CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeFinder.com, a leading digital real estate site, announces its acquisition of Open Home Pro, the top ranked iPad app that helps real estate professionals collect and convert more leads at open houses. With Open Home Pro joining HomeFinder.com, agents can expect the same simplicity and timesaving features the app offers, with the added benefits of HomeFinder.com's large homebuyer audience, top-rated customer support, and extensive technology team.

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Open Home Pro, the #1 ranked open house iPad app, was founded in 2010. Since its development, there have been more than 35,000 paid downloads, and real estate agents upload approximately 20,000 photos monthly. Open Home Pro CEO, Robert Malko, will be joining the HomeFinder.com team where he will help lead HomeFinder.com's product and technical vision for real estate professionals.

"I'm excited that HomeFinder.com had the opportunity to acquire an app that is loved and well respected in the real estate industry. It comes with a faithful customer base who can rest assured that the app they know and love will remain intact," said Doug Breaker, president and CEO, HomeFinder.com. "I'm looking forward to more agents trying Open Home Pro and seeing the same advantages existing customers already experience. We have some pretty great things planned for this year, so keep an eye out for more news on HomeFinder.com and Open Home Pro."

The app takes the place of a paper sign-in sheet at open houses and allows agents to get more qualified leads. Open Home Pro benefits real estate professionals by:


    --  Collecting and converting qualified leads: Open Home Pro tells agents if
        potential homebuyers have an agent representing them, if they are
        pre-approved for a mortgage, and which leads are highly interested.
        After prospective buyers have entered their information, real estate
        agents can make notes as they tour the property.
    --  Automating follow-ups with homebuyers: As an open house is in progress,
        Open Home Pro automatically sends every visitor a follow-up email with
        property details, a neighborhood map, and the real estate agent's
        contact information. If any changes are made to the listing (ex: price
        change), Open Home Pro will instantly notify all potential buyers of the
        change.
    --  Managing buyers automatically: Real estate pros can easily sort through
        potential buyers who visited specific properties and quickly follow-up.
        Open Home Pro sends agents a lead report email and pinpoints the leads
        that deserve immediate attention.
    --  Increasing traffic to open houses: One-click social media sharing saves
        agents time promoting their open houses.
    --  Creating a feedback loop with visitors: This data provides agents with
        talking points to advise sellers on selling strategy and listing price
        adjustments.

"Andrew Machado (founder and former CEO of Open Home Pro) and I dedicated three years to developing and honing an app that agents love," said Malko. "I'm excited to hit the ground running with the team at HomeFinder.com to continue to build Open Home Pro and help even more agents boost their businesses."

Open Home Pro joining forces with HomeFinder.com means even more benefits for existing app users:


    --  Connect with more homebuyers: Agents can get to know HomeFinder.com's
        large national audience.
    --  Greater exposure for listings: Listings can gain increased exposure on
        HomeFinder.com, and on the 375+ local newspaper real estate search sites
        that HomeFinder.com powers.
    --  Top rated support: The app will be backed by HomeFinder.com's top rated
        support team, making sure agents get the answers they need quickly.
    --  More app to love: HomeFinder.com has the resources and technology team
        to expand Open Home Pro to other platforms and build more of the
        features agents love.

Open Home Pro is available via the App Store for $14.99. For more information on Open Home Pro visit: http://www.homefinder.com/openhomepro/.

About HomeFinder.com

HomeFinder.com is a leading online real estate search site that connects homebuyers to real estate professionals. HomeFinder.com provides its network of 20,000 real estate professionals with a unique suite of product offerings including Open Home Pro, My Market Ad and Single Property Website, to connect with 3.4 million monthly home buying and selling site visitors who access more than 4 million national online real estate listings. Leading media companies, Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Co. jointly own HomeFinder.com. Through this national affiliate network of 375+ online newspaper partners, HomeFinder.com is the only real estate search site to provide relevant listing content to homebuyers through local online newspaper portals. HomeFinder.com is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Media Contact:
Deanna Lawley
312.605.9925
dlawley@homefinder.com

SOURCE HomeFinder.com