Breaking: Rick Schwartz sells Property.com & Properties.com for $4 million + stock

[Provider]

Rick can say whatever he wants, and when he wants, because he is a real King. Like him or not, but he consistently closes deals that others can't.

[TheLegendaryJP]

What was the reported sale price by him 3 years ago?

[David G]

My question is why is it at Flippa.com it appears all anyone there cares about is traffic and revenue stats, with little if any intrinsic value going to the name itself?

However, with domains like property.com and other big sales the traffic and income are not even asked about, let alone a consideration with the offer and purchase. Obviously, properties.com and property.com traffic/income was insignificant vs the price.

[Focus]

Still seems low to me as those are two world class names.

Now once upon a time I flipped a domain name or two and made at least $1 maybe $2 on them myself and that let me biggie size my Wendy's meal which was pretty nice.

[DTalk]

What was the reported sale price by him 3 years ago?

Yes, Rick thought he'd sold Property.com to the guys that ran Foreclosure.com - reportedly in a cash + equity deal that was claimed would have netted Rick an estimated $15m, over time....But, it was later reported (quietly) that the deal fell through.

This time, its specifically reported that the escrow has completed - so, at least the cash component seems to have been paid.


Its a great deal for Rick....But, for dazzled domainers, remember that not many domainers (however well-heeled) would invest $750,000 (Property.com) + $70,000 (Properties.com) on a speculative play..... ie invest $820,000 in just two domains (however good) - then, don't develop them at all - and rely on a flip in the future to make a profit.


They are great domains. And, Rick's pulled this off brilliantly.....But, at the purchase price, he either decided he could afford to risk a possible loss on these domains one day - Or, he'd score big....He won.


Good stuff....

.

[TheLegendaryJP]

So this was either a trade based on need or belief it wouldn't come again and they were no where near worth 4 times the value as he demanded 3 years ago?

I just don't know how on one stage domains are recession proof, only going up etc etc etc and on the same hand you take $11M less three years later..seems like a bunch of double talk to me. Punchbowl for X was a better trade, that was huge money for that name, end user or not. This deal seems like a desperation move.

[jasdon11]

Stupid! How can anyone speculate on whether this was a better or poorer deal than one that fell through??? For a start, it fell through - it might as well have been for a $trillion, makes no difference. Secondly, you don't know that value of the stock involved in this deal.

Even if there were no stock element, this would still be a fabulous sale - the names will have paid for themselves by now already, this will be pure profit.

[TheLegendaryJP]

Stupid! How can anyone speculate on whether this was a better or poorer deal than one that fell through??? For a start, it fell through - it might as well have been for a $trillion, makes no difference. Secondly, you don't know that value of the stock involved in this deal.

Even if there were no stock element, this would still be a fabulous sale - the names will have paid for themselves by now already, this will be pure profit.

To me it is about the valuation change from $15M to $4M no matter how you dice it up is a major cut, stock options or not. It is true cash is king and I agree, maybe the $4M was more cash than the previous deal which only leads us to believe at the end of the day the numbers are unrealistic and inflated based on options from time to time, should we accept that as a " real " valuation?

You cannot speak out of both sides of your mouth. What's stupid is believeing most of what youre fed. Your food is full of option's, may not be so nutritious after all.

What we seen here was very nice, a 7 figure trade is great, what we also saw was reality and REAL market values.

[jasdon11]

What is the value? That's my point. Without knowing what else is involved in the trade, no-one can comment. Especially as there was no deal previously - it's impossible to compare something with nothing.

And I don't believe everything we're told. My Dad used to say, "believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear". Mind you, he also used to say "blessed is he who believes yet has not seen"; think he was covering all bases...

[DTalk]

The buyers of Property.com & Properties.com were the owners of Condo.com & Houses.com.


This is the buyers' press release:


Condo.com & Houses.com, two leading online residential real estate portals, today announced the acquisition of the category domain names: Property.com and Properties.com. Property.com is well-positioned to succeed as the Company’s third real estate portal, differentiated by the additional property types offered within the massive commercial real estate market. In addition to a comprehensive database of residential inventory, the site will showcase office space, retail properties, multi-family buildings, warehouses, industrial space and land from all over the world.


