In today’s volatile job and housing markets, more and more Americans have found themselves forced to relocate to pursue new employment opportunities or seek lower cost of living. When a round of layoffs hit San Francisco Bay Area native Kari and her husband Shane, they knew they had to relocate for better job and housing options.
“After Shane lost his job, we decided to move out of the Bay Area,” shares Kari. “My older sister lives a few hours away in Sacramento, so we started looking for a rental there first.”
Kari and Shane began job and house hunting in Sacramento, CA, just two hours north of the Bay Area. After only a few weeks of applying for positions, Shane landed a job in record time. With his start date quickly approaching, Kari’s older sister welcomed Shane to temporarily stay with her while Kari stayed behind to pack up the Bay Area home and search for local Sacramento rentals.
“It was hard at first. I didn’t know how long we’d be apart. My sister offered to help search for homes with me as she already lived in the area. We immediately downloaded a few real estate apps on my iPhone and found that Trulia’ iPhone rental app was by far our favorite. It offered a lot more rental listings in Sacramento and made it very easy to get in contact with the landlords and management companies.”
The search was on. Kari and her sister tag-teamed the Sacramento rental market using Trulia’s iPhone rental app in search for the perfect home to rent – with Kari searching from the Bay Area and her sister searching from Sacramento.
“Since I was stuck back in the Bay Area, I would use Trulia’s Local Maps in addition to the rental app. The maps would help me see what amenities were around and how far they would be. That was really helpful in giving me an idea of my surroundings without having to drive back and forth,” shares Kari.
To make matters slightly more challenging, Kari needed to snag a home that was pet friendly.
“Trulia’s listings made it very easy to see if landlords were dog-friendly or not. I loved Trulia’s ‘Save this Home’ feature because I would find homes that were pet friendly and immediately save them for later or share them with my sister, my friends and family on Facebook to get their take on it. As my sister was helping me, this feature also helped her get a sense of what I was looking for.”
After about a week of searching, Kari’s sister stumbled upon a promising candidate.
“She found a house on Trulia that she knew we’d love. Shane was able to easily connect with the landlord and the next day he was touring the home. After that, it was a storybook ending. We got the house and were set to move in immediately.”
In just one short week of house hunting, Kari and her husband, with the help of Kari’s sister, were able to find and lock in the perfect neighborhood and rental for them, their dog, Cowboy, and now their first child that’s on the way.
“Shane got the job on November 3rd and we moved in November 16th. We’re super excited about starting a new life and grow our family in our new home. I always rave about Trulia because it helped me tremendously in such a stressful time.”
Do you have a Trulia success story? We want to hear how you find Trulia beneficial in your home search! Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com to be featured on our blog and newsletter!
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Ashley traveling in Venice, Italy.
In 2010, Ashley and her partner bought their first house in Oakland, CA. As the two settled in and learned more about their community and surroundings, Ashley became fascinated with the Oakland real estate market. More and more she found herself continuing to browse through various listings on a daily basis.
“We used Trulia.com when we were looking for our first home and I was hooked. Once I started to get to know Oakland more, I realized that the market here is really eclectic and interesting. You have million dollar homes three blocks away from section 8 housing. It’s weird how everything is really mixed together here.”
Her addiction to Trulia grew, and soon she downloaded the Trulia iPhone app so she could look at places while she was out and about.
“I use the Trulia iPhone app a lot. Probably one or two times a week. Looking on Trulia has become a hobby! I like how easy it is and how you can see all the activity that’s happening in your market. It’s crazy what some of these houses are listed for.”
Part of Ashley’s hobby is using the Trulia iPhone app to find open houses on the weekends.
“If I’m in a cute area I’ll use Trulia iPhone app to look up the open houses and check them out. Trulia is really helping me research my town. I’m learning so much!”
Not only is Ashley on an ongoing quest to research Oakland’s housing market through Trulia, but she and her partner are also thinking ahead, having already started to outgrow their current starter home. With Trulia, she’s able to get an idea of what their next neighborhood will be like.
“Now that we’re talking more seriously about selling our home, I’ve been looking at houses that have the important amenities nearby. Walkability is important to us, and Trulia is definitely helping to identify those areas.”
In the end, all of Ashley’s research on Trulia is prepping her for selling her house this summer, as well as exploring new listings and neighborhoods.
