology and a broad coalition of brokers are working together to dramatically enhance the data experience of industry practitioners and the consumers they serve.

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 UPSTREAM™ is a new data management company created by and for the industry and consumers to provide a central point of entry and repository for real estate property data, with the goal of improving efficiency, providing broker/agent control over data which they have generated and for which they are responsible, and enhancing the consumer’s experience by delivering more accurate, timely and consistent property information throughout the country. The UPSTREAM™ board of managers includes representatives of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Century 21, Coldwell-Banker, ERA, Keller Williams, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, The Realty Alliance, RE/MAX, and non-affiliated brokerages.  For more information about UPSTREAM™ or to contribute to the enterprise, contact craig.cheatham@therealtyalliance.com.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing over 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. For more information, visit https://www.realtor.org.

Realtors Property Resource® (RPR), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS®, is an exclusive online real estate database providing Realtors® with the analytical power to help their clients make better informed decisions while increasing efficiency in the marketplace. For more information about RPR®, visit https://blog.narRPR.com.

Eagle Vision Realty (formerly Coldwell Banker Vision) of Elk River, Minn. Joins Edina Realty

Edina, Minn.— November 2, 2015 – Edina Realty, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, announced that Eagle Vision Realty (formerly Coldwell Banker Vision) of Elk River is joining the company, adding 32 agents and the Elk River location to its ranks. Edina Realty is the largest full service residential real estate brokerage in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Located at 231 Main Street, Eagle Vision Realty has been serving residents in the north metro area for 21 years. It joins Edina Realty, which is celebrating 60 years in the business with 15 consecutive years leading the market in sales.

“We’re really excited about this addition,” said Greg Mason, president and CEO of Edina Realty Home Services. “Eagle Vision agents have a reputation for offering great service to their clients, and we feel they’ll be a good fit with Edina Realty and our traditions of honesty, integrity and commitment. The loyal clients of Eagle Vision Realty will find the same talented agents at the same location – but with a different name and added products and tools,” said Mason.

Eagle Vision Realty has been owned and operated by Mark and Deb Urista of Elk River for 21 years.

“We’re happy to be able to offer our clients and our agents all of the technology and tools that are available at Edina Realty,” said Mark Urista, broker/owner of Eagle Vision Realty. “And we look forward to providing even more products and services for buyers and sellers,” he added. Urista will continue in a management role at the Edina Realty Elk River location.

The Eagle Vision Realty office will become Edina Realty beginning Nov. 2. Customers can still reach their agents at 763-241-0155. They can also find them by visiting www.edinarealty.com/elkriver.

For more information on the Edina Realty Elk River office and the current state of the real estate market, visit edinarealty.com or call Edina Realty Customer Care at 952-928-5563.

Edina Realty is a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and a wholly-owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc. It is one of the nation’s largest real estate companies with approximately 60 real estate offices and 2,300 REALTORS® throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Edina Realty’s family of companies includes Edina Realty, Edina Realty Title, and Edina Realty Mortgage. Edina Realty closed nearly 29,000 real estate transactions and more than $6.9 billion in sales volume in 2014. For more information, visit www.edinarealty.com, m.edinarealty.com, or find us on Facebook: facebook.com/EdinaRealty; and Twitter: Twitter.com/Edina_Realty.