No place like HOM for realty

Sometimes the best way to take on the big guys is to stay really small.

Take newly formed HOM Real Estate Group. Hoping to make a space in a real estate market dominated by national companies, the small Newport Beach firm is following in the steps of its predecessors by taking on the boutique approach.

“There’s not a brand specifically focused on this market,” partner Kevin Kubiak said during a short interview from HOM’s Newport Center Drive office. Kubiak and the eight other partners who make up the firm said they plan to market themselves as a local brokerage with a stronger pulse on the community housing market than some of the national firms that do business along the Newport Coast.

“People want to have a firm that is their own,” Kubiak said. “They want to root for the hometown team.”

That means a specialized marketing strategy and a futuristic graphic interface fusing clean designs and eye-catching orange imprints to reflect the county’s namesake.

“People here don’t want what everyone else has,” partner Bob Bonanno said. “They want something unique that stands out. We’re not just selling homes ? we’re selling a lifestyle.”

Partner Rob Norquist said the firm planned to market itself as a “property-centric” firm that focused more on the home and less on the individual agent.

“We just wanted to get something that was a fresh new look,” he said. “It should be cleaned up and simplified. We trimmed a lot of the fat and focused on the houses.”

The group is hoping the elegant appeal of the firm’s real estate promotional material and localized personal feel will bode well with the image-conscious Newport Coast. Kubiak said the area’s upper echelon want to see their properties marketed with a high-end approach ? it’s almost a status issue.

Bonanno said the firm has more than $100 million in listings and enjoyed its first profitable month in March, just 90 days after opening.

But is there room on the market for another boutique firm? The last big name to take the concierge approach ? Strada Real Estate ? was bought out by Coldwell Banker in December 2003.

After just three years doing business, Strada posted more than $1.5 billion in sales. Bonanno said his firm planned to follow some of Strada’s practices by using in-house design professionals to create its marketing material and wireless computer technology to update agents in the field.

“There’s just not a lot of people doing that right now,” Kubiak said. “The potential to grow is really tremendous.”

The firm recruited about 35 agents from outside, most working in a cubicle-style “pit” setting. The group opted away from using individual offices so that brokers could more easily share information and work together.

“They really have the pulse of the market,” he said. “To keep a small company, you have to take on experienced people.”dpt.24-bizspot-CPhotoInfoIU1Q8CEJ20060424iy5k3wncLINDA NGUYEN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Ron Millar, Greg Lombardi, Debbie Millar, Bob Bonanno, Sara Hinman, Kevin Kubiak, Brad Hinman, and Jon Dishon are the principal members of the HOM real estate group in Newport Beach.