Homestore.com Expands Into Florida, Arizona

Homestore.com in Thousand Oaks, one of the largest home and real estate networks on the Internet, has acquired an online company that markets new homes in Florida and Arizona, in addition to signing a 10-year agreement with Budget Group Inc.

Homestore.com officials said the company acquired Florida-based NewList Corp. to strengthen its new-home presence in Florida and Arizona, two of the fastest-growing home-building states in the country. In addition to marketing new homes online, NewList has provided Web development and design to many top builders.

The agreement with Budget Group is through its Budget Truck Group division, which includes Ryder TRS and Budget Truck Rental. The alliance marks the entrance of Budget Truck Group into online moving services.

Homestore.com will participate in online and offline Budget Group media commitments, including national yellow page advertising, print, television and radio advertising and in-store promotions. The Homestore.com logo also will be showcased on the sides and backs of Budget Truck Group’s rental fleet of 45,000 Budget and Ryder trucks.

NewList founder John Nethero will join Homestore.com as vice president of sales for HomeBuilder.com, responsible for the day-to-day management of HomeBuilder.com’s sales force at the company’s Dallas headquarters.