Before Amanda and her fiancé John became husband and wife, the couple shared a condo in San Francisco, CA that John had purchased prior to the relationship.

“It was a total bachelor pad. It has a mini fridge and a mini freezer!” said Amanda.

After sticking it out for one too many years, Amanda decided to start looking for a home for the couple to buy shortly after they officially got married. It was time to say goodbye to the bachelor pad once and for all!

Once homeownership was in sight, Amanda and John decided to leave the city life and settle for the suburb of Lafayette, CA. To see what was on the market they used various different real estate web sites, their favorite being Trulia.

“After using tons of other options, Trulia had the best interface and gave the best results,” shared Amanda.

Amanda would keep Trulia open throughout the day – even at work (shhhhh) – and scan listings when she had a free minute. Once she started poking around the site she realized that they needed to broaden their search from single-family homes to include townhomes.

“Our search was pretty narrow at first and nothing was coming back that we liked. Trulia made it easy to adjust criteria and track new types of homes. That really helped a lot.”

Then, one day, it happened. Amanda found a great candidate – however, it was just not love at first sight. The home was dated and needed work. Amanda and John felt they needed that extra push to seal the deal before moving forward with the fixer-upper.

“We wanted to put an offer on the home but not before researching the neighborhood first. That would really make it for us. I turned to Trulia Local to see if there was public transportation nearby, if it had good schools and was close proximity to downtown.”

After researching the surrounding areas, the couple felt confident about moving forward with the home. They put their bachelor pad condo up for sale, submitted an offer on the new property, and days later were the proud new owners of a home near Lafayette, CA.

“We’re really happy. It’s really the quality Trulia provides that makes it so user friendly.”

Have you found our site to be useful during your home search? If so, tell us by emailing MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com!

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I came to the Google I/O Conference in 2012 expecting to find old friends, cool technology, and maybe something special. But this was over the top.

I stood inside the large auditorium at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and as a stunt person hurled himself out of a plane wearing the new Google Glass prototype, I watched it all happen from his perspective via the device’s embedded video camera. The jumper eventually landed on the roof and came into the venue with an entire group of stuntmen. As Jason Gilbert of Huffington Post put it, it was one “of the most insane things I’ve ever seen at a tech demo.”

The decision to reserve my spot as an “explorer” – becoming one of the first 2,000 people to get Google Glass – was an easy one.

One year later, I couldn’t contain my excitement as I finally laid my hands on the prototype. I chose the slate gray color thinking it was low key, which now seems comical since Glass seems to bring a reaction out of almost everyone. There’s nothing low key about wearing a piece of cutting-edge technology that’s so rare.

It was lighter than I expected and included some cool accessories like darkened lenses that can be attached when it’s sunny out. I spent the first few days getting acquainted with the user experience, walking around the neighborhood to get a feel for how Glass provides information.

Jeff demos Trulia for Glass for NBC News

After spending three weeks with the device, I can say this technology is in its early days, but there’s no denying it has the potential to be an incredibly powerful platform. And because real estate shopping is such an inherently mobile experience, it’s perfect for a Trulia app.

Google has done a really nice job with the Glass Mirror API, and as a result, I was able to build Trulia for Glass in about a week.

What makes the technology incredibly powerful is that it allows users to either continue what they are doing or engage with new information being provided to them. For example, Glass notifies me when I receive a message, but nothing appears or impedes my vision. The idea is to provide just enough fresh information that is personalized for me and relevant to my location.

It’s a very different experience than having your head buried in your phone while the world passes by.

