The Rick Schwartz Domain and Traffic Blog RicksBlog.com...Home of the "Domain King"

Property.com SOLD to Foreclosure.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORECLOSURE.COM OWNER TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY.COM

Brad Geisen continues to build online real estate empire to expand opportunities for future homebuyers and investors nationwide

Boca Raton, Fla. — July 22, 2008


Foreclosure.com Founder, President and CEO, Brad Geisen, announced today that he has reached an agreement with “Domain King” Rick Schwartz to acquire the domain name “Property.com,” paving the way for his entry into a new market.

With Property.com Geisen intends to create a one-of-a-kind — and convenient — one-stop online real estate marketplace that is easy-to-use and navigate. The Web site will serve as an easy-accessible national real estate classified that is going to be free to all visitors, providing sellers, buyers and investors with a whole new concept of marketing and finding homes on the Web.

According to Geisen, the acquisition of Property.com will allow him to focus his efforts on a different and potentially much larger segment of the real estate market. In fact, in Geisen’s opinion, the niche foreclosure market, which is Foreclosure.com’s market, represents just 2 percent of all available real estate inventory.

“I’m going after the 98 percent of the real estate market outside of the foreclosure business.” said Geisen. “For the past several years, I’ve built and run one of, if not ‘the,’ most successful Internet foreclosure businesses, but the business was always exclusively distressed real estate. I’ve achieved in Foreclosure.com what I set out to accomplish and I am ready for a new challenge in a different market. I intend to shift my focus on developing my new ideas that will revolutionize how homes should be listed, viewed and purchased. I’ve developed the critical skills which I intend to apply to this new market,” said Geisen.


Property.com will include all listing types, including those indexed the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), creating a database that could surpass more than 15 million homes, but not including distressed properties, which will remain the business of Foreclosure.com. The best part is that it will be totally free to search for potential buyers and visitors, and sellers will be able to upload and edit their own personal listings at no charge.

It’s a wide-open model that Geisen knows will create an invaluable resource for just about anyone interested in real estate.

 

“I’m raising the stakes and pushing all my chips to the center of the table,” said Geisen. “Foreclosure.com and my related companies have been leaders in their spaces for nearly a decade. I’ve seen what’s been wrong with the way things were done and I’ve developed the methods to fix them. I have the knowledge and resources to take this to a whole new level … and that’s what I plan to do.”

 

Geisen revealed the new Property.com will be unveiled sometime in 2009. The specific terms of the deal to acquire Property.com were not disclosed. However, Geisen indicated that the value of the deal is one of the largest URL purchases to date.

That’s a deal that has the seller Rick Schwartz – who is known as the “Domain King” -- smiling from ear-to-ear. He purchased Property.com for $750,000 in 2005 and was recently introduced to Geisen through Kevin Leto of BigTicketDomains.com about a possible re-sale.

“My job is to acquire prime, industry specific domain names with large volumes of natural type in traffic and eventually develop them to their fullest potential by partnering with leading companies in their respective fields which I have been doing for more than a decade,” said Schwartz,” “Early on I saw the value in Property.com; however, I never had the resources to develop it so it could reach its maximum potential. Brad Geisen has the vision to truly get the most of Property.com for the benefit of so many people in every corner of the United States. I’m thrilled to be a part of this exciting new project with Brad.”

Stay tuned for frequent updates and milestones for the new Property.com. Feel free to visit the Web site in its current form. However, as mentioned earlier, the complete re-launch will not be official until sometime in 2009.

 

About Brad Geisen and Foreclosure.com
Ten years ago, Brad Geisen founded Foreclosure.com and built it over time to a company with more than 1.8 million foreclosure, preforeclosure, bankruptcy, FSBO and tax lien listings in one place, Foreclosure.com delivers America’s largest and most accurate searchable database of foreclosed homes and distressed property information to its customers and business partners. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Brad Geisen and Foreclosure.com work with hundreds of top lending institutions and government agencies to list diverse property types on its Web site, including Real Estate Owned (REO); Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); Fannie Mae; and other government agency and financial institution properties; as well as listings from an extensive network of corporate sellers. On the Web: www.foreclosure.com.

About eRealEsate.com.

