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Realtor.com

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Realtor.com
IndustryReal estate
Headquarters3315 Scott Blvd.,
Santa Clara, California
,
United States
Key people
ParentMove, Inc.
Websitewww.realtor.com

Realtor.com (stylized as realtor.com) is a real estate listings website operated by the News Corporation subsidiary Move, Inc. and based in Santa Clara, California. The site launched as the Realtor Information Network in 1995, serving as a closed network for members of the National Association of Realtors. It relaunched in 1996 as a public website displaying property listings. Since then, Realtor.com claims to have become the largest website in the United States for real estate listings, and in 2016 was valued at $2.5 billion by Morgan Stanley. The website's advertising campaigns have been recognized by Adweek and the Webby Awards.

Operations

Realtor.com is operated by the real estate network Move, Inc.,[1] which is owned by News Corporation.[2] Ryan O'Hara served as chief executive officer (CEO) of both realtor.com and Move until June 18, 2019.[3] Following the announcement of O'Hara's departure, News Corp's President of Global Digital Real Estate Tracey Fellows was named acting CEO. The website is licensed to operate by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the real estate industry's largest trade association.[2][4] The company's business model focuses on selling advertising and leads to agents and brokers.[5]

Originally located in San Jose, California, the company moved to Santa Clara in 2016.[3] The new headquarters was designed by the architecture firm Gensler to resemble a "deconstructed house".[6]

History

Founding and early growth

Realtor.com first launched in 1995 as the Realtor Information Network (RIN), which at that time was a closed network providing proprietary information to members of NAR.[7][8] In 1996, the hosting site became public, allowing any Internet users to search for property listings, and expanded with the addition of Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) listings in August.[9] RIN grew from 32,000 property listings in December 1995 to nearly 400,000 properties by October 1996.[10][11]

The site was relaunched with the name "Spot Realtor.com" at the same realtor.com domain name in November 1996.[12][13] The site's management was assumed by a company called RealSelect,[13] in a new partnership with NAR, funded by investment from venture capital firms.[12] RealSelect later changed its name to Homestore, and continued to operate the realtor.com site with NAR as a partner.[14]

Starting in 1997, Realtor.com became the exclusive online real estate listings source for several companies, including USA Today,[15][16] NBC,[17] and America Online (AOL).[18][19] Realtor.com also entered into a partnership with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Service, beginning in 1998.[20] With more than 1.3 million listings by 1999,[21][22] Realtor.com had become the largest website for real estate listings, and expanded services to include virtual tours of properties.[23]

Public listing and acquisition

Homestore went public in August 1999, raising $140 million in the process. NAR retained a significant equity position, but Homestore negotiated agreements with multiple listing services and brokerages to secure direct feeds of listings.[24]

News Corporation purchased Realtor.com's parent company, now called Move, for $950 million in September 2014.[3][25] According to comScore, Realtor.com was receiving 34.1 million unique visitors per month at the time.[26] New partnerships were formed with Airbnb, to focus on encouraging potential home buyers to stay in neighborhoods of interest to them;[1] and with Yelp, to provide users with information about listed properties' neighborhood amenities.[27]

Move acquired interior design and lifestyle website Remodelista and outdoor spaces and garden design website Gardenista in 2016 as part of Realtor.com's marketing strategy. At the time of purchase, the two sites represented 1.5 million monthly readers.[28] In June, 2019 the company sold back the websites to founder Julie Carlson and husband Josh Groves and are now independently operated by Remodelista LLC.[29]

As of 2016, Realtor.com claimed to display 97 percent of residential properties for sale in the United States,[30] and reportedly received 36.7 million unique monthly visitors.[3] The company was valued by Morgan Stanley at $2.5 billion.[31]

Features for augmented reality and image recognition in listings were added to the Realtor.com mobile apps in January 2017.[2][32] Also, the site began offering 3D tours from Matterport on its iOS app, and began offering the same technology on its website and Android app.[33]

Move acquired Opcity, the Austin, Texas-based real estate technology company, for $210 million in 2018. The company, which developed a platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to match potential home buyers with agents,[34] will continue to operate as an independent business.[35][36]

Marketing

Elizabeth Banks has been a spokesperson for Realtor.com since 2015,[37][38] appearing in the company's YouTube series targeting millennials buying their first home.[39][40][41] Her first commercial for the company was directed by Fred Savage.[42]

The website's advertising campaigns have been recognized by Adweek,[43][44] the Online Marketing Media and Advertising (OMMA) Awards,[45][46] and the Webby Awards for their creativity, use of talent, and digital advertising.[47]