Looking at a listing on Trulia for Glass while sitting in the park

With that in mind, I’ve added features to Trulia for Glass that help people learn more about homes that should interest them, when it’s convenient. Specifically, with Trulia for Glass, you can:

• Get notifications when you’re near a home that meets your predetermined search criteria, such as neighborhood, number of bedrooms, and price range
• View property listings easily and scroll through pictures with the flick of your finger
• Have the property description read to you if you decide you want to learn more
• Save properties to My Trulia so you can follow them anywhere on Trulia, whether on the Web or any of the mobile apps
• Get directions to a home if you want to see the property yourself
• Call or email the real estate agent directly from Glass

The Trulia team is continuing to tweak and improve Trulia for Glass, and we hope that sometime soon it will be available for Google Glass wearers to download. Watch for future updates, and feel free to ask for a demo if you see me wearing it around town.

The first new map is dedicated to rentals. Now, consumers can browse through color-coded neighborhoods and quickly focus their search on neighborhoods that meet their budget.

The second set of maps visualizes historical earthquake and flood data to depict environmental risk at a block-by-block level. Up until now, the risk of these events has traditionally been hard for home buyers, sellers, and renters to find. Now house hunters can use our maps to see flood zones and understand where earthquakes, for example are more common, in order to make informed decisions about where to move.

With today’s launch across Android mobile and web platforms, rental prices and environmental risks join Trulia’s robust suite of interactive visualizations, which already feature home values, crime, school rankings, commute times and local amenities such as banks, gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores.

Details of the New Trulia Map Visualizations

• Rental Prices: The rental rate visualizations incorporate a year’s worth of data to show the average cost-per-bedroom at the neighborhood level. Deep reds indicate high-cost areas, and yellow and green designate more affordable neighborhoods.
• Earthquakes: The earthquake map layer incorporates USGS and the California Geologic Survey data to show seismic hazard, also known as ground shaking potential. Blues and greens show low shaking potential and reds show high-potential areas.
• Floods: Using FEMA data, Trulia’s flood hazard maps outline a community’s different flood risk areas, determined by topographic surveys and statistical data for river flow, storm tides, and rainfall. High risk areas are identified by dark blue shading and show the areas where there is at least a 1 in 4 chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage. Light blue designates the lower-risk flood areas.

Trulia’s visualizations are accessible on the web by visiting http://www.trulia.com/local. Select a city and then utilize the menu on the left-hand side to see properties, home values, crimes, schools, commute times, amenities, rental rates and environmental risks of floods and earthquakes. On Android mobile, click on the layer icon in the upper right corner and select heat maps from the menu.

-Lee

In today’s volatile job and housing markets, more and more Americans have found themselves forced to relocate to pursue new employment opportunities or seek lower cost of living. When a round of layoffs hit San Francisco Bay Area native Kari and her husband Shane, they knew they had to relocate for better job and housing options.

“After Shane lost his job, we decided to move out of the Bay Area,” shares Kari. “My older sister lives a few hours away in Sacramento, so we started looking for a rental there first.”

Kari and Shane began job and house hunting in Sacramento, CA, just two hours north of the Bay Area. After only a few weeks of applying for positions, Shane landed a job in record time. With his start date quickly approaching, Kari’s older sister welcomed Shane to temporarily stay with her while Kari stayed behind to pack up the Bay Area home and search for local Sacramento rentals.

“It was hard at first. I didn’t know how long we’d be apart. My sister offered to help search for homes with me as she already lived in the area. We immediately downloaded a few real estate apps on my iPhone and found that Trulia’ iPhone rental app was by far our favorite. It offered a lot more rental listings in Sacramento and made it very easy to get in contact with the landlords and management companies.”

The search was on.  Kari and her sister tag-teamed the Sacramento rental market using Trulia’s iPhone rental app in search for the perfect home to rent – with Kari searching from the Bay Area and her sister searching from Sacramento.

“Since I was stuck back in the Bay Area, I would use Trulia’s Local Maps in addition to the rental app. The maps would help me see what amenities were around and how far they would be. That was really helpful in giving me an idea of my surroundings without having to drive back and forth,” shares Kari.

To make matters slightly more challenging, Kari needed to snag a home that was pet friendly.

