Brokerage in Laguna Niguel Emphasizing Its Net Results

Maybe the Internet won’t replace all real estate agents, but Avi Chalid believes his new business represents the cutting edge in selling homes.

Tech2000 Realty Group, open for almost a year in Laguna Niguel, is a discount real estate brokerage that allows consumers to use the Internet for buying and selling homes. Instead of relying on the agent for information, clients can come to the company’s office, which is about the size of a small home and features a bank of computers. People can search for properties on the Multiple Listing Service database, view homes and print out maps to their home of choice--with or without a broker, Chalid said.

“We found a lot of people don’t like to be with a broker,” said Chalid, whose eight brokers work from home, reducing the firm’s overhead.

“Some feel intimidated. So, we give them tools they need to research the homes they want, and they can call us.”

Instead of paying 6% to 7% in traditional real estate fees, clients pay less but still get such services as market analysis and open houses, said Chalid, an 18-year real estate veteran. For instance, homes selling for less than $300,000 pay a $2,000 listing fee and a 3% selling fee. For houses costing more, there’s a flat fee of 4%.

The firm, which has been open less than a year, has sold 75 homes and represented 45 buyers. Chalid plans to open four more discount brokerage offices in Orange County within the next year.

Firms like his, Chalid suspects, will change the way homes are listed and, to some degree, sold. Although some people enjoy hearing a broker’s sales pitch, Chalid said, others are willing to try something new.

“The younger crowd is more attuned to researching and shopping on the Internet,” he said, “but the older generation is catching up.”

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Daryl Strickland covers real estate for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5670, and at daryl.strickland@latimes.com.