References

  1. ^ a b Trejos, Nancy (June 24, 2015). "Airbnb, Realtor.com team up to let you try before you buy". USA Today. Gannett Company. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Levy, Nat. "Realtor.com's new features bring augmented reality, image recognition to home-buying". GeekWire. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Scheinin, Richard (May 18, 2016). "Q&A: Realtor.com CEO Ryan O'Hara talks online real estate". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Collins, Jeff (June 7, 2016). "Zillow to pay Realtor.com $130 million over trade secrets". Orange County Register. Anaheim, California: Digital First Media. ISSN 0886-4934. OCLC 12199155. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  5. ^ Wiggin, Teke (November 15, 2016). "Realtor.com overhauls listing ad offering". Inman.com. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Ard, Scott (July 8, 2016). "Silicon Valley in VR: Inside Realtor.com's amazing Santa Clara headquarters". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  7. ^ Kopecki, Dawn (December 9, 1996). "Realtors Hope Web Untangles Costly Effort". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0732-8494. OCLC 8472624. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. ^ Rebchook, John (March 16, 1998). "Sealed with a Click More People Using Web to Search for and Buy Real Estate". Rocky Mountain News. Denver: E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  9. ^ Gendler, Neal (August 1, 1996). "Regional Multiple Listings on Web; But Edina Realty decides not to participate in the Twin Cities project". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  10. ^ Perkins, Broderick (December 7, 1995). "Real estate industry trumpets its frenzied arrival on the information superhighway". Knight Ridder. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  11. ^ Napach, Bernice (October 28, 1996). "Web sites that can help you relocate". Medical Economics. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  12. ^ a b Gendler, Neal (November 13, 1996). "Partnership to keep Realtors' listing site available on World Wide Web; RIN accumulated millions of dollars in debt in 18 months". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  13. ^ a b Timmons, Heather (November 19, 1996). "Reluctant Realtors Finding It Pays to Go On-Line". American Banker. Observer Capital. ISSN 0002-7561. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  14. ^ Gaw, Jonathan (August 2, 1999). "HomeStore.com Plans to Turn Internet Real Estate Into Equity". Los Angeles Times. Tronc. ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  15. ^ "'USA Today' adds commerce partners". Advertising Age. Apr 16, 1997. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  16. ^ "Realtor.com guides home shoppers on Web". Courier News. Somerville, New Jersey: Gannett Company. August 15, 1997. p. 46. Retrieved July 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Cyber-tv: NBC Joins Rival in Making Move to an Interactive Neighborhood". Chicago Tribune. Tronc. April 9, 1997. ISSN 1085-6706. OCLC 60639020. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  18. ^ "Digital City Brings Realtor.com Into Fold". Wired. May 21, 1997. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  19. ^ "Digital City adds real estate section". Advertising Age. September 17, 1997. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  20. ^ "Commercial Takes New Shapes". The Herald-News. Joliet, Illinois: Shaw Media. January 25, 1998. OCLC 30591638. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  21. ^ "Web Site Updated". The Herald-News. December 27, 1998. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  22. ^ Harney, Kenneth R. (January 16, 1999). "Sites to Behold: A Guide to Online Real Estate". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  23. ^ Harney, Kenneth R. (December 19, 1998). "Virtual Tours to Revolutionize Home Shopping". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  24. ^ Helft, Miguel (January 27, 2002). "Business; Homestore Fights for Life as Bad News Piles Up". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  25. ^ Logan, Tim (September 30, 2014). "News Corp. to buy parent of Realtor.com for $950 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  26. ^ Lisota, Kevin (August 6, 2015). "Realtor.com CEO Ryan O'Hara on their quest to catch up with Zillow". GeekWire. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  27. ^ Lerner, Michele (September 29, 2016). "Realtor.com partners with Yelp to include neighborhood amenities in listings". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved July 7, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  28. ^ "Behind Realtor.com's Remodelista-Gardenista acquisition", Business of Home 2016-07-15
  29. ^ "To Our Readers: Remodelista Update", Remodelista 2019-06-01
  30. ^ Lapp, Rebecca (April 25, 2017). "Wapakoneta on top 10 list of small towns". Wapakoneta Daily News. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  31. ^ Wiggin, Teke (December 7, 2017). "Morgan Stanley valued realtor.com at $2.5 billion: News Corp". Inman.com. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  32. ^ Steele, Billy. "Realtor.com uses augmented reality to help you find a new home". Engadget. Oath Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  33. ^ Wiggin, Teke (March 30, 2017). "Realtor.com stitches Matterport 3-D home tours into iOS app". Inman.com. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  34. ^ Hawkins, Lori (August 30, 2018). "Austin real estate startup Opcity to be acquired for $210 million". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  35. ^ Anderson, Will (August 30, 2018). "Opcity agrees to $210 million buyout by News Corp". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  36. ^ Marinova, Polina (August 30, 2018). "Term Sheet -- Thursday, August 30". Fortune. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  37. ^ Diaz, Ann-Christine (June 1, 2016). "Elizabeth Banks Is the (Weird) Woman of Your Dreams in Latest Campaign from Realtor.com". Advertising Age. Detroit: Crain Communications. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  38. ^ Gianatasio, David (April 3, 2017). "Realtor.com Helps You Beat Not-You to the Home of Your Dreams". Adweek. New York City: Beringer Capital. ISSN 0199-2864. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  39. ^ Beer, Jeff (June 1, 2017). "Elizabeth Banks Wants to Help You Find Your Dream Home on Realtor.com". Fast Company. Mansueto Ventures. ISSN 1085-9241. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  40. ^ Gazdik, Tanya (April 3, 2017). "Realtor.com Campaign Focuses on the 'Not-Yous' in Biggest Campaign Yet". Marketing Daily. MediaPost Communications. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  41. ^ Wasserman, Todd (April 7, 2017). "Realtor.com Banks on Elizabeth to Target House-Buying Millennials". CMO.com. Adobe Systems. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  42. ^ McMains, Andrew (May 13, 2015). "Ad of the Day: Elizabeth Banks Gets Comically Obsessed with Real Estate for Realtor.com". Adweek. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  43. ^ Burgi, Michael (August 17, 2015). "Meet the Talented Performers Behind Some of the Year's Best Videos". Adweek. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  44. ^ "Pereira & O'Dell Awards". AdForum. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  45. ^ "2017 OMMA Awards". MediaPost Communications. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  46. ^ "OMMA Awards: 2015 Finalists". MediaPost Communications. 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  47. ^ Vanderboegh, Dani. "Who are the real estate winners in the 2016 Webbys?". Inman.com. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
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