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Pedal To Properties: A path to your dream home
Featured in the Daily Camera, July 2007
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Let’s face it. House hunting can be stressful – as Realtor Matt Kolb and new homeowner Kelley Cluzel agree. But thanks to Kolb’s
ingenuity, finding Cluzel’s dream home turned out to be – well, not a walk in the park, but a delightful ride on a bicycle path.

Kolb, along with business partner Chris Sweeney, founded Pedal To Properties of Boulder, a new, full-service real estate agency in downtown
Boulder. They offer all the traditional real estate services – plus a unique free option: Home buyers can view properties while comfortably pedaling shiny new cruiser bikes.

“Bike riding infuses the elements of health and fun into the home buying process. It’s an interesting and exciting way to experience a city or neighborhood, and makes it easy to view multiple properties in a given area,” says Kolb, a long-time real-estate professional, avid cyclist and Ironman triathlete.

After all, Boulder County offers thousands of acres of open space for recreational opportunities, including 50 miles of bike trails and 40 miles of hiking trails. Sunny days and moderate temperatures, along with low relative humidity, coax people outdoors. Riding a bike is a very “Boulder” thing to do.

For the past several months Kolb and coowner Sweeney have been putting together this innovative service. The company bought a small fleet of high-end bikes that are easily transported on the back of their SUVs. When Kolb or Sweeney take clients out to look at properties, if the client is interested and the terrain is bike-friendly, they pedal around. “These are fun cruiser bikes – a very comfortable ride. Clients see more of the homes and neighborhoods where they want to live. The service appeals to many different types of people – athletic, environmentally conscious, and the young at heart,” Kolb says.

“A lot of real-estate agents look for ways to distinguish themselves. Pedal To Properties, with its optional biking service, has set itself apart. People are friendlier and greet you when you’re on the bike. I had a client who liked a particular house – we went back on bikes and for the first time saw there were pocket parks in the neighborhood. You don’t see that from the back of a car.” He adds: “It just makes clients happy.” Kelley Cluzel, a physical therapist, and her husband, Bill, an IT manager, just moved from Lafayette into a single-family house in a neighborhood of individual homes in Gunbarrel, which they found through Kolb. The first time the three went house hunting together, Bill Cluzel says, “We had an instant connection with Matt – he offered service. We didn’t know about the Pedal To Properties service. We went out in his Toyota SUV and noticed he had very nice bikes on a nice rack, everything spic and span, much attention to details. We pulled up to a house, and he asked if we’d like to ride the bikes around the neighborhood. So we went house hunting with the definitely cool bikes. Riding on the bikes makes it an easier, more friendly process with the Realtor. The different feeling you get about a neighborhood by being in it, seeing it – you get a more intimate perspective of your surroundings. After the contract for the house was signed, I took my own bike to the neighborhood, and I knew we made the right decision. I could see the neighborhood park, and families there.”

Kelley Cluzel was equally impressed. “Bill and I are active people. When I travel I love to run or rent a bike and explore the area. I thought, Wow. This is a great idea. If you’re going to be living there, you get an idea of a neighborhood – what the yards look like – and feel the vibes. And the bikes are really cute.” Although she was wearing flip-flops, she found the cruisers easy to ride.

It definitely allowed us to feel the neighborhood out instead of riding by in a car. First, Matt is super personable and fun, and shows you what you want. House buying is stressful, but the bike service makes it fun. The real estate industry could use something like this. The house we bought is one of the houses we pedaled to; we were able to see the house from different angles – we did the whole bike loop all around it.”

Bill Cluzel points out that the bicycle option has to work with the neighborhood – it’s more likely in the more suburban neighborhoods. Would I tell everyone it’s the only way? No. But is it a better and unique way? Definitely. It gave us a more intimate view of our neighborhood. It brings to a more intimate level the connection with Matt, the Realtor, too. We are more comfortable with the Realtor, and it opens up a better dialogue about the homes. The service is great, but Matt also stands on his own.”

Contact Information
Pedal To Properties is in Downtown Boulder at 1113 Spruce St., Suite 202B. To schedule a showing and bicycle ride, contact them by phone at 720.201.7586 for Matt Kolb or at 303.544.9341 for Chris Sweeney; or by e-mail at info@pedaltoproperties.com. Also, visit the Web site at www.pedaltoproperties.com.

Community Involvement
Pedal To Properties of Boulder plans to participate in local biking and environmental events as a part of its mission. A schedule of group rides will be posted on the Web site.

Licensing
Pedal To PropertiesSM will be expanding to Realtors across the country with its licensing model. This national expansion is currently underway. Real estate agents interested in becoming Pedal To PropertiesSM licensed agents, while working with their current agencies, are encouraged to e-mail Matt Kolb at mkolb@pedaltoproperties.com or call him at 720.201.7586 for additional information.