Business Opportunities Weblog

February 27, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

Entrepreneur:

Garry Aloia is an owner and managing partner of My First Home, a business that caters specifically to first-time homebuyers. Aloia, who also co-owns parent company New State Mortgage, came up with the idea when he realized that because agents are driven by commissions, “human nature takes over. If there’s a bigger commission involved, that customer gets more attention,� he says.

First-time home buyers–who make up about 40 percent of the home buying market–are often purchasing smaller residences and are likely getting less attention, reasons Aloia.

To remedy the situation, Aloia’s My First Home, based in Merrilville, Indiana, near Indianapolis, employs real estate agents who are paid higher salaries–25 percent more than the average agent–but who don’t receive commissions.

Aloia doesn’t see his business as a traditional real estate office, but rather as a home-buying educational and assistance center. The office is even set up to look like a home, complete with a fireplace and coffee. The company offers seminars to first-home buyers, as well as advice and tools to help them figure out what their monthly budget should be after they move in.

What Aloia’s business is doing is what all entrepreneurs, whether veteran or novice, ultimately should be doing. “I try to put my feet in the shoes of the customer,� says Aloia. “I ask myself, ‘How can I make their life better and simpler?’�

Photo by TimLee90.

In Ideas, Internet, Niche | 1 Comment