Tribune Co. said today that its Tribune Interactive subsidiary has purchased ForSaleByOwner.com, a national real estate site that connects home buyers and sellers through private-party residential property listings.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Homeowners pay an advertising fee to list a home for sale on ForSaleByOwner.com and prospective home buyers can browse the database of properties at no charge. Advertising services range in price from approximately $90 to $900.
The site currently lists tens of thousands of homes, according to company estimates. In 2005, ForSaleByOwner.com had more than 1.6 million average monthly unique visitors, making it a top 10 real estate site according to comScore Media Metrix.
“Our acquisition of ForSaleByOwner.com extends our long history of providing consumers with the opportunity to advertise a home for sale as a private party listing,” said Tim Landon, president of Tribune Interactive. “We also remain strongly committed to Realtors, to whom a majority of consumers turn for real estate transactions.”
ForSaleByOwner also offers home buying and selling guides, moving services, neighborhood information, and home improvement advice and tutorials.
Tribune Interactive manages the interactive operations of major daily newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday and their associated Web sites, plus all aspects of Tribune’s print and online classified advertising operations. Its national classified sites include CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com.