Local startup CondoDomain has been acquired by New Jersey-based multi-state brokerage Better Homes Realty.  Terms were undisclosed.

CondoDomain, launched in 2005 as a web-only listings site, operates in 16 cities and has expanded in recent years to become a full-fledged brokerage in several of its locations, including Boston.

Founder Anthony Longo said that with his background in web technology and engineering, expanding the company had been successful, but as the start-up transformed into a full-fledged brokerage it needed to partner with an established real estate operation in order to bring in expertise on the brokerage side.

For the last year, "we have been looking for a real estate partner, and we didn’t exactly know what that meant," said Longo, adding that the group had investigated joint ventures and talent acquisition before agreeing to the Better Homes deal. "We needed some real estate professional to help grow the company," he explained.

 "We really liked their inner-city, urban approach. We wanted a brand we could market," said Larry Vecchio, broker/owner of Better Homes. Though Better Homes was already well-established in the suburban market — it has offices in seven states — the idea of acquiring a brand focused on young professionals looking to purchase in the urban core was appealing, Vecchio said.

The technological sophistication of CondoDomain’s sites sealed the deal. "I think their [online] viewing experience is probably the best I’ve seen in real estate, better than a lot of big players," Vecchio said. 

Longo will remain with the combined firm as its Chief Technology Officer.  The CondoDomain brand and website will be maintained, and the company will begin adding agents to existing offices as well as creating brick-and-mortar locations for the other cities it currently serves.