| Although an official announcement has yet to be made, Blue Edge Realty, and its Web site, BlueEdge.com, appears poised to offer services to home sellers for a 2 percent commission. The company is operating in Pittsburgh, Penn. and in Bloomington, Peoria, Springfield and Champaign, Ill., according to the Web site.
Blue Edge is reportedly a subsidiary of Coldwell Banker, which is owned by Cendent Corp. Cendent also owns the Century 21 and ERA brands.
Although company officials have remained mum, rumors have circulated for months that Coldwell Banker was preparing to launch a discount brokerage. And, Coldwell Banker president Alex Perriello has said his company was planning a new Web site that would be used by local Coldwell Banker affiliates, but run by salaried employees.
Even though the discount online real estate business model isn’t exactly new, Coldwell Banker is the first traditional brokerage to pursue it. Online brokerages such as eRealty.com, zipRealty.com and YHD Realty have successfully used the concept. Blue Edge’s model seems closest to that of New Jersey-based YHD Realty, which primarily targets home sellers utilizing technology to offer commissions as low as 2 percent.
The Blue Edge Web site contains plenty of information on its operation, saying, “Blue Edge Realty is a unique approach to real estate.” A flash ad on the site states. “2% commission. Pay less. Keep more.”
The company boasts on the site that it has “perfected a new and innovative approach to listing and selling residential real estate that uses “leading-edge Internet technology with the personalized support of real estate agents.”
BlueEdge.com says it will feature a seller’s property on the Web site and deliver a private Web page that allows the seller to schedule home showings, “track buyers and access key documents.”
The Web site also says sellers can choose to list their homes on a MLS, implying that some homes for sale on the site may not be. Sellers also have the option of listing their homes on Realtor.com, the official Web site of the National Association of Realtors and a division of HomeStore.com. No other nationwide listing service is mentioned on the site. Cendant is the largest stakeholder in HomeStore.com, which provides residential and commercial real estate listings, apartments for rent, and other real estate information for consumers and real estate agents.
According to the information on the Web site, the BlueEdge.com process works this way:
Sellers contact Blue Edge by phone or e-mail and schedule an appointment. A consultant goes to the seller’s home in a minivan that operates as a mobile office and captures a 360-degree tour of the property for the BlueEdge.com site.
The seller receives a “home seller’s kit, which includes a competitive market analysis, how-to guides on showing a home, signs, stakes and balloons, contract worksheets and discount coupons for various products and services.
If the seller selects the 2 percent commission, Blue Edge will provide the kit, marketing services, marketing support and closing and contract services.
The company also offers a “2% plus” commission. The seller agrees to have the home listing on the MLS and Realtor.com. This fee is described as a “market competitive commission.”. | 
