Real estate site Trulia says traffic is still growing
Trulia, the real estate website backed by prominent venture firms Sequoia Capital and Accel, published some numbers today showing that despite continued problems in the housing market and the general economy, the San Francisco startup has been having a strong 2009.
That continues a pattern we’ve seen already, with Trulia claiming record traffic and revenue back in January — due in part to interest from investors looking for real estate deals. Now the company says that… Continue Reading
Roundup: Venture capital’s alleged irrelevance, Zillow’s continued success, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Study says venture capitalists less relevant for web startups — Santa Clara University Prof. Robert Hendershott has concluded that lower startup costs mean many entrepreneurs should go it alone, rather than raise funding from VCs.
Why isn’t Zillow dead? – Webware’s Rafe Needleman says he thought the real estate startup was in trouble, but an interview with chief executive Rich Barton convinced him otherwise.
Google Product Search for Android adds barcode scanning — Now users can… Continue Reading
Roundup: An Apple netbook hoax, a BlackBerry sales victory, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Is this the new Apple netbook? — Cult of Mac published an image from “a trusted contributor.” But no, it actually turned out to be a student-created wooden model. Oops.
RIM’s BlackBerry Curve unseats Apple’s iPhone in sales – One of the big drivers of this victory? An aggressive “buy one get one free” campaign by Verizon.
FTC looks at overlap of Apple and Google boards — The question is whether those ties reduce competition between… Continue Reading
Zillow iPhone app tells you how much that house you just passed costs
Real estate site Zillow is launching its own iPhone application, bringing price point information and other data on 88 million U.S. homes to users’ fingertips. Why they might need this cabability — unless they’re stalking the streets in search of a new house — is a mystery, but nevertheless. If that’s your thing, then you’re in luck — the app uses the iPhone’s built-in GPS to pinpoint your location and show price estimates for all… Continue Reading
Underdog Roost lands $8 million for real estate search, foreclosure watch
Roost, a real estate search engine that aggregates listings from the reliable Internet Data Exchange (IDX), has brought in $8 million in second-round funding. At the same time, it announced that new information about 1.5 million foreclosure-related properties will now be available on its web site — bumping its total listings to 3.1 million.
Much like competitors Zillow, Trulia and Redfin, Roost provides basic details on properties, including size, number of bedrooms, etc. Now it also… Continue Reading
Redfin employees see pink in 20 percent layoff
Online real estate service Redfin Corp. slashed its staff by 20 percent yesterday in order to stay afloat during the economic downturn — despite strong revenue and $21 million in VC backing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Madrona Venture Group, Vulcan Capital, BEV Capital and the Hillman Co.
The Seattle-based firm, which helps buyers find homes for sale and broker deals, was hit hard by the credit crunch in recent weeks. In addition to a 30 percent… Continue Reading
Trulia booms amid a housing bust. Launches Google Street View integration
The real estate market is in serious turmoil and has likely thrown the entire economy into a recession, so you’d think a real estate search startup might not be a hot item. But you’d be wrong.
One such real estate search startup, Trulia, is not only doing fine, but usage of the site is accelerating as a result of the housing downturn, co-founder and chief executive Pete Flint tells us. Users are flocking to sites such… Continue Reading
Zillow offers new, better way to find mortgages
Real estate website Zillow wants to give borrowers more control when they’re looking for a mortgage.
It may seem like an odd time to be entering the mortgage market, since the subprime crisis is still shaking up the national economy. But Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s vice president of marketing, says people are looking for exactly what Zillow is selling.
In the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, which launched last night, users looking for a mortgage enter their finances but not… Continue Reading
Real estate site Trulia showing momentum; Is Zillow in trouble?
updated below
Trulia, a web site that lets you search for homes, today launches a way for real estate agents to pay to to reach you with their listings.
The feature comes at a time when Trulia is showing traffic momentum, even as a competitor Zillow is struggling with stagnating traffic.
For $50 per month, agents can pick up to ten of their home listings to be featured in Trulia’s results when people search for homes. Better yet,… Continue Reading
Real estate engine Trulia shows momentum, raises $10M
Updated
Trulia may be the dark-horse of the real estate market.
Trulia, which offers a search engine for homes, has quietly been signing deals with large real estate brokers, and boosted its traffic considerably — to 1.5 million unique monthly users. Thursday, it announces it has scored $10 million in a third round of capital led by respected venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. It says it is the fastest-growing real estate web site.
Its low-key strategy… Continue Reading
Zillow opens up Q&A on every home
Real estate Web site Zillow.com continues to show momentum.
The Seattle company has released a new feature called Home Q&A, letting people ask questions and get answers about each of more than 70 million U.S. homes. Zillow demonstrated the feature to VentureBeat two weeks ago. If Zillow can leverage the traffic it is getting from its controversial home price estimates — and signs are that its traffic is robust and growing (see Hitwise rankings in spreadsheet… Continue Reading
My Currency, lets “wisdom of the crowds” estimate real estate prices
My Currency is a new real estate company that tries to turn Zillow on its head.
Zillow, you’ll recall, is controversial, because it estimates values of homes. Some people love to gawk at the estimates for their neighbors’ homes, others are irked when they feel Zillow gives a low-ball value to their home. Zillow works because it is top-down. Unlike other Web 2.0 companies, it didn’t require lots of user-participation to get where it is now…. Continue Reading
Home site Trulia taps into “intentions” to provide real-time info
Trulia, the San Francisco housing site start-up, has unveiled more data about where the buying action is: It harnesses the search input of its users, to show you where buyers are looking.
By giving your real-time indication about where buyer interest is, and also supplying you historical prices of homes in the areas you are looking, the company says you’re able to make better decisions about where prices are headed — a great resource for anyone… Continue Reading