Newfound, parent company to a family of alternative, technology-enabled brokerage brands, has acquired HomeLister, a web-based home sale solution.
Inman was provided exclusive information on the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed.
HomeLister joins Houwzer, Trelora and HomeRise under the Newfound umbrella, each offering its own tiered services model for non-traditional home sales that blend software, MLS and portal marketing, and licensed agent advisement.
Mike Maher, CEO of Newfound, called the deal a “pivotal moment” for his company, and said that HomeLister capabilities will be augmented by HomeRise, launched in 2024, which allows homesellers to publish directly to local multiple listing services.
“HomeLister’s proven technology and customer-centric approach are a perfect complement to our vision for HomeRise,” he said. “Together, we are poised to redefine the real estate landscape, especially as the industry anticipates broader adoption of Model Context Protocol (MCP) across Multiple Listing Services.”
Model Context Protocol is an emerging technology that, among other things, makes it easier for artificial intelligence models to learn from data sources. It standardizes context from the source to ensure, for example, that a large language model better understands what it’s ingesting.
HomeLister leverages AI to streamline the listing process for its users and make its backend functionality more efficient, leading to the operational savings that drive its low cost services. That also provides scalability, one of the factors motivating Newfound’s acquisition, as well as what Newfound called, a “synergistic audience overlap” that will “enable more effective marketing and customer acquisition.”
HomeLister founder and CEO Lindsay McLean is moving to Newfound, according to the release.
“Our shared commitment to technology-driven improvements in customer experience and cost reduction aligns perfectly. Newfound’s impressive growth, particularly with HomeRise, showcases its capability to thrive even under challenging market conditions,” McLean said.
HomeLister secured $10 million in a Series A round in 2022 from investors M13 and Homebrew. At that point, it was operating in 17 states.
“Like so many other parts of our economy, digital transformation can drive efficiency across many aspects of the homeselling process without sacrificing quality,” McLean said in 2022. “Knowing that a home sale is one of the biggest financial transactions of a person’s life, our goal is to put power and control back in the hands of sellers by letting them select the level of support they need and saving them tens of thousands in the process.”
Newfound said in the release that it has “closed over 40,000 real estate transactions, representing a total sales volume of more than $10 billion.” With the HomeLister acquisition, Newfound brands are marketing more than 1000 active listings in 30 states. The company reports 25 percent year-over-year growth.
