Southern California Tech Firm Acquires HomeFinder.com

IRVINE, CA. (FEBRUARY 07, 2017)--The newly formed Orange County company, The HomeFinder Group (THG) announced today it has acquired HomeFinder.com from Boston based real estate tech provider, Placester. As one of the leading real-estate search platforms since 1999, HomeFinder is a highly trusted platform that for nearly eighteen years has connected millions of homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals.

Along with the purchase, The HomeFinder Group also named Michael Sawtell as CEO. In 2004, Sawtell helped lead Local.com's successful IPO as President and COO, and joins THG most recently from Attom Data Solutions (formerly RealtyTrac) where he served as Executive Vice President and general manager. While at Attom Data Solutions, Sawtell led all sales and operations for its consumer real estate portals RealtyTrac.com and HomeFacts.com, and launched the home diligence site, HomeDisclosure.com.

The HomeFinder Group will be headquartered in Irvine, Ca.

"I am honored to take the reins of this well-established real estate search platform," said Sawtell. "HomeFinder is well known for its exceptional consumer search experience, and has a long history of providing high quality leads to the real estate industry. We are now laser focused on elevating the HomeFinder experience for both consumers and professionals alike."

"Our team is committed to creating new opportunities for the residential brokerage industry," added Sawtell. "We look forward to working with the thousands of valued broker and agent partners who are currently working with HomeFinder.com as well as the many professionals that will be added as new partners in the very near future."

About The HomeFinder Group

Based in Irvine, CA, THG is a group of experienced real estate technology professionals with expertise in operating a wide range of consumer-facing web platforms. The company will primarily focus on enhancing lead quality and conversion for brokers, agents and mortgage lenders throughout the country. THG will also provide powerful consumer tools, enabling access to critical housing data and a more comprehensive, user friendly home shopping experience that will ultimately produce higher quality lead data for the industry. For more information about The HomeFinder Group please email us at: info(at)thfgrp.com.

About Placester

Placester fuses technology and design to dramatically improve the home buying process for consumers, brokers, and agents. Founded In 2011 by Matthew Barba, a former real estate agent, and Frederick Townes, a seasoned technologist, the Placester marketing platform provides real estate professionals with MLS integration, high-resolution visuals, responsive design, and mobile optimization, as well as lead management tools and marketing automation software for email, Facebook, Google AdWords, and other channels. Currently serving over 250,000 real estate professionals, Placester is the sole website provider for the REALTOR Benefits® Program, the official member benefits program of the National Association of REALTORS®. To date, Placester has raised $50 million in funding, and is backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Romulus Capital, and Techstars. For more information, please visit placester.com.