Online property search giant Zillow Group has reached an agreement to buy Cincinnati real estate tech company Dotloop.
The Seattle based Zillow Group announced Wednesday, July 22, that it had reached an agreement to buy Dotloop, reported Cincinnati.com. The details of the deal were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2015, pending closing conditions. The acquisition will allow Zillow to provide tools and information to clients and partners, that will further simplify the process of acquiring or selling properties online.
Dotloop was established in 2009 and offers a cloud-based service that enables parties involved in a real estate transaction to sign, revise and share documents in real time, reports Street Insider. The transaction process which includes creating a listing agreement, the submission of offers, up to the closing of a deal is what Dotloop calls a "loop." Today, more than 300,000 loops are reportedly created by real estate agents. And nearly half a million people sign off property transaction documents in Dotloop each month.
In the report, Street Insider also cited a news release statement made by Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow Group. Rascoff described how real estate transactions are moving online. This system innovation and service is reportedly something that buyers, sellers and real estate professionals have been clamoring for quite some time. The Zillow Group executive also mentioned how "incredibly excited" they are with "Dotloop's innovation and leadership in making digital transactions a reality." Rascoff added, "Now we will be able to make their technology more readily available to Zillow Group's 10,000 broker partners and the agents they represent, as well as our approximately 100,000 real estate agent advertisers, resulting in a smoother and more efficient transaction process for everyone."
Meanwhile, the acquisition will also provide the Cincinnati real estate tech company to expand its user base, stated TechCrunch. Dotloop's founder and CEO Austin Allison mentioned that the Zillow deal will provide the company with new resources that will help to grow and expand the business. It will also allow Dotloop to add more value to current customers through "increased support and faster product development."
After the deal is finalized, Allison will continue to lead DotLoop as founder and general manager, reports Cincinnati.com. The Dotloop executive will also report to Errol Samuelson, Zillow Group's chief industry development officer.
Dotloop has offices in Cincinnati and San Francisco, and has a headcount of 124 employees. Meanwhile, the Zillow Group owns several properties in the online real estate market, such as Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy and HotPads.