MilitaryByOwner Advertising

What MilitaryByOwner Advertising does

MilitaryByOwner Advertising, Inc. is a privately held online real estate advertising company founded in January 2000 by Dave Gran, a retired Marine Corps officer with 21 years of service, and Sharon Gran, who has a background in education, technology, and real estate. Headquartered in Stafford, Virginia, just outside Quantico Marine Corps Base, the company operates a web and mobile platform that connects U.S. military service members and their families seeking housing near bases with homeowners, landlords, real estate agents, and property managers looking to advertise properties. Listings are organized by military installation and U.S. state and cover bases across the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The platform was created to address a specific gap the founders identified during their own PCS experience: service members needing a focused marketplace to find or sell housing in short-tour, high-mobility assignments.

The platform's core technology is a searchable, base-specific listing database accessible via the website and iOS/Android mobile apps, augmented by a Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) calculator, base-by-base informational landing pages, a library of downloadable ebooks on home buying, selling, renting, and military life, and US Legal Forms integration for state-specific real estate documents. The business operates on a self-serve model with phone and live chat support. Revenue is generated through three residential advertising tiers priced from $14.95 to $79.95 with escalating features (photo limits, listing duration, virtual tours, yard signs) and three business advertising tiers priced from $325 to $995 annually that target relocation-related businesses and real estate professionals, with the top tier bundling free residential listings. Physical products (For Sale/For Rent yard signs and street pointers) and ecommerce legal form referrals provide supplementary income.

The company is founder-owned, bootstrapped from inception, and reports no external funding, acquisitions, or subsidiaries. Over 25+ years it has accumulated a customer base that has advertised "hundreds of thousands of properties," holds a Better Business Bureau A+ rating, and operates under registered trademarks for "MilitaryByOwner" and "militarybyowner.com." The team is small (fewer than ten people per internal notes, despite the 11–50 firmographic band), predominantly staffed by military spouses, and led by the co-founders with no publicly disclosed leadership transitions or restructuring.

Name

MilitaryByOwner Advertising

Legal name

MilitaryByOwner Advertising, Inc.

Website

https://militarybyowner.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MilitaryByOwner Advertising operates a web and mobile platform connecting military families with homes for sale or rent near U.S. bases. Founded in 2000 in Stafford, Virginia, the bootstrapped, founder-owned firm monetizes through tiered residential and business advertising packages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Military Housing Real Estate Advertising

NAICS

Advertising Material Distribution Services (541870)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Seller Representation & Listing Services (BPAJAAAK)

Keywords

• Military housing listings
• Real estate advertising platform
• PCS relocation resources
• Military property marketplace
• Off-base housing marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Stafford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Residential Property Advertising: Three-tier advertising packages for homeowners and landlords to list properties for sale or rent. Packages range from basic text-only ads to premium listings with 40 photos, virtual tours, and yard signs.
2. Business Directory Advertising: Local and national business advertising for relocation-related businesses near military bases. Tiers include Local Business Ad, Priority Business Ad, and Business Builder packages with promotional pricing.
3. Physical Products: Sale of For Sale and For Rent yard signs, street pointers, and presumably legal forms for home selling and renting transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MilitaryByOwner Advertising operates an online real estate advertising marketplace that connects military families with homes for sale or rent near U.S. military installations. Sellers (homeowners, landlords, and relocation-related businesses) purchase tiered advertising packages to list properties, while buyers (military service members and families) search a base-organized database across the continental U.S., Guam, and Puerto Rico. The platform supplements listings with a BAH calculator, mobile apps, educational ebooks, and physical yard sign products.

Product overview

MilitaryByOwner Advertising operates a real estate advertising platform connecting military families with homes for sale or rent near military bases across the U.S., Guam, and Puerto Rico. The core offering consists of three residential advertising packages (Basic Package, Home Tour, and Home Tour Plus) priced from $14.95 to $79.95, with escalating features including photo limits, posting duration, and search placement priority. Business advertising packages (Local Business Ad, Priority Business Ad, Business Builder) target relocation-related businesses at price points from $325 to $995. The platform also provides physical marketing tools (yard signs), a BAH Calculator tool, and a library of downloadable ebooks covering home buying, selling, PCS relocation, and military life topics. Mobile applications for iOS and Android extend platform access. The company was founded in January 2000 and maintains an A+ Better Business Bureau rating.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of thousands of properties advertised
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Better Business BureauminorOthersBBB Business Review with A+ rating, seal displayed on website. Third-party accreditation and rating for business trustworthiness.
• BBBminorOthersA+ rating maintained with Better Business Bureau, indicating trusted business practices and customer satisfaction.
• RentRisk (Veteran-Owned)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTenant screening tool recommended on the site. Veteran-owned tenant screening service including credit/criminal history, rental history, and eviction checks.
• US Legal FormsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for state-specific real estate legal forms for home buying, selling, and renting transactions.
• Fair Housing (HUD)minorOthersEqual Housing Opportunity logo displayed, indicating compliance with HUD Fair Housing requirements.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Homes.com: Homes.com is a residential real estate portal operated by CoStar Group. It competes for the same prospective home buyer and seller audience as MBO, with significant marketing investment and broader geographic coverage.
• Trulia: Trulia is a national residential real estate search portal owned by Zillow Group. It competes with MBO on general home search and rental discovery but does not specialize in base-proximate housing.
• Redfin: Redfin is a technology-powered residential brokerage and listing platform. It competes with MBO in the broader online home search and listing space, though with a brokerage-led model rather than a self-serve advertising model.
• Zillow: Zillow is the largest U.S. residential real estate marketplace, aggregating MLS listings, FSBO listings, and rentals. It overlaps broadly with MBO's search and advertising offerings but is not specialized to the military community.
• Realtor.com: Realtor.com is a major U.S. real estate listing portal operated by Move, Inc. It offers broad geographic coverage and competing inventory to MBO but without base-specific search or military-aware tools.

Direct peers

• ForSaleByOwner.com: ForSaleByOwner.com is a national FSBO listing platform that allows homeowners to advertise properties directly to buyers. MBO's Basic and Home Tour packages functionally serve the same FSBO use case, making this a direct competitor in the self-serve listing category.
• AHRN.com (Army Housing Referral Network): AHRN.com is the official U.S. Army housing referral network that connects service members with off-base rental and for-sale listings near installations. It is the closest direct competitor to MilitaryByOwner in the military-specific housing search vertical.

Emerging players

• Apartments.com: Apartments.com is a major rental listing platform owned by CoStar Group. It overlaps with MBO's rental-side listings near military bases but is not specialized to military households and BAH-focused search.
• Military.com Housing Section: Military.com is a large military lifestyle and news site that offers housing resources and listings. It overlaps with MBO's audience and educational content but is not a dedicated advertising-first real estate platform.

Regional players

• USAA Home-circle of services: USAA offers insurance, banking, and limited real estate referral services to military members and their families. While not a direct listing platform, it is a trusted military-affiliated ecosystem that competes for the same household wallet and could expand into listing services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/militarybyowner
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkvFB7v7Z5yOjWntetiEWKg?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/militarybyowner
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/militarybyowner-advertising
• Instagraminstagram.com/militarybyowner
• Pinterestpinterest.com/militarybyowner

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MilitaryByOwner Advertising