Fairfield real estate company tries new approach

Fairfield real estate company tries new approach

By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | October 03, 2008 20:53
Fairfield internet entrepreneur Roman Martynenko stands in front of the Emeryville condos that he will be selling at the start of his Trecilon Realty business. The project will focus on using the internet to reduce the role of the middle man to allow both condo sellers and buyers to save money in their transactions. Photo by Chris Jordan
FAIRFIELD - It might seem a strange time to start a real estate business, but that doesn't bother Roman Martynenko.

Martynenko is the man behind Trecilon Realty, a Web-based real estate company that launched in Fairfield in August. Martynenko said he wants to take a dramatically different approach to the business than the model used by the traditional real estate agent.

'The whole system is so inefficient,' he said. 'This is my attempt to inject technology into this and make the whole process much less expensive.'

Martynenko said he has been through real estate transactions both with and without an agent and says he does not believe their role in the process warrants the typical 6 percent commission they extract.

His approach involves providing sellers the information, guidance and documents to handle their own transactions. Trecilon will also offer 'a la carte' services such as marketing, newspaper ads and handling of open house presentations. Martynenko said he believes it can be done at a fraction of the typical commission.

Right now, the company is adding content to its Web site.

Ultimately, Martynenko said he expects prospective buyers to be able to enter the characteristics they are looking for in a place and a price, and sellers would be able to make an offer to them.

'The way it is set up right now where the buyers are running around trying to find something is not the way the rest of the world works,' he said.

Initially, at least, the company is focusing on condominium complexes in the area, which Martynenko expects to be a particularly fruitful market.

'Condos are pretty standardized. There is very little room for ambiguity,' he said. 'That makes it a really easy starting point.'

For more information on Trecilon Realty, call 415-887-7613 or go to http://www.trecilonrealty.com.

Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.