Overstock.com moves into real estate
Closeout retailer claims 3 million property listings
By Inman News, Friday, June 6, 2008.
Overstock.com's property listing search toolUPDATE: This story has been edited from its original version -- a statement that Overstock could not be reached for comment has been deleted.
Overstock.com Inc., which sells excess inventory of consumer goods like clothing and furniture, has entered the real estate space with a dedicated listings channel that claims nearly 3 million properties, including distressed, foreclosure and auction homes.
The Overstock.com real estate channel claims 2.9 million properties, including 2.6 million residential listings. Of those, 1.96 million are single-family homes, 246,000 are condos and townhouses, and another 73,720 are multi-unit properties.
Nearly 300,000 properties are categorized as foreclosures, and another 7,000 as "distressed." The site lists more than 300 homes up for auction.
Some listings receive "O-HotValue" designations, indicating "property that may be a better relative value in this market." Clicking on a listing will often take users to the listing broker's site.
In its last quarterly report to investors, Overstock.com said revenue grew 27 percent year-over-year, to $200.7 million, but that the company incurred a $3.9 million net loss for the first quarter of 2008.
To date, Overstock.com has accumulated losses of $247.6 million, the company said, and expects to continue to incur "significant operating expenses and some capital expenditures" to expand or modify its product offerings and develop enhanced technologies and features.
At the end of March, the online closeout retailer said it had fulfillment partner relationships with approximately 750 third parties whose products the company offers for sale on its Web site.
Founded in 1997, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company added automobile listings in December 2006. The car listing service allows sellers to list vehicles for sale and allows buyers to review vehicle descriptions and post offers to purchase. Overstock.com said revenue from the car listing business is not significant enough to separate out as its own segment.
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Submitted by Dan Daugherty on June 6, 2008 - 12:16pm.
Vast.com is powering the Overstock.com real estate site:
http://rentbits.com/blog/uncategorized/vast-powers-overstockcom-real-est...
Submitted by Ralph M on June 6, 2008 - 12:36pm.
It is NOT a site for O-Hot values either. I typed in my zip code to find properties.The results netted me properties currently listed with real estate agents, that have either been on the market over a year or the properties have been reduced by real estate agents too many times......
A 2002 single wide, in a park, by a realtor for 28k.... Is NOT a value..
Real estate may be the only industry where everyone "supposedly" can do it.....NOT!
Overstock = Overhype
Submitted by Grant Bennett on June 6, 2008 - 12:47pm.
Just another site pulling listings from all over the place, so the listing numbers are probably extremely overinflated. I did a quick search in a zip to see if one of our listings was in the database. I found it was listed 4 times, pointing to other sites where we have our listings.
Submitted by Maureen Francis on June 6, 2008 - 1:16pm.
Yawn.
The OH NOT SO Hot values in my zip are headed for foreclosure and have 3+ years on the market. If they were hot, they would have been sold.
Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty
248.430.4450
www.miOaklandCounty.com/blog
Submitted by Ben Kakimoto on June 6, 2008 - 1:27pm.
It's pulling the listings that I added to my P2NLS site. It's more exposure, I guess.
Submitted by mark langowski on June 6, 2008 - 2:42pm.
Hello,
CEO from search engine http://www.beatyouthere.com here.
I just wanted to comment on the difference between a real estate crawl site and an actual real estate portal.
Difference between sites like vast.com/overstock.com and beatyouthere.com is that we actually form relationships with real estate brokerages and get their PERMISSION to market their listings, as opposed to vast and overstock who simply crawl/steal their listings and profit from them without the brokerage even knowing.
In the end, it is all free marketing for the brokerage, but it also just confuses the consumer in regards to where they should be starting their online search.
http://www.beatyouthere.com is still in Beta and we have a ways to go, but we are on the right track. For only being live one month, we have about 2 million listings that we have gotten written permission in order to market them.
Please register for our site so you can be one of the first to see all of the new unique features we have coming in the near future.
Regards,
Mark Langowski
CEO / Founder
http://www.beatyouthere.com
Submitted by Bruce Hahn on June 6, 2008 - 3:00pm.
American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance
What's next, a deed in every box of family sized Cheerios?
Submitted by Lori Turoff on June 6, 2008 - 3:07pm.
I checked the 07030 zip code, which is all of Hoboken, my market, and noticed two interesting things when I looked at the results:
1. Many of the listings come from agents who use a company called Alamode. Alamode provides and hosts template websites for agents and agencies. Could Overstock have an arrangement with Alamode to get the listings directly from them?
2. In our jurisdiction, our local board has very stringent requirements about what information we, as agents, must include when posting the listing of another agent. For example, if we use IDX on our own site, all of the listing agents information, name, agency, address, phone number, email, a link to their site, etc. must be displayed on the first page of the listing. It can't be buried at the bottom or in a link (which makes IDX much less appealing to us as an agents but that's another story). On the Overstock site many listings completely omit this information in the listing. It is only found when you click on the address title. So indiviual agents websites are held to a different, stricter standard than non-agent websites. Seems like it should be the other way around, no?
