Keller Williams wants to compete with Zillow and Redfin.
The brokerage acquired SmarterAgent, a platform that connects more than 650 multiple listing services and allows brokers and agents to create branded real estate search apps, Inman reported.
It’s part of a larger effort from the company to invest in technology, Josh Team, Keller William’s chief innovation officer, told Inman. He said the firm has acquired other tech platforms in the past four months.
“We’re going to be launching our new consumer strategy in the first quarter of next year and mobile will obviously be a big piece of that,” Team said.
SmarterAgent serves more than 300 other brokerages, and Keller Williams is now its largest client.
Last month, Keller Williams said it will join eXp Realty and Real in launching virtual brokerages in every U.S. state to connect brokers looking to expand outside of their own markets. It will be available in the company’s 166 expansion businesses, representing 509 locations and 3,433 real estate agents.
The brokerage reported $98.3 billion in sales volume in the U.S. and Canada in the second quarter — up 8.7 percent from a year earlier. [Inman] — Meenal Vamburkar