Overstock.com Inc. OSTK, -3.12% on Monday announced it was acquiring Houserie, a property management platform, as a first step into the real estate market.
The online discount retailer purchased Houserie, a site that provides landlords and property managers with services for managing single- and multi-family homes, as the first phase of what it is calling O Real Estate.
The full O Real Estate site will launch in September, and Overstock says it will be a portal “for renting, buying and managing property, all in one place.” In response to MarketWatch requests for clarification, Overstock Senior Vice President of Strategy Seth Moore said in an email that O Real Estate will “provide a real estate portal connecting customers to properties for rent or sale as well as a portal for managing rental properties.”
Moore added, “as of right now we are not looking to own the properties. We want to leverage our strong search technology to link Overstock.com customers with their dream home, as well as help them furnish it.”
Houserie’s current service offerings include tenant identity verification, eviction histories, credit and background checks and more.
Overstock shares are down nearly 40% in the year to date, in part due to the company’s bet on a cryptocurrency-focused subsidiary, tZero, which is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Overstock reported a net loss of $51 million in the first quarter.
