Iggys House Inc., a company that offers discount real estate services and also has mortgage operations, plans to sell 3 million shares of common stock and expects to sell the shares for about $5 to $6 in its initial public offering, according to documents that the company filed this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company had filed its initial IPO report, called a preliminary prospectus, in August, and the company seeks to list its stock on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol “IGGY.”
An IPO date has not yet been announced for the company, which offers buyers about 75 percent of the commission it receives from the home seller or listing broker through its BuySide Realty subsidiary and free entry into a multiple listing service for home sellers through its Iggys House brand. Iggys house was founded by brothers Joseph and Avi Fox, who in 1996 created online stock brokerage company Web Street Securities and later took that company public and sold it to E-trade in 2001.
In an amended report for the IPO, filed with the SEC Oct. 9, the company estimated that its net proceeds from the IPO will be about $14.2 million, based on an IPO price of $5.50 per share. The company expects to spend about $3 million to $3.5 million in the next 12 months “to further develop our brand through new advertising and marketing programs,” and to spend about $2 million to $2.5 million for technology development.
The company reported that consumers have used the Iggys free MLS listings for about 4,000 properties valued at about $1.4 billion, and about 9,300 properties with a total value of $3.3 billion have been marketed on the company’s Iggys House Web site. The free MLS listing service is available in 20 states.
The company also reported that it has closed 215 buy-side transactions in six states from its launch in April 2006 through Oct. 3, 2007. The sell-side services launched in March, and in May the company launched mortgage brokerage operations in California.
Iggys House has announced that it plans to expand its offerings to include flat-fee real estate brokerage services, referral services and title services. “We expect to provide mortgage brokerage services in at least 21 states by the end of 2008. We expect that, by the end of 2007, we will launch our real estate agent referral service in at least 35 states. Also, by the end of 2007, we plan to launch our flat-fee brokerage service in the same states as are then covered by our buy-side services,” according to its report supporting the planned IPO.
From its inception in April 2005 through June 30, 2007, Iggys House companies had a total net loss of $9.45 million, the company reported in its SEC filing. That includes a $1.17 million loss form April 11, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2005, a $5.14 million net loss for the fully year in 2006, and a $3.15 million net loss for the first half of 2007.
In citing the risk factors of its ongoing operations, the company reported, “We have experienced operating losses since inception as a result of the significant technology development, licensing, sales and marketing and administration expenses we have incurred in developing our business.”
AFJ Capital LLC, an Illinois company that is wholly owned by the Fox brothers, was the majority owner of Iggys House as of June 30, 2007. The underwriters for the planned IPO are Northland Securities Inc. and Bathgate Capital Partners LLC.
The preliminary report for the IPO assumes that a one-for-five reverse stock split will be effected just prior to the closing of the IPO, and recognizes a total of 200,000 restricted shares of common stock issued to two of the company’s executive officers: Joseph Barr, president and chief financial officer; and Stephen Otis, executive vice president and general counsel. A reverse stock split reduces the total number of shares while proportionately increasing the share price.
