Tech Roundup: eXp Realty, Rental Beast and ULI

eXp World Holdings Acquires Leading Real Estate Search Technology Company Showcase IDX

eXp World Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPI), the parent company for eXp Realty and VirBELA, today announced it has acquired all the assets of Showcase IDX, the leading real estate search technology company that helps agents market and grow their businesses and online presence.

Showcase IDX’s services include property search for online and mobile platforms, lead generation, state-of-the-art mapping, and CRM tools and integrations. With this acquisition, eXp will be able to strategically focus on creating a consumer portal and continued innovation in the home-search technology space. Showcase IDX will continue the growth of its existing IDX product and business, providing customers ongoing value and improvements over time.

For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.expworldholdings.com.

Rental Beast and Liberty Mutual Insurance Partner to Increase Access to Affordable Renter’s Insurance

Rental Beast, the only fully integrated SaaS platform for rentals with a comprehensive database of over eight million rental listings nationwide, announced a new partnership with leading insurance provider Liberty Mutual Insurance. Liberty Mutual will offer Rental Beast’s renters free, no-obligation rental insurance quotes. Through this partnership, renters could have Renter’s Insurance for as low as $5 a month*.

Together, the two companies will increase the awareness of rental insurance and its accessibility. As landlords upload listings onto the Rental Beast search portal, they may now select rental insurance as a necessary requirement for applicants. As renters use Rental Beast’s online application engine, they can access free Liberty Mutual renter’s insurance quotes that will remain valid for thirty days.
           

eXp to Expand Global Footprint France, India, Mexico, Portugal and South Africa to Open by Year End

eXp, one of the fastest-growing announced it intends to expand real estate operations to France, India, Mexico, Portugal and South Africa by the end of 2020.

eXp already has established market share with more than 32,000 agents across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. With expansion into new countries, the company will bring on experienced local teams in each country to lead agent operations and services.

Connect with eXp World Holdings and its companies: https://expworldholdings.com/social

New Foundations in Real Estate Curriculum Aims to Broaden and Diversify the Real Estate Industry

The Urban Land Institute today announced the launch of its new online learning curriculum, Foundations of Real Estate (FoRE), a key part of the Institute’s efforts to identify, diversify, and broaden the pool of young people interested in a real estate career. ULI is a global, multidisciplinary real estate organization whose work is driven by more than 45,000 members dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving communities.

FoRE, which debuted at Colgate University during the 2019–2020 academic year, is designed to provide students not pursuing business studies with real estate fundamentals in an easily digestible format that is accessible, convenient, and that can be completed on an individually determined basis. The curriculum consists of five modules: Foundations of the Development Process; Foundations of Pro Forma Modeling; Foundations of Commercial Real Estate (with a specific focus on multifamily and office sector valuation); Foundations of Real Estate Finance and Investment; and Introduction to the Foundations of Real Estate. Upon completion of all the modules, participants receive a FoRE certificate confirming that they have finished the course successfully and have a basic understanding of the industry. The online curriculum can be accompanied by in-person training from real estate executives who are alumni of FoRE’s higher education institution partners and are supplementing the program with their own content, knowledge, and industry experiences, which exemplifies the Institute’s longstanding tradition of knowledge sharing