This story appears in the
May 2006 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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What do you get when you take tons of real estate data, put it
online, and skip the part where you ask for money or personal
information to access it? If you're Rich Barton, founder of
Expedia.com, and Lloyd Frink, one of Expedia.com's
original employees, you get Zillow.com--and you get plenty of buzz.
Buzz is what Zillow.com CEO Barton, 38, and presi-dent Frink,
41, were banking on when they launched their Seattle-based home
valuator in February. But given the slew of home valuators already
online, why did this pair think theirs--which profits solely from
advertising--could work? For one, they've raised $32 million in
investment money. For another, says Frink, the site "provides
unbiased data on 60 million homes free of charge," including
satellite views and historical value changes for each home.
Simply put, buyers, sellers and homeowners dig the idea of
snooping around on Zillow.com without paying fees, registering--or
dealing with realtors.