Homestore.com Purchases Stake in InvestorPlus.com

Homestore.com Inc. in Thousand Oaks, which lists homes for sale on the Internet, bought a 10.5% stake in the U.S. online unit of Canada’s International Properties Group Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.

InvestorPlus.com is a subsidiary of Calgary-based International Properties, a real estate company that owns or manages 62 properties with 8,394 condominium suites. The company said it raised $10.5 million through three rounds of financing that it will use to expand in the United States.

InvestorPlus.com and Homestore.com also signed a marketing agreement that gives InvestorPlus.com exposure to 3.7 million visitors a month to the online real estate company’s family of Web sites, including Realtor.com, HomeBuilder.com and HomeFair.com.

Homestore.com also has content distribution relationships with America Online, ExciteHome Corp. and Go Network/Infoseek Corp., all of which company officials hope will provide InvestorPlus.com with a wide marketing reach.

A co-branded Web site will be introduced later this month that will feature real-estate information on properties for sale, products and services available from the companies, financing information, and how Americans can add real estate to their investment portfolios using the InvestorPlus.com Virtual Apartment Building system.

Both companies will share in the Web site’s advertising and e-commerce revenues.