Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

The online real estate race heats up!

Which one will win?

I remember being at a party and asking Mark Wise what was the origin of the name “Threewide“, the company he co-founded. Mark being from a NASCAR state smiled and told me that in racing when 3 cars come up around a bend they are “three- wide” (See photo).
A three-wide pass is considered a dramatic move in auto racing. It’s risky but can make the difference between winning, losing, or crashing in to the wall.

A perfect metaphor for how I see things developing in the online real estate space. Let’s take a look at our drivers.

Steve Berkowitz, CEO of MOVE

Steve Berkowitz. MOVE‘s new CEO. With the ink still drying on the revised operating agreement between MOVE and the NAR, Steve has decided to put the pedal to the metal and for a cool 13 million in cash take ListHub for a spin. I like this guy’s style. It will be fun to watch.

Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow

Just weeks ago Zillow promoted Spencer Rascoff to CEO and they been making a few moves themselves with their recent deal with Yahoo! Spencer’s sponsors wants a win (in the form of a successful IPO). It will be interesting to see if Spencer, a notoriously hard worker, has what it takes to win the checkered flag.

Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia

Don’t count Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia, out of the race (remember those Google acquisition rumors?) Pete’s a super smart guy and definitely has his eye of the prize. The SEO mechanics at Trulia are considered some of the best in the business. But it seems like Pete is a bit behind since MOVE’s (ListHub) and Zillow’s (Yahoo!) news. Who know’s he might be drafting, waiting for the perfect moment to swoop!

Good luck guys! Let’s just hope nobody gets hurt!!

  1. I really thought Roost would be a 4-wide player if there is such a thing. It was a big surprise to me when they did their major pivot away from being a consumer portal. A couple years ago I would have told you it was a 5-way with Cyberhomes in the race due to all the data and scale advantages they had. I wonder why these changes are all happening around the same time?

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