Trulia

Trulia
Founded 2004
Headquarters San Francisco, CA, USA
No. of locations 4; San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Denver, CO, and Bellevue, WA
Area served United States of America
Founder(s) Pete Flint, Sami Inkinen
President Paul Levine
Industry Real Estate
Revenue US $144 million (FY 2013)
Employees 900+
Parent Zillow Group
Website Trulia.com
Alexa rank 465 (October 2014)
Users 57 million monthly unique visitors (July 2014)
Launched September 23rd, 2005

Trulia is an online residential real estate site for home buyers, sellers, renters and real estate professionals in the United States. It lists properties for sale and rent as well as tools and information needed to be successful in the home search process. The company is headquartered in downtown San Francisco [1] and has offices in New York City and Denver, Colorado.[2]

On July 28, 2014, Zillow announced a deal to buy Trulia for $3.5 billion.[3]

Company history

Inception

Trulia's founders Pete Flint and Sami Inkinen met at Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2004, while looking for off-campus housing while studying for his MBA, Flint was surpised to discover that the community information available online was often insufficient, out of date or both.[4] Flint and Inkinen took this opportunity to simplify the process of finding a new home through technology.[5]

Growth

In September 2005, Trulia launched its beta product, originally only serving properties in California. Soon after, with growing demand from listing agents wanting to give their listings more visibility nationwide, Trulia rolled out across the United States less than a year later.[6]

In a 2012 review, Trulia reported 22 million monthly unique visitors.[7]

In July 2012, Trulia filed for an initial public offering and stated they would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TRLA." [7] In August 2012, Trulia revealed they would plan to raise up to $75 million in the IPO.[8] The IPO was priced at $17 per share, and began trading on September 20, 2012 at an opening price of $22.10.[9]

In May 2013, Trulia announced plans to acquire Kirkland, WA-based Market Leader Inc. for $355 million, expanding its offerings for real estate agents.[10] The acquisition officially closed on August 20, 2013.[11]

Acquisition

On July 28, 2014, Zillow announced a deal to buy Trulia for $3.5 billion.[3]

As of November 2014, Trulia's offices occupy one third of 535 Mission Street in San Francisco.[12]

Products

Trulia offers a variety of real estate transaction-related products and services for consumers and realtors. These are delivered via their website and mobile apps.

Consumers

Trulia provides price trend information by using listing and public data which shows how the price of a home has changed over a period of time as well as comparing that house price with other homes in the same ZIP code and the same city.[13]

The company's crime maps use geodata from their partners, including CrimeReports.com, EveryBlock.com and SpotCrime.com, to create a curated map of criminal activity in many U.S. metropolitan areas. Users can view crimes in specific areas and neighborhoods and directly compare the crime statistics of two different regions. They are also able to add comments and advice to the geodata.[14][15][16]

Information on local schools and amenities is provided for each property listed on the company's website. This includes, each school's name and contact details, grades taught, the school's GreatSchools rating and whether that school is public or private as well as users' ratings on the area's safety, pet-friendliness, walkability and other criteria.[17] Trulia are also available.[18]

Interactive Commuter and Transit maps show the driving or commute times from any given point in the United States.[19] Using data from OpenStreetMaps and GTFS feeds, a visual representation of commute times is projected onto a geographical map.[20] This provides the ability to see at a glance how far one can travel from any given property in a given amount of time.

References

  1. "News Room - Trulia.com - Press Releases". San Francisco. 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
  2. Oreskovic, Alexei (19 January 2011). "Exclusive: Trulia real estate website to open Denver office". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
  3. 1 2 "Zillow to Buy Trulia for $3.5 Billion in All-Stock Deal". The New York Times. 28 July 2014.
  4. Carey, Pete (12 October 2012). "Mercury News interview: Trulia CEO Peter Flint". Mercury News. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  5. "Meet the Boss: Sami Inkinen, COO, Trulia". SFGate. 2010-08-29. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  6. Marshall, Matt. "A new housing site. Oh, and Dogster may be profitable!". Silicon Beat. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  7. 1 2 United States Securities and Exchange Commission. August 17, 2012. "Form S-1 Registration Statement" http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1349454/000119312512359749/d352334ds1.htm
  8. Wauters, Robin. August 17, 2012. "Online real estate firm Trulia files S-1, plans to raise $75 million in IPO." http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/08/17/online-real-estate-firm-trulia-files-s-1-plans-raise-75-million-ipo/
  9. Tsukayama, Hayley. September 20, 2012. "Trulia IPO pops on debut, keeps climbing." http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/trulia-ipo-pops-on-debut-keeps-climbing/2012/09/20/e2f56d14-032d-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html
  10. Bloomberg Businessweek http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-08/trulia-to-acquire-market-leader-for-355-million.html
  11. http://info.trulia.com/market-leader-acquisition-officially-closes
  12. King, John (November 14, 2014). "S.F.'s newest office tower shows poise in a time of flash". San Francisco Chronicle.
  13. Mary, Umberger (2008-06-20). "Testing some of the top home-search sites". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  14. Smith Hopkins, Jamie (2011-06-20). "Trulia launches CrimeMaps". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  15. Myers, Nick (14 June 2011). "New map helps renters, owners spot crime". UT San Diego. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  16. Kuang, Cliff. "Infographic Of The Day: Where Do Crimes Happen In Your Neighborhood?". Fast Company. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  17. Yarger, Steven. "Find the Best Schools for Your Kids from Your iPad". Trulia Corporate Blog. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  18. "Map & Nearby". Trulia. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  19. Hutchings, Emma. "Heat Map Visualizes Your Daily Commute". Mashable. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  20. Wilson, Mark. "Trulia's New Maps Show Your Commute Time From Your New House". Fast Company. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
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