“Trulia’s listings made it very easy to see if landlords were dog-friendly or not. I loved Trulia’s ‘Save this Home’ feature because I would find homes that were pet friendly and immediately save them for later or share them with my sister, my friends and family on Facebook to get their take on it. As my sister was helping me, this feature also helped her get a sense of what I was looking for.”

After about a week of searching, Kari’s sister stumbled upon a promising candidate.

“She found a house on Trulia that she knew we’d love. Shane was able to easily connect with the landlord and the next day he was touring the home. After that, it was a storybook ending. We got the house and were set to move in immediately.”

In just one short week of house hunting, Kari and her husband, with the help of Kari’s sister, were able to find and lock in the perfect neighborhood and rental for them, their dog, Cowboy, and now their first child that’s on the way.

“Shane got the job on November 3rd and we moved in November 16th. We’re super excited about starting a new life and grow our family in our new home. I always rave about Trulia because it helped me tremendously in such a stressful time.”

Do you have a Trulia success story? We want to hear how you find Trulia beneficial in your home search! Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com to be featured on our blog and newsletter!  

Ashley traveling in Venice, Italy.

In 2010, Ashley and her partner bought their first house in Oakland, CA. As the two settled in and learned more about their community and surroundings, Ashley became fascinated with the Oakland real estate market. More and more she found herself continuing to browse through various listings on a daily basis.

“We used Trulia.com when we were looking for our first home and I was hooked. Once I started to get to know Oakland more, I realized that the market here is really eclectic and interesting. You have million dollar homes three blocks away from section 8 housing. It’s weird how everything is really mixed together here.”

Her addiction to Trulia grew, and soon she downloaded the Trulia iPhone app so she could look at places while she was out and about.

“I use the Trulia iPhone app a lot. Probably one or two times a week. Looking on Trulia has become a hobby! I like how easy it is and how you can see all the activity that’s happening in your market. It’s crazy what some of these houses are listed for.”

Part of Ashley’s hobby is using the Trulia iPhone app to find open houses on the weekends.

“If I’m in a cute area I’ll use Trulia iPhone app to look up the open houses and check them out. Trulia is really helping me research my town. I’m learning so much!”

Not only is Ashley on an ongoing quest to research Oakland’s housing market through Trulia, but she and her partner are also thinking ahead, having already started to outgrow their current starter home. With Trulia, she’s able to get an idea of what their next neighborhood will be like.

“Now that we’re talking more seriously about selling our home, I’ve been looking at houses that have the important amenities nearby. Walkability is important to us, and Trulia is definitely helping to identify those areas.”

In the end, all of Ashley’s research on Trulia is prepping her for selling her house this summer, as well as exploring new listings and neighborhoods.

“I’ve done so much research on the value of our home through Trulia based on comps and research. I feel like we’ll be armed with the correct information when it comes time for us to sell. Tools like Trulia allow you to be prepared.”

Much more than being just a fun hobby, Trulia is there to not only entertain, but to educate. We’re all about giving our users the inside scoop on their housing search and prepping them with market trends when they’re ready to buy or sell. We’re glad that Ashley’s arming herself with Trulia’s tools so that she can have fun all the while making the best real estate decisions!

We want to hear how you find Trulia beneficial and your success story! Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com.   

We are very excited to announce that Trulia has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Market Leader, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEDR, “Market Leader”), a provider of Software as a Service (SaaS)-based software that helps agents generate, manage, engage and market to their contacts and provides enterprise tools for franchisors and brokerages to route leads, evaluate lead efficacy, manage agent performance, and track consumer trends. This transformative deal aims to deliver unprecedented functionality and create more value for franchisors, brokerages, agents and consumers.

The combined company will have approximately 46,000 premium subscribers, more than any other online real estate marketplace.  The transaction will result in a combined platform that creates value for the entire real estate market, from consumers to brokerages, agents and franchisors, and will create the most comprehensive end-to-end solution across multiple technology platforms in the real estate industry today.

