| ZipRealty Strengthens Brokerage Operations Adding Accomplished Real Estate Executive in Newly Created Role |
Appointment of Van Davis as President, Brokerage Operations reflects commitment to building on ZipRealty's top 15 position in the residential real estate industry EMERYVILLE, Calif. - May 8, 2012 - ZipRealty, (www.ziprealty.com; NASDAQ: ZIPR), a leading national real estate brokerage and provider of proprietary technology and comprehensive online marketing tools for the residential real estate brokerage industry, today announced that Van Davis has joined ZipRealty in the newly created position of President, Brokerage Operations. Davis will be responsible for overseeing the company's technology-powered real estate brokerage operations serving 20 major markets across the United States, including all of ZipRealty's local field operations, brokers and real estate agents, recruiting, training, and support teams. "Van Davis is the first-ever President of ZipRealty's Brokerage Operations, and this new senior executive position was established to help ignite the next stage of growth within our owned and operated brokerage business. Our goal was to attract a strong, forward-thinking leader with deep real estate expertise, and Van's career accomplishments and industry experience identify him as an ideal match for ZipRealty today," said Lanny Baker, CEO of ZipRealty. "I have confidence that Van's operational expertise will help us achieve our ambitious goals, and I'm delighted to have Van leading our brokerage business in the next stage of its development." Davis began his own successful residential real estate brokerage career nearly 30 years ago, and his knowledge and professional drive carried him to Century 21 Real Estate Corp, where he started as a business consultant helping individual franchises grow their real estate brokerage businesses. Davis assumed positions of increased responsibility over the course of 10 years with Century 21, including Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately, Chief Executive Officer of Century 21's worldwide business. The financial performance of Century 21 under his leadership was outstanding and included significant revenue growth and increased profitability. Davis went on to become Chief Executive Officer of Foxton's North America, an innovative real estate brokerage that experienced rapid growth based on an alternative and highly consumer-oriented approach. More recently, Davis has served as an advisor and board member for a variety of real estate and technology-oriented start-ups, while managing his own real estate consultancy and participating in various community animal rescue organizations. "I am tremendously excited to be joining the ZipRealty team at this pivotal point in the company's development. I have regarded ZipRealty as an innovative technology leader in the real estate industry since its inception in 1999," said Davis. "The productivity-enhancing technology that ZipRealty offers to agents and brokers is second-to-none. We plan to continue to leverage ZipRealty's core competencies of agent and online technologies to enhance the consumer's real estate purchase and sale experience. I am looking forward to using these assets to help ZipRealty's agents grow their businesses in the future. I see a great fit between ZipRealty's significant business opportunities and my own passion for team development, training, marketing and operational improvements." Following closely on the addition of Eric Mersch as ZipRealty's new Chief Financial Officer, Davis joins ZipRealty at an important time in the company's development. The appointment of Davis as President of Brokerage Operations reflects ZipRealty's strong commitment to its owned and operated brokerage business, and to propel the success of its local agents and offices. ZipRealty has undertaken a range of strategic actions over the course of the past year intended to help the company extend and fully capitalize on its core strengths in accurate, relevant real estate information, world-class real estate technology and online marketing, and the personalized service of responsive, locally knowledgeable and technology-savvy real estate agents. These changes have led to improved bottom-line performance within ZipRealty's owned and operated brokerage business, as well as to the formation of a growing "Powered by Zip" network of leading local brokerages operating on ZipRealty's proprietary technology and service platform. To learn more about ZipRealty, please visit http://www.ziprealty.com. About ZipRealty, Inc. Media Contacts: Ginny Cain Mindy M. Hull HUG#1609677 |