Move (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate listings |
| Predecessor | Homestore, Inc. |
| Founded | 1993 (as InfoTouch Corporation) |
| Founder | Stuart Wolff (Homestore) |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Damian Eales (CEO), Bryan Charap (CFO), Bryan Ellis (CRO), Arthur Chapin (Chief Growth Officer), Mickey Neuberger (CMO), Kat Koutsantonis (Chief People Officer) |
| Products | Realtor.com, Avail, DoorSteps.com, ListHub, Moving.com, Realtor.com for Professionals, UpNest |
| Owner | News Corp (80%), REA Group (20%) |
Number of employees | 913 (2013) |
| Website | www |
Move, Inc. is a company specializing in real estate listings, with its main office located in Santa Clara, California. It manages the Move Network, a collection of real estate websites, with its premier site being Realtor.com. Move operates Realtor.com through a strategic alliance with the National Association of Realtors, the largest professional organization within the real estate sector.
The company’s brand portfolio features prominent names such as Avail, DoorSteps.com, ListHub, Moving.com, Realtor.com for Professionals, and UpNest, reflecting its broad and varied business approach. In 2013, Move generated $227 million in revenue and had a workforce of 913 employees.
Ownership of Move is divided between News Corp owning 80% and REA Group holding 20%, illustrating its international reach and corporate framework. The executive leadership team includes CEO Damian Eales, CFO Bryan Charap, CRO Bryan Ellis, Chief Growth Officer Arthur Chapin, CMO Mickey Neuberger, and Chief People Officer Kat Koutsantonis.
Operations
Originally established in Delaware under the name InfoTouch Corporation in 1993, Move is now based in Santa Clara, California. It operates both Move.com and Realtor.com, and controls ListHub, a platform for listing syndication. The company has grown through acquisitions such as Avail (2020), Doorsteps.com (2013), Moving.com, Relocation.com (2012), and UpNest (2022).
In June 2019, Tracey Fellows acted as interim chief executive officer before David Doctorow took over in January 2020. Since 2015, Bryan Charap has served as chief financial officer. Mickey Neuberger joined as chief marketing officer in 2020, with Bryan Ellis appointed chief revenue officer and Arthur Chapin named chief growth officer in 2022. Damian Eales succeeded Doctorow as CEO in 2023, marking a strategic leadership transition focused on enhancing growth and market presence.
Homestore
Founded by Stuart Wolff in 1996, Homestore Inc. was an early online real estate firm. Wolff collaborated with the National Association of Realtors through his company RealSelect Inc., which operated Realtor.com while the association held a minority interest. The company went public in 1999 under the name Homestore.com, Inc., trading on NASDAQ.
In October 2000, Homestore agreed to acquire Move.com from Cendant Corp. via a $761 million stock deal that granted Cendant a 15% ownership stake. By 2001, Homestore managed several websites including HomeBuilder.com, HomeFair.com, Realtor.com, HomeWrite.com, and SpringStreet.com; it had also acquired HomeBid and owned software products such as Top Producer and Wyldfyre technologies. In August 2001, Homestore purchased iPlace Inc. for $150 million.
During the dot-com era bubble burst, Wolff was found guilty of insider trading and revenue misrepresentation; other executives were also sentenced for artificially inflating earnings. Homestore’s financial statements for 2000 and 2001 were restated following SEC inquiries. Although Wolff’s conviction was overturned on appeal in 2008, he later entered a plea agreement resulting in a prison term of three to five years. He stepped down as CEO in January 2002 and was succeeded by new management.
The company renamed itself Homestore, Inc. in 2002 before rebranding as Move, Inc. in 2006. Alongside this change came a stock ticker update from "HOMS" to "MOVE," coinciding with the launch of Move.com in May 2006.
On February 22, 2006, Homestore acquired Moving.com from TMP Directional Marketing, LLC. Moving.com provides consumers with resources for moving services including truck rentals, self-storage options, and mortgage rate information. Mirus Capital Advisors acted on behalf of TMP Directional Marketing during this transaction.
Move, Inc.
In September 2010, Move acquired Threewide, the operator behind the real estate listing platform ListHub, for $13 million, choosing to maintain ListHub as an independent brand. Later that year, in December, Move introduced MortgageMatch.com, aimed at assisting first-time homebuyers and those refinancing their mortgages. The following year, 2011, saw the acquisition of SocialBios, a social search platform. By 2013, Move reported revenues of $227 million alongside a profit of $600,000. That same year, it discontinued its partnership with AOL real estate and followed with ending its collaboration with MSN Real Estate in 2014.
News Corp completed its largest acquisition to date by purchasing Move in September 2014 for $950 million, positioning Move as the third most visited real estate website network in the United States. The ownership structure consists of an 80/20 split between News Corp and REA Group. The National Association of Realtors supported this transaction and extended its licensing agreement for Realtor.com. In 2015, Move transitioned its headquarters from San Jose to Santa Clara.
October 2015 marked Move’s acquisition of Reesio, a provider specializing in residential real estate transaction management; the founders of Reesio also joined Move’s workforce. In 2016, Zillow settled a trade secrets lawsuit related to former Move executives for $130 million. That year also saw Move divest its lead-generation business TigerLeads to CRM company Commissions Inc.
As part of Realtor.com’s broader marketing initiatives, Move purchased Remodelista, an interior design website, along with Gardenista, a garden design platform, both boasting 1.5 million monthly visitors at the time of acquisition in 2016. These sites were later sold back to their original founder Julie Carlson and her husband Josh Groves in June 2019.
In 2018, Move expanded by acquiring Opcity, a Texas-based company focused on AI-powered buyer-agent matching technology, for $210 million. Initially operating as a separate entity, Opcity was eventually integrated into Realtor.com.
Further growth came in 2020 with the acquisition of Avail, a Chicago-based platform offering tools and educational resources for landlords. In March 2021, Move sold its CRM software Top Producer to Constellation Real Estate Group and acquired UpNest later that year—a platform designed to connect buyers and sellers with competing local agents.