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"I feel good about charging less and saving people money," says Deana Luedtke, co-owner of Realty Direct in Golden Gate. "We're a full-service discount brokerage that gives more net profit to sellers and cash back to buyers." The novel idea was developed about a decade ago in Virginia, according to broker Wayne Smith, and it seems to be an eye-opener among residential real estate prospects here. Despite a current lag in real estate sales, Realty Direct has seen a steady flow of transactions.

DONN BROWN / Collier Citizen

Deana Luedtke and Wayne Smith outside their office at 5248 Golden Gate Parkway.

"Quite a few Realtors have had no sales yet this year. We've been constantly busy," said Luedtke. "We've had more closings than local averages." In fact, the national franchise operation was named the top new real estate brokerage franchise of the year in 2005 by Entrepreneur Magazine.

Serving communities from North Fort Myers to Marco Island, Realty Direct lists resale properties at 3.99 percent and gives cash rebates of up to 1.5 percent to home buyers.

"We do lots of advertising and handle volume sales," said Luedtke"And, we pay buyers' agents 2.75 percent as an incentive." With a little less than two years in business and an a staff of six salespeople, Luedtke and Smith feel the cash-back program and lower listing rates make Realty Direct a standout among Collier's 4,700 real estate agents. It seems to be working. Smith indicated the company is exploring opportunities to open a second office in the next year.

"We're able to do that by cutting overhead expenses, using the internet and operating on a low profit margin. We can afford to cut our commissions and pass the savings directly to our clients," Luedtke continued.

For example, Luedtke says a purchaser would get $3,000 cash back on a resale home or $4,500 on a new home buy of $300,000. Listing that same home for sale with Realty Direct would result in a savings of $6,030 off the usual six percent listing fee.

The extra savings, plus being able to sell faster and at a higher price, justifies using a Realtor in most cases, she said.

"Why get services for free when you can save up to 1.5 percent?" Luedtke asked. "We're actually paying buyers to let us represent them." Luedtke, who was a stay-at-home mom before becoming a Realtor, gushes about her job.

"I love doing this. Ninety-five percent of the time, someone else sells our listings so it's not a conflict. It's a huge benefit for buyers and sellers," she said.

Smith holds a bachelor's degree in real estate and a masters in business administration from Florida State University, but says the 25 years he's spent selling and investing in real estate has provided critical experience.

"I like buying and selling property," he said."