National real estate company Zillow Group is expanding its multi-billion dollar business with a new acquisition. At its core, Zillow is a marketplace for home shopping. Though, the company also operates a collection of businesses geared toward everything from helping homebuyers request loans to assisting agents in growing their networks.
The company announced last Thursday its acquisition of VRX Media, a business that offers 3D tours, aerial drone photography and other services with its national network of professional photographers. Zillow’s goal with this added solution is to give agents another tool that can make them attractive to sellers.
The deal follows some of Zillow’s other acquisitions, including its $500 million purchase of ShowingTime in 2021, the addition of Bay Area-based real estate app Trulia in 2014 and NYC-based real estate site SteetEasy the year prior.
Zillow’s newest subsidiary will join the company’s ShowingTime+ software suite, a grouping of products made to help real estate professionals improve their customer experiences. The offering consists of solutions like ShowingTime, an online scheduling platform for home showings, and electronic signing service dotloop.
With the addition of VRX Media, Zillow will expand the ShowingTime+ brand with two new products that combine photography services with listing media. Coming in 2023, one new product called Listing Media Services will allow real estate agents to book high-resolution photography for a listing, then create experiences like interactive tours that include that digital media. Zillow will also release a Listing Showcase product.
“Listing media is a crucial part of selling a home, and we are focused on creating an immersive customer experience that makes listings stand out,” Jun Choo, SVP of ShowingTime+, said in a statement. “With VRX Media, ShowingTime+ will give agents elevated listing products unlike anything available today and will transform the way they prepare and market their for-sale listings.”
