ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL --
For a while now, prospective homebuyers have been able to browse through homes on Internet sites.
Now, they'll be able to buy them online, too.
"Think of it as a digital Yellow Pages for all the related services of buying and selling a home," explains Michael Gerrity, founder and CEO of the Real Estate Channel Corp.
On Aug. 1, www.RealEstateChannel.com will come online. Although terms are not yet finalized, Gerrity estimates the fee for a home sale "will typically be less than one-tenth of the average real estate commission."
The new site is huge, says Gerrity – one of the largest Web development projects that Internet server MPInet has ever undertaken. Among the offerings: links to the local schools, area job information, crime statistics and other demographic information that buyers should consider before purchasing a new place. "If I live in Longwood and want to move over to Bay Hill, I can compare and contrast the different areas," explains Gerrity. "We'll have this information for every single ZIP code not only in the Orlando area, but around the country."
In addition to existing contracts with Time Warner and Paxton Communications, The Real Estate Channel has partnered with a national real estate news provider, Inman News, to provide continually updated market resources.
The Real Estate Channel houses twelve employees and Gerrity plans to hire ten more in the next two weeks. And, if plans pan out, expect the company to recruit some sales talent in new markets where the company is looking to expand – including Florida, Atlanta, Dallas and as far west as San Diego.
Gerrity currently is raising another million in funding commitments and hopes to bring the company public in the next two to three years.
With even bigger long-term plans to move into the realm of syndicated television, Real Estate Channel, according to Gerrity, fits snugly into the merging nature of media. "I think of us not as a dot-com but a dot-bam, for broadband and media," says Gerrity. "We are going to be like Discovery Channel on TV and Discover Channel online."