“I’ve done so much research on the value of our home through Trulia based on comps and research. I feel like we’ll be armed with the correct information when it comes time for us to sell. Tools like Trulia allow you to be prepared.”
Much more than being just a fun hobby, Trulia is there to not only entertain, but to educate. We’re all about giving our users the inside scoop on their housing search and prepping them with market trends when they’re ready to buy or sell. We’re glad that Ashley’s arming herself with Trulia’s tools so that she can have fun all the while making the best real estate decisions!
We want to hear how you find Trulia beneficial and your success story! Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com.
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Trulia to Acquire Market Leader, Combining Trulia’s Massive Consumer Audience with the Leading Comprehensive SaaS Solution for the Real Estate Industry
We are very excited to announce that Trulia has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Market Leader, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEDR, “Market Leader”), a provider of Software as a Service (SaaS)-based software that helps agents generate, manage, engage and market to their contacts and provides enterprise tools for franchisors and brokerages to route leads, evaluate lead efficacy, manage agent performance, and track consumer trends. This transformative deal aims to deliver unprecedented functionality and create more value for franchisors, brokerages, agents and consumers.
The combined company will have approximately 46,000 premium subscribers, more than any other online real estate marketplace. The transaction will result in a combined platform that creates value for the entire real estate market, from consumers to brokerages, agents and franchisors, and will create the most comprehensive end-to-end solution across multiple technology platforms in the real estate industry today.
Benefits for Franchisors and Brokerages:
- Today, Market Leader and Trulia each have deep partnerships with hundreds of real estate brokerages and franchisors. Market Leader’s SaaS solution allows franchisors and brokerages to provide leading-edge productivity and daily workflow tools to their agents, while Trulia’s broker and franchisor partnerships help agents close more business by promoting their listings and generating leads from Trulia’s transaction-ready consumer audience.
Benefits for Real Estate Agents:
- Real estate agents will now benefit from the industry’s first end-to-end solution. As the Trulia and Market Leader products integrate over time following the acquisition, agents will have unmatched data, combined with leading edge tools for working with consumers to help them find the home of their dreams. Agents that use the combined platform will realize that every lead will become more valuable and the agent will have greater visibility into the value of the lead..
Benefits for Consumers:
- Real estate consumers will benefit from improved responsiveness and better service from the agents with whom they work. Trulia anticipates that increased agent responsiveness will result in more consumer delight on Trulia’s web and mobile properties.
We are very excited about the enhanced value this transaction will bring to all of our customers and partners, helping them capture more upside as the housing market recovers. Together, we will help brokerages and franchisors harness the power of technology to reach consumers and enhance the productivity of their agents by offering them the most comprehensive end-to-end solution via the web and mobile devices. Our combined product suite also will enable agents to increase their follow-up capabilities, level of engagement with consumers and the return on investment on their leads.
For more details on the deal, click here to read the press release. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Thank you, as always, for your support.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Other Matters
This message contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Trulia’s expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Trulia’s expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including but not limited to: the risk that Market Leader shareholders may fail to approve the merger agreement; the risk that required governmental approvals for the merger will not be obtained; the risk that Trulia and Market Leader will be unable to consummate the merger on the terms set forth in the merger agreement for any reason; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; the risk that synergies will not be realized or realized to the extent anticipated; the risk that Trulia following merger will not realize on its financing or operating strategies; the risk that litigation in respect of either company or the merger could arise; and the risk that disruption caused by the merger that make it difficult to maintain certain strategic relationships.
The forward-looking statements contained in this blog post are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Trulia’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2013 and those that will be discussed in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed by Trulia with the Securities and Exchange Commission at a future date. The forward-looking statements in this blog post are based on information available to Trulia as of the date hereof, and Trulia disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
This blog post is being made in respect of a proposed business combination involving Trulia and Market Leader. In connection with the proposed transaction, Trulia will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that includes the preliminary proxy statement of Market Leader and that will also constitute a prospectus of Trulia. The information in the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus is not complete and may be changed. Trulia may not sell the common stock referenced in the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus until the Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission becomes effective. The preliminary proxy statement/prospectus and this blog post are not offers to sell Trulia securities and are not soliciting an offer to buy Trulia securities in any state where the offer and sale is not permitted.
The definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Market Leader . TRULIA AND MARKET LEADER URGE INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and definitive proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Trulia through the web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Free copies of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and definitive proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission can also be obtained on Trulia’s website at www.trulia.com.
Trulia, Market Leader and their respective directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding these persons who may, under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, be considered participants in the solicitation of Market Leader shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction will be set forth in the proxy statement/prospectus described above when it is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information regarding Trulia’s executive officers and directors is included in Trulia’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2013, and amended on April 29, 2013, and additional information regarding Market Leader’s executive officers and directors is included in Market Leader’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2013. You can obtain free copies of these documents from Trulia or Market Leader using the contact information above.
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Trulia is happy to announce the five lucky winners of our Twitter contest in honor of Nationwide Open House Weekend! The five winners each tweeted a photo of an open house they visited over the weekend with the #TruliaOpenHouse hashtag, and now each will receive a $50 gift card! Thank you everyone for all your entries. Here’s a list of the winners and their winning tweets – check them out!
It looks like Danielle has a keen eye for bay windows.
Here’s Marissa’s $50 winning shot, which allegedly put Marissa’s Twitter-doubting husband in his place. (#win)
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Maggie (who seems to resemble a cookie) snapped this shot last weekend, with…
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… Frank, who was also househunting with Marissa. We see what you both did there – well played.
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And last but not least… this epic shot is Rev. LaDonna, admiring the view from what could be her new home. Nice find!
Congratulations again to our #TruliaOpenHouse Winners!
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Matt had always viewed the house hunting process as a hassle. A few years ago when his wife Amber mentioned they should start thinking about buying a home, Matt began to really feel overwhelmed. Not long thereafter, Matt found Trulia, right in time for his first home-search mission: finding the right neighborhood to raise his family.
“My friend introduced me to Trulia and from the beginning I could tell it would ease the house hunting burden. My wife was hooked and would send me Trulia links all the time. We were really learning a lot. It was great,” shared Matt.
The couple quickly realized that finding homes and scrolling through pictures and maps on Trulia’s website and iPad app was really fun. It gave them great insights on the neighborhood’s amenities, crime, schools and commute.
“We looked and looked and tried to figure out the best area. We had a couple of areas in mind but wanted to be sure. We used Trulia’s interactive maps to help us narrow down our neighborhood search results easily.”
By using Trulia’s crime and school maps, Matt and Amber were able to browse homes available in low-crime areas, as well as in a preferred school district. Trulia’s map search criteria helped them narrow their options down to the perfect area to raise their son.
“The maps were our favorite tools. The filtering is very simple. It made the whole house search experience fun and easy,” said Matt.
Eventually the couple fell in love with El Dorado Hills – just outside of Sacramento, CA – and about a month later, they settled on a home. Today they are thankful Trulia helped in finding and fully researching their current neighborhood in which they will grow their family.
Trulia helped this couple get a feel for how it is to live in a neighborhood before even moving in. How has Trulia helped you lately? We want to hear your story and the ways you find us beneficial!
Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com and you could see your story on our blog and newsletter!
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Today we are excited to announce that Trulia’s top-rated iPad app has received a major overhaul. We listened to feedback from our users and incorporated user behavior data from our updated iPhone app to identify which features users love and interact with the most. Combined with our intuitive, user-friendly design, Trulia has created an even more visual and engaging way for home buyers to search for properties and get the inside scoop on neighborhoods.
The market is heating up, and 75% of people we recently surveyed think that it’s better to buy a home now than a year from now. With that in mind, we’re revamping the iPad experience to give users the tools they need to find their perfect place to live.
Let’s dig into the details on what’s new!
Updated listing pages – The listing pages for each property have been beautifully updated to showcase large HD photos, as well as thumbnails for quick scrolling. Users can also interact with photos in the full screen photo gallery by pinching and zooming to see more or less.
Other new features include:
Navigation menu – The new menu is simplified and streamlined, allowing users to easily search for properties for sale or rent, view their favorite homes, find saved searches, see open houses, and more.
Color-coded map markers – Utilizing colored markers, users can easily distinguish the newest properties for sale: Green represents unviewed homes that have just come on the market, black is used for all other unviewed homes, while a grey marker denotes properties that have already been seen.
Nearby map and local info, including median price and school ratings, displayed directly on the property pages – This information was previously only on the property results map. Now, each individual listing page gives users more of the inside scoop on properties and neighborhoods.
