SecondSpace launches 'uber' lifestyles marketplace

Most great businesses are created to fix a problem. For Alok Sinha, who spent 17 years at Microsoft, a challenge for him was finding a vacation home. He said it took three years to find the perfect "second" home, which doesn't surprise me. It takes that much time to find a first home in some cases. To address this challenge of finding that perfect second space, Sinha, along with Anil Pereira, former Verisign and Classmates.com executive, started SecondSpace. "SecondSpace is an uber site for lifestyles," said Anil Pereira (who presented SecondSpace in the Vator pitch video).

SecondSpace has been around since July 2006, but on Monday, the site launched as a portal for two verticals: LandWatch.com and ResortScape.com. LandWatch is dedicated to those who're seeking a second home that's suitable for someone interested in an outdoor lifestyle, such as mountain biking, hunting, farming, or basking in wine country. For instance, you can find a ranch that's 20 acres and costs $175,000 on the site. ResortScape is for those who want to live in an area that's a bit more polished, as resorts are. The sites really cater to all the needs a person wants when seeking a perfect second home, such as service providers in the area who can help maintain the second home or appraise it. I also like the fact that you can narrow your interests. For instance, I chose "active adult" in "North America" seeking "golf" properties for $470,000 an d up, with 5 bedrooms, etc. There are some 40 million people in the U.S. who own a second home, whether it's a time share, or vacation home, or just property. So, clearly there should be demand for such a site. 

And, Sinha, with his background as co-founder of Microsoft's HomeAdvisor, one of the earlier versions, or Web 1.0, for real estate aggregation sites, should have some ample experience to help build such a utility. 

SecondSpace raised $6.6 million in a Series A financing. Pereira says the company already generated $1.25 million in sales.