Benefits for Franchisors and Brokerages:

• Today, Market Leader and Trulia each have deep partnerships with hundreds of real estate brokerages and franchisors.  Market Leader’s SaaS solution allows franchisors and brokerages to provide leading-edge productivity and daily workflow tools to their agents, while Trulia’s broker and franchisor partnerships help agents close more business by promoting their listings and generating leads from Trulia’s transaction-ready consumer audience.

Benefits for Real Estate Agents:

• Real estate agents will now benefit from the industry’s first end-to-end solution.  As the Trulia and Market Leader products integrate over time following the acquisition, agents will have unmatched data, combined with leading edge tools for working with consumers to help them find the home of their dreams.  Agents that use the combined platform will realize that every lead will become more valuable and the agent will have greater visibility into the value of the lead..

Benefits for Consumers:

• Real estate consumers will benefit from improved responsiveness and better service from the agents with whom they work.  Trulia anticipates that increased agent responsiveness will result in more consumer delight on Trulia’s web and mobile properties.

We are very excited about the enhanced value this transaction will bring to all of our customers and partners, helping them capture more upside as the housing market recovers. Together, we will help brokerages and franchisors harness the power of technology to reach consumers and enhance the productivity of their agents by offering them the most comprehensive end-to-end solution via the web and mobile devices.  Our combined product suite also will enable agents to increase their follow-up capabilities, level of engagement with consumers and the return on investment on their leads.

For more details on the deal, click here to read the press release. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.  Thank you, as always, for your support.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Other Matters

This message contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance.  In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Trulia’s expectations, strategy, plans or intentions.  Trulia’s expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including but not limited to: the risk that Market Leader shareholders may fail to approve the merger agreement; the risk that required governmental approvals for the merger will not be obtained; the risk that Trulia and Market Leader will be unable to consummate the merger on the terms set forth in the merger agreement for any reason;  the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully;  the risk that synergies will not be realized or realized to the extent anticipated;  the risk that Trulia following merger will not realize on its financing or operating strategies;  the risk that litigation in respect of either company or the merger could arise; and the risk that disruption caused by the merger that make it difficult to maintain certain strategic relationships.

The forward-looking statements contained in this blog post are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Trulia’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2013 and those that will be discussed in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed by Trulia with the Securities and Exchange Commission at a future date.  The forward-looking statements in this blog post are based on information available to Trulia as of the date hereof, and Trulia disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

This blog post is being made in respect of a proposed business combination involving Trulia and Market Leader. In connection with the proposed transaction, Trulia will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that includes the preliminary proxy statement of Market Leader and that will also constitute a prospectus of Trulia. The information in the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus is not complete and may be changed.  Trulia may not sell the common stock referenced in the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus until the Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission becomes effective. The preliminary proxy statement/prospectus and this blog post are not offers to sell Trulia securities and are not soliciting an offer to buy Trulia securities in any state where the offer and sale is not permitted.

The definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Market Leader . TRULIA AND MARKET LEADER URGE INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.

Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and definitive proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Trulia through the web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Free copies of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and definitive proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission can also be obtained on Trulia’s website at www.trulia.com.

Trulia, Market Leader and their respective directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding these persons who may, under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, be considered participants in the solicitation of Market Leader shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction will be set forth in the proxy statement/prospectus described above when it is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information regarding Trulia’s executive officers and directors is included in Trulia’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2013, and amended on April 29, 2013, and additional information regarding Market Leader’s executive officers and directors is included in Market Leader’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2013. You can obtain free copies of these documents from Trulia or Market Leader using the contact information above.

It looks like Danielle has a keen eye for bay windows.

Here’s Marissa’s $50 winning shot, which allegedly put Marissa’s Twitter-doubting husband in his place. (#win)

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Maggie (who seems to resemble a cookie) snapped this shot last weekend, with…

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… Frank, who was also househunting with Marissa. We see what you both did there – well played.