My Saves section - Prior to the update, this feature was split between the results map and search filters. Now, users view their favorite properties and saved searches all in one place that’s easily accessible from the new navigation menu.
You can download the new iPad app here. User feedback is important to us, so let us know what you think of the app by emailing ipad@trulia.com.
You could just use your phone to find open houses this Nationwide Open House Weekend, but why stop there? You could use it to win an extra $50 – just by tweeting photos of any open houses you visit this weekend to #TruliaOpenHouse. Every photo you tweet gives you a chance to win one of five $50 Visa gift cards.
Entering to win is easy and takes seconds:
1. Visit any open house this weekend (April 19th – 21st)
2. Take a digital photo of the open house from the curb
3. Tweet the photo with #TruliaOpenHouse before Monday
For more details, check out our Official Rules.
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Need to do any last minute planning? (It’s alright, we won’t tell.)
We’ve made it very easy to find open houses no matter where you are, with top-rated apps for your iPhone or Android phone, and online at Trulia.com. Wherever your house hunt takes you, we’ve got you covered.
To get you going, check out these Quick Start guides for iPhone, Android and Trulia.com.
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Find Open Houses with Trulia for iPhone - free in the App Store
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Find Open Houses with Trulia for Android - free in Google Play
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Find Open Houses on Trulia.com
Happy house hunting!
Andrew
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The weather is heating up, and so is the real estate market, with many people finally getting off the sidelines to buy or sell a home. Perfectly timed with the market resurgence, Trulia has completed a period of rapid innovation on a suite of tools for house hunters including refreshed apps, larger pictures on mobile and web, and more neighborhood insights.
New Market, New Tools!
Many people are looking at real estate for the first time in years, and since they bought their last home, the tools and resources available have drastically changed. Now, with Trulia’s revamped product suite, consumers have the best data and insights available at their fingertips to help navigate a hot housing market!
Let’s dig into the specifics!
While on the go, house hunters can aid their search with the newest features from Trulia Mobile:
- View screen-sized photos on mobile: Images have been optimized to be larger than life on a small screen.
- Get better access to crime and local amenities: Trulia’s redesigned iPhone app makes it easier to find crime rates and local amenities like restaurants, banks, and grocery stores.
- Color-code your mobile searches: Easily distinguish which new properties you’ve seen via color-coded markers: black represents new, unviewed homes, grey means you’ve already seen it.
- House hunt in 3D with Trulia’s new Android Maps: Trulia Android apps now incorporate Google Maps 3D, which offers more detailed, realistic map imagery, including actual structures.
- Find an agent on the go: Trulia’s iPhone and Android apps now enable prospective homebuyers to quickly find an agent in their search area with a single tap.
House hunters on Trulia.com can now boost their search with:
- Big, beautiful photos: The new, photo-centric experience on our property pages features big images, a sleek user interface, and faster-loading times.
- Recommended homes from Trulia Suggests: Trulia now offers a unique, personalized approach to real estate search with recommendations based on past search behavior and which properties consumers ‘like.’
- Streamlined search results: Find the right property faster with a results page that’s less cluttered and easier to scan.
- Home suggestions by email: New, targeted emails look at the preferences of millions of home shoppers like you to provide relevant home suggestions.
Try It For Yourself!
To see how Trulia can help your house hunt and to experience the revamped products for yourself, visit www.trulia.com or www.trulia.com/mobile
Holiday season is always one of the most stressful parts of the year. From battling shopping malls to fighting over parking spaces, house hunting is typically the last thing on someone’s mind. But for Nick and Meghan not even the holiday rush could stop their house hunt. Just a routine Christmas shopping day unexpectedly resulted in a day that would change their lives forever. The two sat down with us to tell us their Trulia Success story.
“We weren’t even planning on looking for a house until June 2013. We knew the location and area we wanted but we weren’t too serious,” Meghan told us.
One rainy December morning, Nick and Meghan decided to get a leg up in their summer house hunt. They met with a mortgage broker to see what they could afford and plan out finances. With their sights set on Danville, Calif – one of California’s top 25 wealthiest cities – they went in feeling positive, although not really sure it was a location they could afford.