Richard Swerdlow, CEO of Condo.com, Houses.com and now Property.com stated “the acquisition made perfect sense for us. We are now able to leverage our online real estate platform, licensing and team to expand into the broader global commercial property market – including office, retail, industrial and land. It is exciting to have the opportunity to create leading online real estate portals across all property types, satisfying a growing global demand from property owners, buyers and sellers that are increasingly using the web for property searches.” The commercial real estate market is one of the largest asset classes in the United States with over $11 trillion in value and the potential size of the marketing and data services industry for commercial real estate professionals is approximately $30 billion. “We hope to secure market share through the use of our platform and category domain expertise,” he added. The combination doubles the company’s potential market size.


The domains were acquired from Rick Schwartz, an entrepreneur known as the “Domain King” who previously sold Candy.com, iReport.com and other high-trafficked domains, and who also puts on a leading domain name industry trade show. Owning the category domain name provides traffic, enhanced name recall and brand credibility that would otherwise take years to build. Schwartz stated “it was only a matter of time before these domains ended up in the right hands. I am very happy to be partners with the Condo.com and Houses.com team and know that with the proper execution of their plan for the domains, we will have an extremely valuable web asset.” Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is well-timed with the momentum in the online real estate market, including Zillow’s (Nasdaq: Z) successful IPO today.


Well done, Rick…Just a terrific deal, by the sound of it…

...And, an example to us all, because its a great example of how to leverage value from a domain asset by showing how a domain is not simply a web address – a thing to be ‘developed’ – but, an integral part of the core strategy of an organisation….and therefore worth a great deal.

To me it is about the valuation change from $15M to $4M no matter how you dice it up is a major cut, stock options or not.

Don't agree with you there, JP - now that we see who the buyers are...


Rick has already banked his $4m cash....Its likely that his equity would not unreasonably be around an additional 3%-5%.....His partners in this are already known, established, and successful, in the online real estate business.....This deal could easily be worth an additional $11m in revenue share to Rick - or much more - over 10 years, or so.


...PLUS we haven't even talked yet about 3%-5% of a potential IPO, for the Property.com component of an IPO for the property group of Condo.com, Houses.com, and Property.com, down the track, when the property market recovers (remember - these guys will sell & represent property/land globally).


...This deal ($4m cash + 3%-5% Revenue share + 3%-5% of an eventual IPO) could be worth $40 million to Rick in a few years time....Or, frankly, any number north of that you could reasonably think of!


....Meantime, with the $4 million cash already banked, he's already multiplied his investment on the 2 names by 4.8 times (PLUS whatever he's made over the years during the good parking days) - and counting...!!


Any way you look at it, JP....Rick's done a sensational deal on his investment in these names.

[TheLegendaryJP]

In this real estate setting and based on the market of late there is likely NO upside to shares atm. And unless you see an America I don't, it will be a very long time before the one we knew years ago exists again. In fact this economic climate could be the very reason all he settled for up front was $4M.

I am not saying he didn't make money or it wasn't a good investment, it was but it's still a far cry from where it " was" or should say touted as. It proves cash is king and when push comes to shove reality takes over and you take the REAL market value for your assets when needed.

Don't tell me domains are recession proof, they arn't and someone took advantage of that and got a couple great names. I cannot imagine he is over joyed at that price, unless he has bills to pay...

[jasdon11]

In this real estate setting and based on the market of late there is likely NO upside to shares atm. And unless you see an America I don't, it will be a very long time before the one we knew years ago exists again. In fact this economic climate could be the very reason all he settled for up front was $4M.

I am not saying he didn't make money or it wasn't a good investment, it was but it's still a far cry from where it " was" or should say touted as. It proves cash is king and when push comes to shove reality takes over and you take the REAL market value for your assets when needed.

Don't tell me domains are recession proof, they arn't and someone took advantage of that and got a couple great names. I cannot imagine he is over joyed at that price, unless he has bills to pay...

What price? Unless you know what the deal consists of, how can you make a statement like that? I supose anyone who wants to be seen as an authority can make assumptions - but based on what?

I'm pretty sure that RS does his due diligence on prospective buyers which with the previous potential buyer would've turned up some issues...in that respect, wouldn't you ask for more cash in the deal? Given that, to say that the current deal is worth less or more without knowing what makes up the deal, is daft.

