Paperless transactions, forest-friendly business cards and wind-powered Web site cater to eco-minded clients, while unique pay structure appeals to agents.

Artizen Realty launches in Chicago as the city’s only truly “green” real estate company, committed to improving the residential real estate experience through utilization of cutting-edge technology, innovative marketing techniques, and respect for and active replenishment of the world’s natural resources.  Founded by experienced realtor Maximilian Ortega, Artizen Realty seeks to revolutionize the industry, eliminating the excessive paper and energy waste and rejecting the outdated marketing practices that plague typical real estate companies.

“Buyers and sellers in today’s market are facing numerous challenges, and yet most real estate agents continue to use the same tired marketing practices that are no long effective.  And incidentally, those practices lead the average agent to use almost half a ream of paper for each transaction,” Ortega said.  “There is a better, more effective way to buy and sell real estate using technology that not only appeals to clients and but also reduces the impact on the environment.”

In an effort to reduce paper waste, which makes up more than a third of the country’s municipal waste stream, Artizen Realty is 99 percent paper free, processing contracts and other transactions electronically using unique secure-signature technology.  Any paper that is utilized is not forest-destructive: hemp paper, paper made from industrial sugarcane waste or 100% post-consumer waste, with waterless, low VOC, vegetable-based ink and wind-powered printing.  Artizen’s Web site, at www.ArtizenRealty.com, is not only full of useful home-buying and selling information, but it is also hosted by servers that are powered by wind.  Artizen helps to make sure that those third-party servers put more energy into the power grid than they take out to power their website.  Additionally, Aritzen’s administrative office in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood runs on wind-power.

“’Green’ has become a buzz word of late, but few companies aggressively pursue green practices they way Artizen does,” Ortega said. “Our very agency structure, which operates through each agent’s virtual office, eliminates the waste, energy consumption and overhead of a typical brick-and-mortar operation.  It also makes us more mobile and more able to service our clients’ needs.”

Technology figures heavily into Artizen’s approach.  Agents use tablet computers to generate electronic contracts on-the-spot and LiveChat to communicate with clients, and Artizen’s in-house photography department use the same monitors as the makers of Avatar.

Artizen Realty’s approach to real estate is also innovative, encouraged honest and open communication between sellers and buyers.  Audio tours are voiced by the sellers themselves, and their terms of sale are listed upfront.

“Most real estate transactions try to de-personalize the process, but that only serves to create mistrust between the buyer and seller,” Ortega said.  “The seller always knows the home best, why it’s a great place and what they’ve done to make it so.  The buyer benefits from that knowledge, making the whole experience more fulfilling. It’s a difficult market, so it’s important to look for ways to make it more pleasant for the client.”

“We also want to make the transaction more pleasant for our agents,” Ortega added.  “Our agents pay Artizen a flat fee of $1,000 per transaction.  We value our agents and we value their work.  They deserve to keep a greater portion of the earnings they generated.”