At the start of the year, Briant replaced CEO Lee Thurburn. Jack Diamond, Web-Real-Estate's founder, remains the largest shareholder in a group of 49 investors in the privately held company based in the Dallas suburb of Addison.
Briant says he is busy implementing changes that Thurburn initiated. There is a new look to the site, new services and a listing component. Briant says talks are under way with two nationwide firms that would place another 5,000 properties on the site. It's a leap away from the site's original intent of marketing and into the world of LoopNet and CoStar. The difference, says Briant, is that Web-Real-Estate "broadcasts" (e-mails in lay terms) properties. According to the company, 600,000 "broadcasts" have gone out each month to members on "receive" and "want" lists since the service launched nearly three months ago.
Come Feb. 1, the annual membership fee jumps from $99 to $199. The site has 1,200 clients/members and 35,000 broker participants. It also has 3,500 active properties and registers 90,000 hits per month, according to the company.
Briant says he has heard the rumor off and on for two years. The staff, minus Thurburn, still stands at 10, he emphasizes.
The employees most definitely have their work cut out for them since Web-Real-Estate is pushing the buttons to add markets, according to the new CEO. Target "hot" spots are Los Angeles, San Diego, Northern California, Denver, Austin, San Antonio, Miami, Tampa, Washington, DC, New York City and Philadelphia. Recent pushes in seven other cities panned out so Briant says there's no reason to think that these markets won't live up to expectations, with the staff that's in place since the forward drives are done on line.
Web-Real-Estate's changes have sort of sidelined the original intent for high-tech marketing brochures and last year's idea to sell franchises. There are just four franchisees and it doesn't appear there will be any more anytime soon, says Briant. For now, he says the hard focus is in on the developing opportunities.
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