When John McCarty founded Suxess Inc. in 2004, he had no idea that just a few years later he'd be at the helm of a new online venture he envisions as becoming the "Kelly Blue Book" of real estate.
Reno-based TradeYourHome.com plans to offer a novel way to move a home: The company will buy a seller's house at appraised value, less fees to use the service, and the seller can purchase another property from TradeYourHome's inventory.
But first McCarty needs to finish development of a Web site, integrate software from Fidelity Title into the site and get financing in place to launch the business.
Despite all that, TradeYourHome.com was named as the best presenter during the Entrepreneur Expo sponsored by Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology this month.
McCarty says he struck upon the idea in January after Suxess Inc., which had been buying and renovating homes for resale, was stuck with a large inventory of unsold homes.
"If we created a way for other people to buy our homes, it would free up a way for them to buy other homes. A lot of people would sell now if they could," McCarty says.
He wants the company's inventory to begin with unsold homes in Reno, expanding later to include Carson City and Las Vegas.
In addition to the ability to trade in a home as if it were a used car, home-traders also would be able to complete lending, escrow and title services using a backbone provided by Fidelity Title. Representatives of Ticor Title of Nevada introduced McCarty to the Fidelity's information technology department in Long Beach, Calif., and Fidelity showed him new software that had been created for Realtors to streamline the escrow process software that hasn't been widely embraced.
"Fidelity spent all this money to empower Realtors with these great tools, but they just needed a home," McCarty says. "We struck a deal giving me millions of dollars worth of software, and I have to integrate it into our site. By integrating their software we are going to be full-circle, one-stop shop for any kind of housing trade-in."
McCarty says prices for homes listed on the site would be firm numbers just like those at a Saturn dealership, and each listing would include detailed appraisal information.
Many sites have since popped up with a notion of the trade-in idea since McCarty applied for patents in February, but he says those competitors lack the title, lending and escrow package provided by Fidelity.
"We have had many people try to copy us, but they have evolved essentially into matchmakers," he says. "They are charging a fee for finding someone who wants your house if you want theirs and that's a very,
very small piece of the market."
