By Jill Nagy
Eric Eckardt’s real estate office is “wherever there is the best coffee,” as he strives to bring great service at low cost through Cleardoor, his new real estate company.
Cleardoor has no fixed brick and mortar office and, Eckardt said, no fixed levels of management. He meets his clients at coffee shops where “We have a cuppa together,” or at their homes.
Low overhead keeps his costs down. Costs to clients are, typically, a one percent commission for his company and a similar amount—at the customer’s discretion—toward the other broker’s commission. That can save a buyer or seller as much as $20,000 on a typical transaction, compared to the national average commission of five to six percent of the sales price, he estimates.
The company was launched—virtually—last January and sold its first property, a house in Wilton, in less than a week. He reports that there were 20 showings of that house and multiple offers and it sold for more than the asking price.
