Boom Properties aiming for tech, transparency in commercial real estate

BOULDER — A trio of local commercial real estate veterans is launching a new property management and brokerage firm, with the aim of using technology to provide greater transparency and service for their clients.

In a bit of a transition period now, Jessica Deiter, Mollie McQueen and Todd Walsh will officially launch Boom Properties on May 1 when they open their office at 840 Pearl St. in downtown Boulder.

McQueen and Deiter, who both spent roughly a decade at Boulder-based Gibbons-White Inc., will lead the property-management side of Boom. Walsh, who had been a broker at The Colorado Group Inc. since 2005, will lead the brokerage side of the business, with former Colorado Group brokers Heidi Schamber and Laura Munch also joining Boom. The new firm will keep a primary focus on Boulder County, though it will work with clients from beyond as well.

Deiter said Monday that the property-management side, which aims to maintain property owners’ investments as well as retain existing tenants, will focus on “kind of lifting the veil” on certain aspects of the industry that clients often view as secretive. In large part, that means making everything from operating budgets to leases on a property available to owners online via a password-controlled portal so they can always access that information and not feel like it’s behind lock and key.

“So they don’t even have to call us to ask us to provide that information,” Deiter said. “We put all of that at their fingertips.”

On the brokerage side, which handles all leasing and sales, Walsh said it’s important that clients know how brokers are getting paid, that they have access in their search to every available property, and why some properties might yield higher fees for brokers than others. The idea is one that has already started to take hold in the residential real estate realm, with multiple startups aiming to shed a light on broker fees and toying with different commission structures.

“It’s not something people will have to question,” Walsh said. “There’s no hidden anything.”

On the marketing side, the trio said they’ll use technology to bring in 3-D modeling of their clients’ properties, video and even drone technology.

“The world’s changing,” Walsh said. “We’re putting ourselves in a position to change with it to provide dynamic services that help our clients.”

on Facebook on LinkedIn