RealCapitalMarkets' Mantra: Control, Privacy, Speed

The Internet Is Your Friend... Stephen Alter and Gary Allen, co-founders of RealCapitalMarkets, believe that, during the first half of 2001, their firm assisted brokers in the disposition of ten percent of all properties valued at more than $10 million. According to Alter, "Each of our property offerings is private, confidential and invitation-only... We maintain an in-house research staff to qualify all principals in the nation ... and quickly determine who the most qualified buyers are for a specific property type and market. Our clients may then delete from or add to this list, or use their own invitation list."

RealCapitalMarkets normally charges $5,000 for this service of managing the private invitation process and providing real-time tracking and reporting. Property presentations include an online offering memorandum, financial models, virtual tours and other underwriting documents. RealCapitalMarkets' database of 10,000 principals can be searched and queried by its customers. Future enhancements include on-demand printing of offering books.

So is RealCapitalMarkets a threat to brokers? No way. At least that's my opinion. After all, you're not paying a broker for administrative tasks. You're paying a broker to price a property, to advocate your interests and to negotiate a transaction. Why not outsource the rest? Yet despite the proven failure of pure play dot-coms (RIP: eToys, Pets.com, Webvan), Alter and Allen still face a skeptical brokerage industry afraid of losing "control" of their clients. They respond with this key value point: We'll make you more money because you're more likely to keep both sides of the commission by contacting principals directly. Money talks.

--Peter Pike