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 an online real estate company do to improve consumer experience over traditional "bricks and mortar" real estate companies? Those are some of the questions that Bloomkey's founders set out to answer way back in 1997.

To answer these questions, we started at the beginning. By looking at the history and development of the real estate industry it became apparent that what once made sense for real estate transaction participants - buyers, sellers and real estate brokers - no longer made sense on the brink of the new millennium.

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. Unlike today, there weren't that many licensed real estate agents to compete with each other. Consequently, the agent could afford to spend most of their time working for their client. Further, without an easy to access database of properties for sale, having a seasoned professional to help find properties and buyers was essential to an effective marketplace. In those days, a commission of 6% or more made perfect sense to all of the transaction particpants.

Today's market, however, presents a new set of realities. Nowadays, traditional real estate agents can sell just one house and afford to pay cash for a new luxury car with the commission! And, regardless of whether the agent takes 1 day to sell your home or 1 year, they still collect the same large commission. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) now boasts over 1.2 million members. Agents spend most of their time competing for business rather than helping their clients. Not only are consumer paying more for real estate services, they're receiving less. 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 having to purchase a bundle of services for a relatively high commission rate. By and large, residential real estate brokerage services haven't changed much over the past 100 years. You still pay a large commission for a fixed package of services. In today's marketplace buying or selling a home through a traditional real estate broker is still an expensive and, often, time consuming process.

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 in almost every services industry. Today's technology empowered consumers are able to research their purchases in advance using the Internet. And they have demonstrated more willingness to take control of their purchasing actions and decisions. Consumers 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, their home, 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 customers. By centralizing real estate transaction processes, advancing new technologies, innovation 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. Using technology to provide real estate buyers and sellers with options in terms of services and fees is what motivates us towards continuous improvement of 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 in the future, 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 and work for the day when the traditional practice of "dual agency", (a practice whereby the real estate agent attempts to walk the fine line of representing two opposing parties to a real estate transaction while pretending to promote both of their interests at the same time equally) no longer exists. It's not acceptable in the legal profession and it shouldn't be allowed in real estate.

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', consumer oriented 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 indeed 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 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 already successfully sold thousands of homes and properties while saving consumers millions of dollars in real estate fees. Bloomkey IS the real estate company of the future.

Now, there really is a smarter way to buy and sell your home!

by Lawrence Bunnell
Partner/Principal Broker