Published: Saturday, July 4, 2009
Snohomish entrepreneur bounces back with new venture
There's making the best of a bad situation. Then there's finding summer vacation in the eye of a perfect storm.
That's what entrepreneur Don Sieb is doing, just months after his once-promising startup, urbancondominiums.com, went south with the real estate market.
The Snohomish transplant, formerly of Atlanta, thought about returning to the corporate world, where he has roots in the banking industry. But at 62, blazing a new career path proved to be impractical at best -- especially with the economy at its lowest point in years.
So, as the saying goes, he took life's lemons and added a little sugar and water.
Homeseekercenter.com launched in May. Sieb's newest endeavor, the site seeks to match buyers and sellers in bank-owned, distressed or new properties.
And Sieb, a sort of real estate matchmaker, brings in revenue through referral fees with other agents -- typically 25 percent of earned commission.
So far, the going has been slow, largely because of the housing market, Sieb said.
"It's building traffic pretty steadily. By the end of this month, at the current rate of growth, we'll have about 10,000 page views," he said. "That translates into approximately 700 unique visitors."
The site aims to do more than just match buyers and sellers. There are also pages filled with links to resources for homeowners faced with foreclosure. Often, all it takes is the loss of a job to put homeowners in a position where they can't afford the cost of a mortgage, Sieb said.
"There's a special place in my heart for those people who are unemployed," he said. "And that's why so much of this site is dedicated to resources and information that I know they're interested in."
Amy Rolph: 425-339-3029, arolph@heraldnet.com. Read her small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront.
That's what entrepreneur Don Sieb is doing, just months after his once-promising startup, urbancondominiums.com, went south with the real estate market.
The Snohomish transplant, formerly of Atlanta, thought about returning to the corporate world, where he has roots in the banking industry. But at 62, blazing a new career path proved to be impractical at best -- especially with the economy at its lowest point in years.
So, as the saying goes, he took life's lemons and added a little sugar and water.
Homeseekercenter.com launched in May. Sieb's newest endeavor, the site seeks to match buyers and sellers in bank-owned, distressed or new properties.
And Sieb, a sort of real estate matchmaker, brings in revenue through referral fees with other agents -- typically 25 percent of earned commission.
So far, the going has been slow, largely because of the housing market, Sieb said.
"It's building traffic pretty steadily. By the end of this month, at the current rate of growth, we'll have about 10,000 page views," he said. "That translates into approximately 700 unique visitors."
The site aims to do more than just match buyers and sellers. There are also pages filled with links to resources for homeowners faced with foreclosure. Often, all it takes is the loss of a job to put homeowners in a position where they can't afford the cost of a mortgage, Sieb said.
"There's a special place in my heart for those people who are unemployed," he said. "And that's why so much of this site is dedicated to resources and information that I know they're interested in."
Amy Rolph: 425-339-3029, arolph@heraldnet.com. Read her small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront.
Comments
(
