How can the Internet make the real estate brokerage industry more responsive to consumer needs? Why, over the past decade, has the real estate industry fallen so seriously short of consumer expectations? How can technology improve the way real estate products and services are delivered? What could a online real estate company do to improve consumer experience over traditional "bricks and mortar" real estate companies? Those are the questions we've been asking ourselves ever since the Internet first began to bring about dramatic changes to the real estate industry in 1997.

To answer these questions, we started at the beginning. In the good old days of real estate brokerage in the United States, houses sold for under $25,000. Not many people could afford to purchase a home before the advent of the 30 year mortgage. In that economic climate, for a real estate agent to make a living took a lot of time and hard work. Today's market, however, presents a new set of realities. Nowadays traditional commission based real estate agents can sell one house and afford to pay cash for a new luxury car! Times have changed, but the antiquated commission based model of real estate brokerage remains unchanged.

There's an old adage that if you sit on a stone long enough, you'll get use to it. For real estate consumers that means accepting a required bundle of services for a high commission without any other choice. By and large, residential real estate brokerage services haven't changed much over the past 50 years. You still pay a relatively large commission for a bundle of services. For the majority of brokerage firms, choices in costs and services remains fixed. In today's marketplace buying or selling a home through a traditional real estate broker is still and expensive and, often, arduous process.

But now consumers are tired of sitting on the proverbial stone. Over the past decade consumers have been growing more and more accustomed to participating in a value based economy where costs have continued to decline for services in industry after industry. Today's empowered consumers are able to research their purchases in advance using the Internet. And they are more willing to take control of their purchasing actions and decisions. They have come to expect a trade off in terms of their time and effort and the cost of goods and services. They expect the technology and innovation that has transformed other industries to now transform the industry of their largest investment in ways that make the process more efficient and less expensive.

Taking into account consumer dissatisfaction with the traditional real estate brokerage service pricing model along with the realities of today's market, Bloomkey's leaders have set out to create a company that maximizes value to our home buying and selling customers. By centralizing real estate transaction processes, advancing new technologies and, importantly, keeping overhead low by eliminating the need for large networks of real estate offices with scores of real estate agents, Bloomkey now provides real estate services across the United States and Canada more efficiently and economically than ever before.

For us, it's all about consumer choice and the ongoing process of innovation towards that goal. Staying ahead of the curve by discovering new ways to provide the most cost saving and reliable services is what motivates us to continuous improvement in our customers' real estate transaction experience. We look critically at everything we do. Long established practices, procedures and habits of mind are suspect. 'What stones might we be sitting on?' is a question we ask every day.

Bloomkey believes that the Realtor® will remain central to the real estate transaction. Having a professional work force with a high standard of conduct and Code of Ethics is an important advantage for the consumer. We see the real estate industry heading towards "single agency" and "limited representation" because those methods of service are economically, ethically and socially justifiable. We hope that the days are numbered for the traditional practice of "dual agency", where the traditional real estate agent continues to attempt to walk the fine, (if not impossible), line of representing two opposing parties to a real estate transaction, both buyer and seller, while promoting both of their interests at the same time equally. It's not acceptable in the legal profession and it shouldn't be allowed in ours.

Our goal is not to supplant the real estate agent, but to offer alternative real estate products and services in an unbundled, 'a la carte' fashion. Bringing back into the fold the annual thousands of disenchanted consumers who turn to "For Sale By Owner" methods each year because of the perceived lack of alternatives in real estate brokerage services and pricing. Our stance is that the consumer IS smart enough and savvy enough to pick and choose which services they want and need. At Bloomkey, we're proud to be a agent for change and an advocate of the consumer in the real estate industry.

In 1997, we set out to be the country's leading provider of online, 'a la carte' real estate services. Today we are proud to offer real estate brokerage services throughout the U.S. and in parts of Canada having successfully sold thousands of homes and properties. Bloomkey IS the real estate company of the future. Now, There is a Smarter Way to Buy and Sell Your Home!

by Lawrence Bunnell
Partner/Principal Broker

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