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And last but not least… this epic shot is Rev. LaDonna, admiring the view from what could be her new home. Nice find!

Congratulations again to our #TruliaOpenHouse Winners!

Matt had always viewed the house hunting process as  a hassle. A few years ago when his wife Amber mentioned they should start thinking about buying a home, Matt began to really feel overwhelmed. Not long thereafter, Matt found Trulia, right in time for his first home-search mission: finding the right neighborhood to raise his family.

“My friend introduced me to Trulia and from the beginning I could tell it would ease the house hunting burden. My wife was hooked and would send me Trulia links all the time. We were really learning a lot. It was great,” shared Matt.

The couple quickly realized that finding homes and scrolling through pictures and maps on Trulia’s website and iPad app was really fun. It gave them great insights on the neighborhood’s amenities, crime, schools and commute.

“We looked and looked and tried to figure out the best area. We had a couple of areas in mind but wanted to be sure. We used Trulia’s interactive maps to help us narrow down our neighborhood search results easily.”

By using Trulia’s crime and school maps, Matt and Amber were able to browse homes available in low-crime areas, as well as in a preferred school district. Trulia’s map search criteria helped them narrow their options down to the perfect area to raise their son.

“The maps were our favorite tools. The filtering is very simple. It made the whole house search experience fun and easy,” said Matt.

Eventually the couple fell in love with El Dorado Hills – just outside of Sacramento, CA – and about a month later, they settled on a home. Today they are thankful Trulia helped in finding and fully researching their current neighborhood in which they will grow their family.

Trulia helped this couple get a feel for how it is to live in a neighborhood before even moving in. How has Trulia helped you lately? We want to hear your story and the ways you find us beneficial!

Email us at MyTruliaSuccess@trulia.com and you could see your story on our blog and newsletter! 

The market is heating up, and 75% of people we recently surveyed think that it’s better to buy a home now than a year from now. With that in mind, we’re revamping the iPad experience to give users the tools they need to find their perfect place to live.

Let’s dig into the details on what’s new!

Updated listing pages – The listing pages for each property have been beautifully updated to showcase large HD photos, as well as thumbnails for quick scrolling. Users can also interact with photos in the full screen photo gallery by pinching and zooming to see more or less.

Other new features include:

Navigation menu – The new menu is simplified and streamlined, allowing users to easily search for properties for sale or rent, view their favorite homes, find saved searches, see open houses, and more.

Color-coded map markers – Utilizing colored markers, users can easily distinguish the newest properties for sale: Green represents unviewed homes that have just come on the market, black is used for all other unviewed homes, while a grey marker denotes properties that have already been seen.

Nearby map and local info, including median price and school ratings, displayed directly on the property pages – This information was previously only on the property results map. Now, each individual listing page gives users more of the inside scoop on properties and neighborhoods.

My Saves section - Prior to the update, this feature was split between the results map and search filters. Now, users view their favorite properties and saved searches all in one place that’s easily accessible from the new navigation menu.

You can download the new iPad app here. User feedback is important to us, so let us know what you think of the app by emailing ipad@trulia.com.

Entering to win is easy and takes seconds:

1. Visit any open house this weekend (April 19th – 21st)
2. Take a digital photo of the open house from the curb
3. Tweet the photo with #TruliaOpenHouse before Monday

For more details, check out our Official Rules.

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Need to do any last minute planning? (It’s alright, we won’t tell.)

We’ve made it very easy to find open houses no matter where you are, with top-rated apps for your iPhone or Android phone, and online at Trulia.com. Wherever your house hunt takes you, we’ve got you covered.

To get you going, check out these Quick Start guides for iPhone, Android and Trulia.com.

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Find Open Houses with Trulia for iPhone - free in the App Store

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Find Open Houses with Trulia for Android - free in Google Play 

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Find Open Houses on Trulia.com

Happy house hunting!

Andrew