Patent ID: 7801739

Claim:
An apparatus for facilitating a real estate exchange, the real estate exchange including a sale portion and a purchase portion, the apparatus comprising: a processor configured to identify or receive an identification of at least one property of an exchangor for the sale portion of the exchange, and at least one property of at least one seller for the purchase portion of the exchange, wherein the properties of the exchangor and the sellers have associated property information stored in a property database, wherein the processor is configured to engage the properties for the sale and purchase portions of the exchange to thereby facilitate the exchange, including being configured to provide a buyer with at least a portion of the property information associated with at least one property identified for the sale portion of the exchange, and provide the exchangor with at least a portion of the property information associated with at least one property identified for the purchase portion of the exchange, and wherein the processor being configured to engage the properties further includes being configured to: engage the exchangor and at least one of the buyer or seller for an engagement period, the exchangor and at least one of the buyer or seller being engaged regarding at least one of property of the exchangor identified for the sale portion of the exchange, or property of the seller identified for the purchase portion of the exchange; and restrict the engaged exchangor and at least one of the buyer or seller from communicating with other buyers or sellers regarding the respective properties during the engagement period.