Rick Schwartz, aka “Domain King” and “Webfather,” is the CEO, President and Cofounder of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. found at TargetedTraffic.com-- the premiere domain conference for the domain industry. It is both the oldest and largest and attracts over 500 of the top professionals in the industry in a by invitation only event. As one of the early domain pioneers dating back to 1995, Rick has a knack for predicting big trends and getting it right. He may have been the first to recognize the value of “type in” traffic which is now commonly referred to as “direct navigation” -- the most potent and targeted traffic on the net. Rick has a prime portfolio of one and two word domains, and is considered by many to be among the leading experts on domain names, traffic, Web site flow and valuation. www.eRealestate.com

 

Media Contact
Thomas Myers
Foreclosure.com
tmyers@foreclosure.com
Tel: (561) 981-5337 ext. 381

Five auctions under one roof

Morning folks!!

 

Just wanted to give you some important mid summer updates.

 

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is #1 because we set the pace and are not afraid to try new things. The first silent domain auction, the first live domain auction and now, with that in mind, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is proud to present another ground breaking first in the industry. 

For the first time at any domain show we are going to have multiple live auctions presented by multiple auction houses. This is going to be a game changer! Howard and I have nothing to sell. Our job is to promote the industry as best we can and also be as inclusive as we can. In tough times like this there will actually be an increase in domain acquisitions. Domains that would have never been sold will now be on the auction block. Plus, with multiple companies promoting the live TRAFFIC auctions in New York City, the bidding action and excitement will be better than ever. Multiple companies trying to include end users. Multiple companies competing for the best domains. Multiple companies offering different type inventories at competitive prices. Multiple auctions with multiple auctioneers and different styles of auction.

 

As is stands now we believe there will be up to 5 different auction companies holding live domain auctions in New York City in September. Moniker will continue to be the "Premiere" auction at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. as they have been. As you might imagine, this was not an easy decision. Monte and his crew have done a great service to us all over the years. Just sometimes what is good for one company may not be in the best interest of an entire industry. So kudos to Moniker for doing what others would not do when none of us knew the outcome. 

Last year the New York TRAFFIC show produced a record breaking $12M in auction sales. I believe that is more than all other live domain auctions at other shows combined for both 2007 and 2008!! We have the right location at the right time with the best domain audience. Including other auction houses will be effective, good for the growth of the industry, make things very exciting and open things up that will create lots of energy. Like I said, this is a game changer and we are all big winners. More info will be released soon.

 

We will also be announcing a T.R.A.F.F.I.C. REWARD PROGRAM later this summer. This program will give perks/discounts to future TRAFFIC shows starting at our San Francisco/Silicon Valley show next April. Those spending $10,000 or more at the auction will be eligible for those rewards. The reward program will be in effect during the New York City show in September. The more you spend, the more perks you get.

 

That's about it. We are working hard to make sure that TRAFFIC keeps way ahead of the pack. Since 2004 we have set the tone and agenda for the industry by always providing cutting edge and trailblazing ideas and agendas. Howard and I take great risks in an effort to bring the industry to the forefront of marketing. Mix that with the biggest and the best and you get TRAFFIC. We don't know the result of multiple auctions but it is going be a fun thing to watch unfold. I expect we will announce the participants as early as this week. I will update this blog with the companies as those companies commit. Not only will this transform the domain aftermarket, it will transform the auction houses that participate. Just look at the growth of our biggest partners over the years. From DomainSponsor, to Moniker, to TrafficZ and others, TRAFFIC has facilitated the growth of these companies. We are the "King makers" and that has been the bi-product of what we do and we can do it for many more.

Now just a few quick reminders.   

1. The group fees go up tomorrow (Tuesday)
The 5 pack goes up $1000. The 10 pack goes up $2000.

2. The $1795 Preferred admission ends on July 31st. So sign up now and save.   

http://targetedtraffic.com/ny_register.html   

3. The hotel rates will be going up on August 20th. Book your rooms now as we are already 65% booked and the rates will go up by $200/night.   

http://targetedtraffic.com/ny_hotel.html 

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled summer!

Have a GREAT day!

Rick Schwartz

Update: We can now announce 4 of the auction companies that will be holding live auctions at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

Moniker.com
Thought Convergence
RickLatona.com
Bido.com