Online real estate site Zillow today announced that it has acquired Naked Apartments for $13 million in cash. While the name makes it sound like some kind of kinky cleaning service, it’s actually an apartment rentals platform with a focus on New York City. The acquisition is expected to close in the next few weeks.
This marks Zillow’s fifth consumer brand acquisition and the second time it bought a NYC-focused rentals platform. The first was StreetEasy in 2013 — a similar marketplace that helps city dwellers find apartments to rent and buy.
“Naked Apartments is a natural strategic fit with StreetEasy and Zillow Group in New York,” said Susan Daimler, StreetEasy’s general manager and vice president of Zillow Group New York, in today’s announcement. “We all share the common goal of using data, tools and technology to bring transparency and ease to New York City’s complex real estate landscape.”
Naked Apartments launched in 2010 and currently has thirteen employees. It’s focus has always been on making the rental process easy. As Zillow notes in today’s announcement, the company’s marquee feature is its “viewings on demand” tool, which lets potential renters schedule tours from its website. The site also offers a range of tools for real estate professionals.
As has been typical for Zillow’s recent acquisitions, Naked Apartments will continue to operate under its own name. Naked Apartments CEO Joe Signorello will continue to run the company (now with the title of General Manager) and CTO Jay Charat will remain in his role, too.
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