Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

FrontDoor.com acquires OpenHouse.com

This is a bit of a surprise and I think really really smart. FrontDoor.com, for those of you who don’t know, is part of SCRIPPS NETWORKS, who owns cable networks HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, and FINE LIVING among others.

Kelly Roark
Kelly Roark
Many of you know Kelly Roark who took the gig at SCRIPPS early last year and moved from Cali to Manhattan. Looks like she’s been pretty busy since!

Ben Phillips
Ben Phillips
OpenHouse.com, created by Realogy, and recently fronted by another industry veteran Ben Phillips has been hard at work also. This is a great validation of their site and it’s nice to see Realogy back in the deal making mode.

It seems that for online real estate, television has been left out of the picture. Sure you see some ads, mostly from RE/MAX, but mostly nothing or worse yet it became a strategy. Television is here to stay and that’s why I think this is some MUST SEE TV for the industry.

Full Press Release Below:

HGTV’S REAL ESTATE WEBSITE FRONTDOOR.COM ADDS TO ITS SERVICE PORTFOLIO WITH OPENHOUSE.COM

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (October 15, 2009) – HGTV’s FrontDoor.com is expanding its breadth and depth of information and services through the addition of real estate open house listing website OpenHouse.com.OpenHouse.com will become a part of the HGTV suite of websites providing information covering the entire home ownership lifecycle – including the No. 1 website for home content, HGTV.com, real estate listing and information site FrontDoor.com and now OpenHouse.com.

OpenHouse.com opens up property listings’ open houses to a wide audience, putting consumers in the driver’s seat without having to get in their car. The easy-to-use site helps homebuyers find open house schedules and addresses and view home photos and details. Users can also view hundreds of thousands of virtual home tours, helping to target their search and create an open house visitation schedule in their area.

“In our aggressive growth in the real estate space, we want to be able to offer the best of all worlds,” said Vikki Neil, general manager of home brands for Scripps Networks Digital. “The open house and virtual tour information from OpenHouse.com, integrated with FrontDoor’s 4 million listings and the expert knowledge and content from HGTV will be a win for consumers and real estate professionals alike.”

Now FrontDoor.com’s users will have access to the thousands of national open house event listings available through OpenHouse.com; and OpenHouse.com users will have access the millions of property listings and real estate information on FrontDoor.com. This new functionality will also be highlighted on HGTV’s Open House Sunday block of programming which airs on the network from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET each Sunday.

Real estate franchisors, brokerages and other property listing aggregators who currently enjoy reaching the HGTV and FrontDoor audience through FrontDoor.com listings will now gain the same exposure in marketing their open house events and online home tours through the integration of these two websites.

Launched in late 2007 by Scripps Networks Digital, FrontDoor.com has rapidly risen to become a leader in real estate Web services thanks to the demonstrated leadership and expertise of HGTV – seen in more than 95 million U.S. households and the No. 1 media resource for home and garden content – combined with a rich, video- and image-centric experience offering the best and latest in listing and real estate related information.

Popular sites HGTV.com, DIYnetwork.com and FrontDoor.com have made Scripps Networks Digital a dominant player in the online home category, creating powerful communities and extensive expert content, cross-promotion and advertising opportunities.

About FrontDoor.com
FrontDoor.com (http://www.frontdoor.com) is an online real estate information service powered by HGTV, the No.1 source for home-related media content. The site currently offers more than 4 million listings of homes for sale. In addition to providing users with the latest real estate listings, FrontDoor.com houses expert HGTV advice and videos along with original Web series and a comprehensive library of features, tools, guides and information. Users can also interact with FrontDoor through Facebook and Twitter.

FrontDoor.com is run by Scripps Networks Digital, a diversified multi-platform programmer that delights millions daily with award-winning content in the home, food and living categories. Scripps Networks Digital’s Web sites — HGTV.com, FoodNetwork.com, DIYnetwork.com, FineLiving.com, GACTV.com, Recipezaar.com, HGTVPro.com, FrontDoor.com; and the newest Food2.com — are powered by engaging content, interactive tools and social spaces that take fans of Scripps Networks cable brands further into the story and offer online users information and inspiration to fuel their passions. SN Digital also distributes content to mobile and online partners, providing lifestyle solutions virtually anywhere, anytime.

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