Today, Zillow turns 7. That’s 7 years of unlocking all manner of home-related data and creating innovative ways to help consumers digest it, so they can make smarter, more informed decisions about real estate. And we haven’t stopped pushing the pedal to the metal — not by a long shot. To see how the year came together, you can scan the Zillow Timeline or read the high-level announcements below.
Zillow Digs
This past Tuesday, we launched our latest creation: Zillow Digs™, which offers homeowners and home buyers — or anyone with an interest in home improvement and design — the ability to browse and search tens of thousands of photos of rooms and outdoor spaces. It was designed with the iPad in mind, which lends to the ultimate browsing and swiping experience, but it is also available on Zillow.com. You can create your own personal boards, share them with friends and family and get estimates on room costs. Get started by following Zillow’s Digs board. or the Zillow Celebrity board, then start your own board.
Acquisitions
We had another intense year of adding companies and brands that we feel give consumers an edge and to help real estate professionals grow their business. To this end, we made a few acquisitions during Zillow’s 6th year:
RentJuice — On May 2, 2012, Zillow acquired RentJuice, a provider of rental relationship management software for rental pros. Since Zillow attracts 6 million current renters a month, we felt RentJuice’s products, which include a broad suite of tools and services for landlords, property managers and rental brokers, would be essential to manage listings to market, help manage client relationships and make it easier to contact and screen renters.
Buyfolio — We acquired New York-based Buyfolio™ on Oct. 31, 2012. Buyfolio is an online and mobile collaborative shopping platform where home shoppers can search, track, organize and discuss for-sale listings with their real estate agent, significant other or a private group. It offers a more organized and interactive home shopping experience for buyers, family, friends and, of course, agents on an easy-to-use interface.
Mortech — On Nov. 5, 2012, we entered an agreement to acquire Mortech™, a mortgage technology company based in Lincoln, Nebraska. This purchase is a perfect complement to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, which was launched in 2008 with the goal to put borrowers in the driver’s seat with access to lender reviews and competitive low rates. As a result, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace has attracted thousands of lenders competing for their business. Mortech can offer mortgage professionals software tools to better manage their business and serve their customers.
HotPads — In November, we acquired HotPads™, a map-based rental and real estate site based in San Francisco. For anyone who knows HotPads, you know this addition is excellent for both renters and property owners as HotPads offers a robust website and five mobile apps across iPhone, iPad and Android. HotPads will join the Zillow Rental Network, which means that rental pros and landlords who use Zillow will get even more exposure for their listings – across Zillow.com, Zillow Mobile, HotPads, HotPads.com as well as Yahoo! Homes — for free.
Zillow Mobile gets bigger, better
More homes are viewed via Zillow on a mobile device than on desktop, and to that end, we have continued to develop, build and improve products in the Zillow Mobile family. Some notable achievements:
- Zillow Launches Zillow Rentals for Android App
- New Features Added to Zillow Android App
- New Features Added to Zillow Rentals App
- Users Can Take and Upload Home Photos with Zillow iPhone, iPad Apps
- Zillow Rentals for iPhone App and iPod Touch Launches
- Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPad Launches
Zillow hangs with White House in Google+
Zillow joined with the White House — yup, that White House — in a Google+ Hangout, which was hosted by the White House and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan. Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff moderated the discussion between Secretary Donovan and several homeowners. It was quite a thrill.
Awards
- Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff Named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 List
- Zillow Real Estate App wins 2012 Webby Award for Best Mobile App, Utilities & Services
- Zillow Named Among “Best Places to Work” by Seattle Met magazine
$350,000 home giveaway
There’s nothing more gratifying than giving, that’s why for the second straight year, we have given away a home. Called the “I Want a New Home! Sweepstakes,” we teamed with Pulte Homes and, yup, we staged a sweepstakes with one lucky winner getting a custom-built home worth $350,000. Tons of people entered the month-long sweepstakes and on Dec. 18 — just in time for the holiday season — we revealed the “I Want a New Home! Sweepstakes winner: Teena from North Carolina. What a way to end the year!
We have jobs!
If you like what you see, come check out Zillow’s job openings. We have 28 openings right now and are looking to fill these seats with the best and brightest. Is that you? Come see if there’s a fit!