Media company launches a real estate brokerage

The company that handles advertising, printing and delivery for the Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune is branching out into the world of real estate.

MediaOne of Utah has launched MediaOne Real Estate, a full-service licensed brokerage, servicing home sellers. The company's Web site promises a "marketing arsenal" that reaches about a million people each week for a flat fee of $2,000.

"We just felt that there is an opportunity in that area," Brent Low, president and chief executive officer of MediaOne, told the Deseret News.

He said the new venture, which officially opened for business last Monday, has hired three licensed brokers to help clients. He added the company, which will serve clients in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties, had eight listings in the first week.

When asked if MediaOne has lost any real estate advertisers since the launch of the new direct competitor service, he said, "No."

"It's been positive with some and negative with others," Low said.

Ryan Kirkham, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, told the Deseret News he was surprised by Low's comments regarding the reaction from local Realtors.

"My phone rang off the hook last week. I haven't heard of one person who said they liked it," he said Monday. "Now we're competing against the very newspapers that we advertise in."

Kirkham said that he and some colleagues are puzzled by MediaOne's decision to expand into the real estate industry.

"Why are they selling real estate? Why aren't they selling cars or why aren't they selling electronics or clothing?" he asked. "Why are we competing against a company that we pay?"

How some Realtors respond to MediaOne's foray into real estate has yet to be determined, Kirkham said. But he said he would not be surprised if some companies decide to discontinue their advertising with MediaOne of Utah.

As for MediaOne's ability to be successful in providing "full service" for a flat fee in a challenging real estate market, time will tell, he said.

"It's a very hard business. … It's hard to build a clientele, and the most difficult challenge is to keep your clients happy, and it takes effort," he said.

"The people who really give good service to their clients and are in it for the long haul are the people who are going to stick it out," Kirkham said.

"And if they can do that, then I'm sure they will be very successful."

e-mail: jlee@desnews.com