Pedal to Properties franchises idea, ready to roll Read more: Pedal to Properties franchises idea,

Date AddedMay 26, 2010 01:20:25 AM

Started in 2007 by Matt Kolb, Pedal to Properties is a residential real estate brokerage firm that markets itself to the cycling community by giving clients the option of looking at for-sale homes on one of its Electra Cruiser bicycles. The company launched a franchising program in 2009 to expand its "environmentally friendly, health conscious approach" to home sales nationally, selling its first two franchises this year.

"We're working with one party in Denver - a successful Realtor downtown, who has approached us to take on a franchise," said Tim Majors, a Pedal to Properties partner.

Pedal to Properties also is working to sell its second Boulder franchise and a first in Fort Collins. Kolb owns Boulder's initial franchise.

Other U.S. markets where the company hopes to have franchises, because the cities are urban or eco-friendly or both - include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York City and Chicago, as well as Fort Bend, Ore., and Austin, Texas.

"We started selling franchises in late 2009. ... Our budget is to be at 20 offices nationwide by Christmas, in big and small cities as well as small towns," said Majors.

Majors, who's originally from Perth, Australia, bought a 50 percent stake in Pedal to Properties last year for undisclosed terms to help Kolb fund and manage the company's franchising efforts. Last year, the brokerage firm also hired PCMS Consulting of Atlanta, headed by Jose Perez Jr., to help sell franchises.

Using a bicycle to help homebuyers look at houses and condos isn't necessarily faster than driving around residential areas in a car, according to the company, but it appeals to the growing ranks of buyers who are environmentally conscious cycling enthusiasts. Some clients just think it's more fun to ride a bike to look at homes than to sit in a broker's vehicle, according to a 2008 Wall Street Journal article featuring Pedal to Properties.

Pedal to Properties sold two franchises earlier this year to cycling enthusiast and real estate agent Craig Della Penna of Northampton, Mass., who was showing houses on a bike even before hooking up with the Boulder firm, and former Boulderite Jeanne Wailes of Sonoma, Calif.

Della Penna also is a former lobbyist for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy of Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group that works to convert unused rail lines to bike trails. Della Penna told Kolb, after the two were mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article about real estate agents showing houses via bikes, that if Kolb ever decided to franchise, he wanted to know.

"I thought that Pedal to Properties wants to set up here, and if I don't take that franchise, somebody else will," said Della Penna, formerly with Murphys Realtors Inc. in Northampton. "So here I am, at 57, starting my own real estate company."

Pedal to Properties' initial franchise fee is $25,000, which the company will help finance, as well as startup costs for items such as signage and bikes.