“Here it is the week before Christmas and we’re meeting with a mortgage broker. We sat down and crunched the numbers and were really surprised on what we could afford, however, I know how expensive Danville is, and I actually left the meeting discouraged. I starting telling Nick that I just couldn’t imagine finding an available house in our price range, but he stayed positive.”
Later that day, the two then fought the rain and decided to hit the mall and finish their Christmas shopping.
“While waiting for Meghan to shop around, I decided to download the Trulia Android app. I thought to myself, ‘OK, let me just look to see if anything is out there,” said Nick. “I looked on the app and found this great house in Danville that was in our price range which also happened to be having an open house! According to the listing, the showing was over in 10 minutes.”
“In the midst of me shopping around with a sales clerk, Nick suddenly rushes up to me and quietly and says, ‘We need to leave RIGHT now.’ He held up his phone and showed me a listing to this gorgeous Danville house on Trulia. He said, ‘we need to go see this house right now. It’s in our price range. Are you ready?’”
With only a few minutes left for the open house, the two made a mad dash through the torrential downpour to what they were hoping would be their dream home.
“We made it just in time with just two minutes to spare. After jumping out of the car and basically running to the door, we stepped in and just looked at each other in awe saying, ‘wow this is amazing,’” Meghan shared.
The couple ended up really connecting with the listing agent and stayed at the house for a couple of hours after the showing ended. For it being the very first home they toured, the two left the house beaming.
Although they shared their amazing find with their real estate agent, their agent still counseled them on visiting a few more listings just in case. Despite additional options, the couple just couldn’t stop thinking of that initial house.
“Nothing came close to the first house we saw,” Nick told us. “We kept sharing the Trulia link with our friends so they could check it out.”
A couple days following, they couple went ahead and put an offer on the home they toured that rainy December day. Two short days later their offer was accepted – right in time for the Christmas celebrations.
“This whole experience was just awesome,” said Nick.
“It’s so crazy that it was literally the first house that we saw on Trulia,” Meghan added.
After wrapping up a successful holiday season, Nick and Meghan moved into their new home at the end of January. The couple is excited to kick off 2013 owning a home in their dream neighborhood.
Interested in sharing your home success story? Contact us MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com to be featured on our blog!
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A strong online reputation is critical for an agent to succeed in today’s market. Trulia Agent Profiles have become a leading place for agents to build their reputation by adding client recommendations, posting home tours, and showcasing previously sold homes.
Trulia offers many opportunities for agents to grow their online presence and become a local real estate expert in their market. Innovative tools, combined with our audience of more than 31 million transaction-ready consumers, make Trulia a no-brainer resource for every agent who is focused on winning new clients and closing more deals.
With a Trulia, Agents can:
- Highlight expertise and past experience by creating a free Trulia Agent Profile, ensuring it’s complete and up-to-date. This will keep your name front and center for transaction-ready buyers.
- Boost word-of-mouth marketing by asking past clients to write recommendations on your Trulia Agent Profile. Good reviews help agents earn the trust of new clients.
- Use the free Trulia For Agents mobile app to check in to every listing that you tour and give buyers the inside scoop on the property. Show your current and future clients that you really know every house for sale in the neighborhood.
- Answer questions on Trulia Voices to show off your local knowledge and real estate smarts. Every answer is an opportunity to boost your reputation.
And now, agents can showcase the homes they’ve sold on their Trulia Agent Profiles. It’s a great way to provide prospective clients with examples of their local expertise and past experience. Consumers viewing agents on Trulia can now review the types of homes and neighborhoods an agent specializes in – from working with banks on short sales to navigating the negotiation process on luxury homes.
Benefits of Adding Sold Listings to Your Trulia Agent Profile:
- Show potential new clients you’re a top agent by promoting your past sale successes
- Boost your ranking in Trulia’s agent directory with every sold listing added to your Agent Profile
- Get permanent, free branding on your sold listing’s public record page on Trulia
Adding sold listings to a Trulia Agent Profile is completely complementary to all agents when they create a free Trulia account. There is no limit to how many sold listings an agent can add. For every address and transaction date, up to two real estate professionals can claim the sale – as the seller’s agent, buyer’s agent, or both. To ensure transparency and accuracy, the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent can verify the sales transaction and earn a “verified” badge. Only verified home sales will display a verified badge. However, certain states may prohibit the display of sold listing information.
Visit www.trulia.com/account/listings/sold to start building your online reputation today.
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