Flat-fee brokerage defies real estate tradition

WINDSOR – The fallout from the subprime lending market, and the near-disastrous foreclosure epidemic that resulted, plus fears of a nationwide recession that has buyers playing waiting games, are causing residential brokers to improvise and innovate.

So, taking a page from a residential real estate business model developed in Seattle and a handful of other big, metropolitan markets, Windsor broker Jerry Taylor has applied his software development experience in a new flat-fee, Internet-based real estate venture called eRealtyCo, found on the Web at erealtyco.net.

Likewise, H. Craig Plantz, another Windsor agent who is the managing broker for Resident Realty, is operating OwnersRealty.com,…