Lori Turoff
Realtor Associate
Robert DeRuggiero Realtors
Hoboken NJ 07030
201 993 9500
www.hobokensbesthomes.com
http://hobokenrealestatenews.com
Submitted by Silence Dogood on June 6, 2008 - 3:16pm.
I have a 10% off coupon for Overstock.com. Does it work for real estate?
Submitted by Ralph M on June 6, 2008 - 4:43pm.
"Submitted by Silence Dogood on June 6, 2008 - 4:16pm.
I have a 10% off coupon for Overstock.com. Does it work for real estate?"
What's next, a deed in every box of family sized Cheerios?
Comedy, Comedy, Comedy....
Do not let the public know we also work as part-time (bad) comics also....
About time, we have some fun on this site. LOLOLOL
I am a mini-wheats cereal person, so I will not get that deed. If someone gets a duplicate deed, I will trade it with you for a magic marker that the ink is invisible (unless you have the secret decoder, which I can throw in for a deed for some swamp land with a view)
Submitted by Vito Boscaino www.ServingColumbus.com on June 7, 2008 - 7:48am.
I heard a rumor that Realtor.com was going to partner with Google, to buy Yahoo, so they could have a joint marketing relationship that would allow Overstock.com listings to be featured on Youtube with a direct link to MySpace and Facebook, which would then be married to Verizon and AT&T cell phone customers so any cell phone client could have immediate text updates with pictures of any listing activity in the whole world. I also heard that George Soros was an investor and Al Gore was trying to find a way to tie in the whole global warming - cooling - the earth is changing data updates as well......
Submitted by Ki Gray on June 7, 2008 - 2:28pm.
I love that every company on earth is trying to get into real estate right as its tanking. The market it extremely oversaturated at this point. It look like overstock is going to keep losing money.
All these companies came up with an idea along the lines of
"We are going to do real estate BUT be on the web".
Site Austin Tx real estate.
Search Austin MLS
Blog Austin Real Estate Blog
Submitted by Dan Daugherty on June 8, 2008 - 12:55pm.
In January 2008, Vast acquired Adaptive Real Estate Services (ARES), a company which hosts websites for real estate agents and brokers.
Search Houses for rent in Denver
Blog Rental and Real Estate Blog
Submitted by Sol Sek on June 9, 2008 - 1:11am.
Real estate companies/portals need to focus more on the whats and hows of getting more offers for real estate.
Submitted by Wenceslao Fernandez Jr, BS, Realtor, CDPE on June 9, 2008 - 12:12pm.
Anyone looking for a bargain in South Florida, should look no further than
http://www.ximausa.com/xima/register.php?procode=495 E
nter Promo Code 495 for a discount.
www.MiamiRealEstateKing.com
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Submitted by Jennie James on June 9, 2008 - 12:35pm.
I looked up the zip code I live in in Tucson, which is 85711, and the first house that comes up on the overstock site, sold on 05/28/08( I just checked it in our MLS). I checked a couple others and they where either sold or had been listed for 400+ days. Overstock should know that this is the problem with depending on other people's site's for you info.
When I first was in the bussiness four year ago I tried Just Listed.com and had horrible results because they kept sending my buyers properties that had sold several years earlier. Then they would say it was Tucson MLS' fault because they kept changing their IP addresses, and messing up the info that Just Listed was trying to extract. I canceled my subscription with them soon after that blame game.
I am all for my press for my listings as long as the info is correct.
Jennie
www.jenniej.longrealty.com
Submitted by Miss L.S. on June 10, 2008 - 11:51am.
Why would a real estate agent want their listings on a website that spiders? Obviously these websites are going outside MLS rules to get this information. In the case of the MLS I belong to, Overstock appears to be infringing our Copyrights.
MLS rules are in place so that the Listing Brokerages are correctly identified and information that is not for public consumption (ie: lockbox codes, showing information, security issues, etc.) does not get to the public.
When will agents band together and say "Stop taking our listings and using them inaccurately!"
Until brokerages and agents take a stand against these spidering websites, the public will keep looking at properties that appear active, but have already sold or have inaccurate price and other information....
Submitted by Michael Lange Associate Broker & Cheron Lange GRI on June 10, 2008 - 2:48pm.
Wow, more exposure! Makes me wonder if it's a good thing or bad thing. Seems to me that this is just another bargain big box wanting a piece of the pie.
C. Lange
www.letourfamilyhelpyours.com
blog.letourfamilyhelpyours.com
Submitted by Angela Scichilone on June 20, 2008 - 9:15pm.
When will real estate be left to the true professionals? I cannot believe that anyone searching to get a great deal on a small electronic item would even THINK to utilize such a resource to make an informed decision on an investment such as real estate. It is amusing to see the variety of properties that appear to be active, but have long since been sold. Let's just hope that john q public, will see this as a poor entry tool to begin their property search and choose a professional to assist them relatively quickly.