With Homestore's stock twisting at below $.37 per share (at stock market close yesterday) and with the company in danger of being delisted from the NASDAQ, any change in executive management may appear as jumping ship. But former Realtor.com president Steve Ozonian says not to jump to conclusions that he jumped ship. Things are better than they look on the surface at Homestore and Realtor.com. And besides, he's leaving for a good opportunity.

According to Ozonian, the time to jump ship would have been when HOMS started going south about a year ago.

"We knew before the people outside the company knew," recalls Ozonian. “I could have made some calls and ended up somewhere, but I wanted to be part of the solution. We worked through the darkest days. It was like a near-death experience. We hung in there, and did a lot of clean up work."

"Although the stock price is depressed," he continues, “it isn't surprising that the stock isn't rebounding. There is so much that has been done and the price doesn't reflect that yet. The company has a lot of runway in front of it. I'm not “bailing out" because I'm concerned about whether Realtor.com has a good future or not. I've been on the road for two straight years, and it has been difficult to be away from my family."

In fact, Ozonian may be missing a shot at glory, if Homestore's stock price rebounds and the company turns a profit soon. He says that a lot of the troubles hanging over Homestore are on their way to being solved, including the burn rate, the dispute between AOL and Homestore and the class-action shareholder suit. The company has no debt and still has millions in the bank, he says.

"Realtor.com's chances are very good," he says. “Consumers are voting through their attendance (4.5 million in August) so that tells you they like the site. IDX and VOWs are hot topics, but the numbers haven't changed - consumers come on to the Internet to look at properties. They aren't interested in a broker's site, they want a neutral place to go. They want good-quality information. They want generic neutral information and then they drill down to local company sites; so, Realtor.com is going to serve that interest for some time to come. People come through major portals like AOL (30 million subscribers,) and then they find the House and Home Channel. When they click on that, they are on Realtor.com. People need to understand that is how the consumer acts."

Ozonian says he also missed not being at the epicenter of the real estate industry. “When I went to Realtor.com, the hype drew me in, but that's died down," he says. “I've missed not being one of the key people to build networks – that's what I did before."

He says joining RE/MAX will be his last stop. “I've known Dave and Gail Liniger for years, and always respected what they were doing," says Ozonian, “and we always had a good relationship. I spent time living with them at their home and seeing what kind of people they are - we hit it off. The other senior members of group are super people, and I am honored to join them. I want to spend the next 15 years of my life with this company."

So what will Ozonian's new job be like?

RE/MAX International, the only major franchisor still owned and operated by its Realtor founders Gail and Dave Liniger, has offered Ozonian the job of helping RE/MAX focus its strategies for the future and to bring title, mortgage and other programs to increase revenues to its broker franchisees.

This is a natural extension of Ozonian's 24 years of experience in three key areas: corporate relocations, franchising and company-owned operations. With the Linigers and Daryl Jesperson as CEO and president Margaret Kelly leading the organization, Ozonian is about fourth or fifth in command.

RE/MAX President Margaret Kelly demurs, "We don't look at it as a hierarchy. We are all part of a team."

"Steve is an 'outsider,'" she says, “but that tells you the caliber of this individual that he was brought in at this level. The rest of us were 'home-grown.'"

Kelly, a former financial analyst, regional director and executive vice president for RE/MAX, worked her way up through the ranks of RE/MAX over a fifteen and a half-year career, but that didn't stop her from wanting Ozonian to the team.

"Steve's job has yet to be defined," says Kelly. "but he is a senior vice president. We brought him in to look at revenue streams - mortgage, title, acquisitions, things like that. Those are the areas I'm going to pass to him."

Published: September 19, 2002

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