Interview with Dan Daugherty – rentbits.com

US rentals search engine rentbits.com has just been redesigned, but before the new look was released it saw a huge spike in traffic. It was one of the Hitwise “fast movers” for January, climbing 51 places to land at number 75. We got in touch with the search engine’s CEO, Dan Daugherty, to find out how rentbits.com was created, and where it’s planning to head next.
Read more

Interview with Ken Shuman – trulia.com

US property search engine trulia.com marked four years of operation in 2009, and spent the year releasing steady upgrades to everything from its agent profiles to its listing imagery. The search engine, currently number seven on the Hitwise list of US real estate websites, reported bumper traffic figures as the year came to a close.

trulia.com’s head of communications, Ken Shuman, spoke to propertyportalwatch.com about the website’s recent releases, its planned expansion into rental listings, and those Google acquisition rumours.
Read more

Interview with Tammy Kotula – apartments.com

As its names suggests, apartments.com is a US-based property portal focusing specifically on apartments. After a substantial promotional push in 2009, apartments.com has recently moved into the top 10 US real estate websites list.
Read more

Interview with Kelly Roark – frontdoor.com

frontdoor.com is a US based property listings and information website. It is owned by the Scripps Networks digital media group, which means it is also affiliated with the popular real estate and home cable TV network and website, HGTV.

Here, vice president of interactive sales and development Kelly Roark talks to propertyportalwatch.com about recent developments at frontdoor.com as well as the website’s business model, its use of social media, and its future plans:
Read more

Interview with Sarah Beeny – tepilo.com

Earlier this month we reported on the arrival of a new UK website that aims to transform the way people buy and sell property. tepilo.com is the brainchild of TV presenter Sarah Beeny and has just gone live in “phase 1″. propertyportalwatch.com spoke to Sarah about her new website, which is “a platform that allows you to take independent control of buying and selling your home.”
Read more

Interview with Peter Wright – realestate.com.au

Peter Wright is currently General Manager-Residential, for the REA Group owned market leading Australian property portal, realestate.com.au. As of July he’ll be General Manager of Sales and Operations.

propertyportalwatch.com spoke to Peter about his new role and where he sees the Australian portal market heading.
Read more

Interview with Alex Chesterman – zoopla.co.uk

UK based property website zoopla.co.uk began the year with a rush of announcements. The company, which specialises in providing residential property market information, revealed major increases to web traffic, secured £3.75 million in new funding, listed a record breaking 15 million sold house price records and appointed a Sales Director.

The biggest news came last: they are now upping the stakes in the UK by acccepting property listings on a pay-per-lead basis.
Read more