There’s a rumor about Zillow and Trulia merging:
http://www.inman.com/2014/07/24/zillow-and-trulias-share-prices-surge-on-merger-rumors/
Hat tip to Joe who sent in this take on it too:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8081176
Realtors aren’t going to like it, but there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. That it is even possible that an outside entity will be attracting 90% of the eyeballs looking for real estate listings is embarrassing enough.
The next step has to be for the merged company to generate an agent-rating feature, and then partner with the elite realtors to take over the industry.
The realtors left on the outside who think they can keep farming their past clients for a couple of sales per year will find that once their sales history is exposed publicly, their phone will stop ringing.
I suspect you know my opinion.
As much as I do not weep for the breaking of the cabal I do weep for yet another middle class profession being disintermediated.
How many years ago was it you first heard that word from me?
Five – about the time that Zillow started gaining traction.
Insiders at online real-estate firms Zillow and Trulia sold shares of their companies aggressively before news of a potential merger broke Thursday, according to public filings.
Since the start of 2014, insiders at Trulia have sold $28 million of stock, with CEO Peter Flint unloading $11.2 million in shares, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In reference to the insider sales, Trulia spokesman Matt Flegal said the company can’t comment on rumors or speculation.
Zillow insiders, meanwhile, have sold $69 million in shares since the beginning of the year. The company’s CEO, Spencer Rascoff, has unloaded $19.9 million in stock. Rascoff declined to comment to CNBC. He still owns a significant stake in the company through options.
It’s unclear why executives who had knowledge of a potential deal would unload their shares. After the recent sales, Rascoff doesn’t own any Zillow shares directly but Flint owns 1.3 million Trulia shares in his name. It’s possible both executives hold shares through other vehicles.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101865234