Proxio aims to provide global listing reach

Bay Area MLS groups among participants; agents in 95 countries

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA – Proxio Inc., based in the South Bay, is one of the largest global networks for real estate professionals with more than 1.4 million users worldwide.

The company has brought on Larry Knapp, former president of residential brokerages Alain Pinel Realtors and Coldwell Banker Northern California, as executive vice president.

“Beyond being an agent referral network, Proxio is an international MLS, where agents can promote their listings to other real estate professionals all over the world in multiple languages,” said Mr. Knapp, who is also on the board of directors of the California Association of Realtors. “Having a service that promotes real estate on a global level not only helps real estate professionals do more business, but it enables them to better serve their clients.”

There are agents in 95 countries, and Proxio operates in 19 languages. Proxio partners with MLSs, brokerages and real estate organizations to extend their existing services, translate listings for local multicultural buyers and give agents additional tools to easily find, connect and market to agents from other regions, including internationally.

Proxio is one of many sites aimed at the real estate industry to help keep agents in touch with listings and clients. Active Rain, WellcomeMat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Trulia and Zillow are all sites that keep the industry in constant contact.

Locally, many agents use these sites to promote business.

Mirjam De Rijk, a Realtor with Century 21 in Santa Rosa, uses YouTube and Facebook to promote her business, saying “showing people a home with video is so much better than just using photos.”

By uploading videos of the homes she is listing, she can actually talk to the prospective buyers and tell them special features of the homes.

Timothy Brown, Realtor with Creative Property Services in Santa Rosa, also has used YouTube. He, however, uses it for buyers he is representing that are out of the area. He will take a video of the home and send them the link to the uploaded video.

Proxio aims to combine the MLS technology with social networking functionality to create visibility and business opportunities across the entire global real estate industry.

Locally, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services represents 70,000 real estate professionals in Northern California, including the North Bay. There are seven MLSs involved, the Bay East Association of Realtors MLS, the Contra Costa Association of Realtors MLS, East Bay Regional Data Inc., MLSListings Inc. and Quattro, a data sharing initiative that includes San Francisco Association of Realtors, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services Inc. and MetroList Services Inc. Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Solano counties were part of the Bay Area group.

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