Friday Flash: Market Leader's big year, Move/Blockshopper and Vegas fatigue

I spent most of this week in Las Vegas. I left behind about 3 million brain cells, 20% of my lung capacity and a pair of shoes.

In other words, this post will be brief.

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Market Leader announced year-end earnings for 2010. Revenue grew and so did losses. The company has about $17 million in cash.

Market Leader inked a big deal with Keller Williams a couple months back and their name keeps coming up in conversations I’m having with people around the industry. They are alive and kicking, but 2011 may be a make or break year for them.

It’s always been hard to sell software in real estate – crazy price sensitivity, churn and chaos rule the day. But now, on top of that, real estate tech vendors must compete with thousands of smaller, faster, cheaper web and mobile apps that are not real estate specific but nonetheless useful to agents or brokers. That makes it even tougher to win with what Market Leader is calling a “software-as-a-service platform.” We’ll see.

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Zillow launched a “Rent Zestimate.” Seems like a good idea as the traditional distances between renting and buying become smaller. I wonder if landlords will spend 2 years debating their accuracy?

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Move, Inc. cut a deal to become the exclusive ad sales channel for Blockshopper.com, a site that covers notable real estate transactions in local markets. This is the latest indicator of a larger trend: real estate media companies reaching beyond their own domain to monetize real estate-related audiences.

Expect more of these moves this year.

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Zaarly surfaced this week. It’s a mobile app that allows people who want something and are willing to pay for it broadcast that want – and an offer – to people around them. If a seller bites, Zaarly facilitates the connection. It’s essentially a mobile, location-aware marketplace with a focus on the demand side.

At the risk of having you think I lost more than 3 million brain cells this week, I want you to imagine a statement like this run through something like Zaarly in the future:

I want a 3-bedroom house in Redwood Heights. I am willing to pay $700,000 for it.

In real estate, sellers are easy to find; buyers, on the other hand, are scattered. Don’t expect that to remain the case forever.

Enjoy the weekend!

Disclosure: Move, Inc. is a 1000WATT Consulting client.