HouseValues traded on Nasdaq under the ticker SOLD, and the ticker fit the business. Near the top of the American housing boom, homeowners wanted to know what their houses might fetch. The Seattle-area company let them type in an address online. A local agent then followed up with a market report, and agents paid HouseValues for each contact. It went public in December 2004, in a market that seemed like it would only go up.

A Curious Homeowner, Sold

HouseValues bet that the internet could fill an agent's pipeline better than mailers or open houses. A homeowner checking a price was an early sign of a future listing. The company sold those signals to agents by territory, on subscription. As it grew, it added buyer leads and tools for agents to manage their contacts. Its fortunes rose and fell with the number of agents who were busy and willing to spend.

When Housing Turned

The company priced its IPO at $15 a share in December 2004 and listed on Nasdaq. When the housing market turned in 2006 and 2007, agents cut spending and revenue fell with them. HouseValues rebuilt itself as a software company for agents and renamed itself Market Leader. In 2013 Trulia bought Market Leader for about $355 million. Zillow later acquired Trulia.

Cover: Old Farmhouse, Unknown artist. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an old farmhouse (what is my home worth).