08/ 01/ 2008
by Sandy Siegel
Real estate markets may run in cycles, but Matt Kolb runs his realty business on cycles. His Boulder, Colo.-based Pedal To Properties is a full-service real estate agency with a unique spin: Clients can check out homes and the surrounding neighborhoods on retro-looking two-wheelers.
An avid cyclist and two-time Ironman triathlete who bikes to work, Kolb informally offered the bicycle service to clients while working for another company. At the end of the previews, Kolb says, buyers would typically say, " ‘We never would have seen this pocket park or bike path had we just been riding in the back of your car. This is a great way to see properties.’ "
Kolb couldn’t agree more. That’s why he opened his company last year with co-owner Chris Sweeney. About half of their customers take advantage of the bike service.
"People enjoy it because they get to combine a workout and looking at properties in one," Kolb says.
To see homes near downtown, they ride from the office. For outlying areas, the agents pack snacks and drinks, load the cruiser bikes onto a car rack and drive prospective buyers out for a more intimate, less stressful house-hunting excursion. "We try to make it an experience for people," Kolb says.
Now, he’d like to reproduce that experience elsewhere. He’s scouting the country for other communities like bicycle-friendly Boulder--places with good weather and a stable real estate market.
Meanwhile, Kolb is aiming to spread the Pedal To Properties philosophy throughout Boulder by sponsoring local biking and environmental events, like the recent Bike to Work Day.
"We really try to work with the community," he says. "We try to build awareness to get people out of their cars a little bit more."
For Kolb, that’s a concept worth, well, peddling.
This article is from the August/September 2008 issue of MyBusiness.