---------- Post added at 03:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 AM ----------

Double post.

[ezguy]

lol

[TheLegendaryJP]

What price? Unless you know what the deal consists of, how can you make a statement like that? I supose anyone who wants to be seen as an authority can make assumptions - but based on what?

I'm pretty sure that RS does his due diligence on prospective buyers which with the previous potential buyer would've turned up some issues...in that respect, wouldn't you ask for more cash in the deal? Given that, to say that the current deal is worth less or more without knowing what makes up the deal, is daft.

---------- Post added at 03:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 AM ----------

Double post.

I know how much cash is involved and in todays markets that is what matters.

Also I stated it was a good roi and good investment over all, just not a good as it could have been or "was". You fail to read that portion perhaps because you are more focused on cheering like a little girl.

I don't care what the terms are when you tout a $15M trade one day and a $4M trade the next, if you did your due diligence properly you would have never mention a $15M trade to start with.

Guess what a guy just offered me $1M for abcwwujdhfkufhefu.com and $50M in future stock options, maybe I should report that to dnj?

Its time we start looking at cash, if options end up paying off, great mention it later if your ego needs to but otherwise as mother used to say, don't count your eggs...

[jasdon11]

I know how much cash is involved and in todays markets that is what matters.

Also I stated it was a good roi and good investment over all, just not a good as it could have been or "was". You fail to read that portion perhaps because you are more focused on cheering like a little girl.

I don't care what the terms are when you tout a $15M trade one day and a $4M trade the next, if you did your due diligence properly you would have never mention a $15M trade to start with.

Guess what a guy just offered me $1M for abcwwujdhfkufhefu.com and $50M in future stock options, maybe I should report that to dnj?

Its time we start looking at cash, if options end up paying off, great mention it later if your ego needs to but otherwise as mother used to say, don't count your eggs...

Cheering? Cheering for what - common sense; business acumen; Hawaiin shirts?

If you expect people to ignore what ought to be the major factor in this deal then it's not going to help your credibility.

Consider this; the cash element might just be to ensure the buyer has some skin in the game - the real juice should be to come.

[GeoOwners]

In this real estate setting and based on the market of late there is likely NO upside to shares atm. And unless you see an America I don't, it will be a very long time before the one we knew years ago exists again. In fact this economic climate could be the very reason all he settled for up front was $4M.

I am not saying he didn't make money or it wasn't a good investment, it was but it's still a far cry from where it " was" or should say touted as. It proves cash is king and when push comes to shove reality takes over and you take the REAL market value for your assets when needed.

Don't tell me domains are recession proof, they arn't and someone took advantage of that and got a couple great names. I cannot imagine he is over joyed at that price, unless he has bills to pay...

I think you hit the nail here. Real Estate is hurting and will be for a LONG time. Rick must have felt that too and took the best deal he thought he could make at this time.

To you guys saying because the old deal fell through there was no deal, WRONG, An offer was made and accepted by Rick so there most certainly was a deal.

[TheLegendaryJP]

the real juice should be to come.

"Should" be to come....

Gooodnight everyone and thank you for coming out.

My cred is shot, Im daft, stupid...what else again? I should start hanging my hat on wishes and fishes, that way my cred will rise and I won't be so daft. LOL

[jasdon11]

To you guys saying because the old deal fell through there was no deal, WRONG, An offer was made and accepted by Rick so there most certainly was a deal.

Why is this so difficult to grasp? There was no deal.

Offers - accepting offers - those are not deals. A deal is a deal when both parties complete their obligations to the other party.

---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------

"Should" be to come....

Gooodnight everyone and thank you for coming out.

My cred is shot, Im daft, stupid...what else again? I should start hanging my hat on wishes and fishes, that way my cred will rise and I won't be so daft. LOL

You can do what you want with your hat, but choosing to disregard half the elements of a deal certainly won't help, will it!

[TheLegendaryJP]

You can do what you want with your hat, but choosing to disregard half the elements of a deal certainly won't help, will it!

True, I disregarded the half that hasn't happened. The cash, that apparently happened.

[jasdon11]

True, I disregarded the half that hasn't happened. The cash, that apparently happened.

Yet you want to compare that to a deal that never happened? Bizarre.