The Inman Innovator awards will be presented July 28 at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. A complete list of finalists in each category is available online.
Six companies will compete this year for the Inman Innovator Award in the real estate data category. The 2004 finalists are GlobeXplorer, First American Real Estate Solutions, MapMuse, eNeighborhoods, Terradatum and MLS Property Information Network.
GlobeXplorer
GlobeXplorer provides satellite images and aerial photography via the Internet. The company offers fast and affordable access to digital imagery, which companies can incorporate into their Web sites. Clients can access GlobeXplorer’s archive of images through a Web-based subscription service, online applications and CD-ROM image products.
First American Real Estate Solutions
First American’s Vector product is a collateral valuation and risk-management decisioning engine. The product is changing the way investors and lenders assess automated valuation models (AVMs), which are used to calculate a home’s value. Vector enables lenders to select among multiple AVMs using a business rules engine. The system is customizable and available either as a self-managed platform for lenders or one in which First American configures and manages the platform for clients.
MapMuse
MapMuse integrates interactive maps with place of interest content in geographic searches. The company started out in 2000 with a system that was created to help tourists find places of interest. MapMuse now offers the same search capabilities for prospective home buyers searching for amenities and local services that exist in a home’s surrounding neighborhood.
ENeighborhoods
ENeighborhoodscompiles and sells home and neighborhood information products. Real estate agents use the data to market their services by providing neighborhood reports that can be printed, sent by e-mail or posted on a Web site. The company recently started offering aerial views of neighborhoods that agents can incorporate in their Web sites. Early this month, eNeighborhoods purchased REChannel Communications, a technology company that provides Web site design, hosting, Internet data exchange, virtual office Web sites and lead management systems for real estate brokers and agents.
Terradatum
Terradatum’s BrokerMetrics software provides business intelligence, decision-support efficiency and productivity tools for real estate brokers. The application embodies the concepts performance measurement and management based on data mining, according to the company. The product suite includes software that helps brokers measure market share, analyze market trends and conditions, recruit sales agents, analyze agent and office performance and track performance trends.
MLS Property Information Network
MLS Property Information Network is the largest MLS in New England. The MLS this year launched H3 MLS, a new technology system developed in-house for agent and broker members. Some features of the new system include customizable home buyer search criteria, daily e-mail reminders for agents and prospective clients, a comparative market analysis module, a customizable Web site for each agent, raw data feeds, market share reports and sold statistics. Agents can upload up to 16 photos for one listing, synchronize information to a Palm device, include a virtual tour and link to public records, among other things.
The most innovative real estate and mortgage industry companies will be honored at Real Estate Connect, July 28-30 in San Francisco. Real Estate Connect brings together the top leaders from the real estate industry, including mortgage lenders, technology firms, industry analysts and news media.
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