Steps Real Estate files for bankruptcy

BOULDER  — Steps Real Estate International LLC, a Boulder-based real estate firm, is liquidating in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy after migrating its branding and agents to a new brokerage.

According to bankruptcy filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Colorado, Steps declared $820 in expected accounts receivable and $880,995 in debts, the vast majority coming from the $625,000 remaining on a lease for its 2500 Arapahoe Ave. offices.

The company declared gross income of $111,368 since the start of the year. It reported revenues of $244,150 in 2018 and $118,140 the year prior.

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Managing partner Sean Moudry told BizWest in a phone interview that Steps was originally designed as a franchisable brick-and-mortar brokerage, but the business model was stressed by the real estate industry trends toward larger online presences and shrinking commission shares for brokerages.

Although the company sold $240 million in volume last year, Moudry said Steps buckled under the pressure of those industry shifts and a hefty rent bill.

“We just couldn’t sustain profitability with a franchise-level business with the franchise model,” he said.

Moudry said most of the agents are now working under the Steps brand name for EXP Realty, an online-only real estate firm.

Steps had offices in Lakewood and Longmont and has active listings across the Front Range, from as far north as Wellington down to Pueblo. There are 33 real estate agents on the roster on its website.

The company was featured in a 2016 REALTORS Magazine article on real estate disruption in Colorado, noting Steps’ focus on marketing to millennials and producing a self-funded reality TV show.