Denver-based Trelora, a discount real estate agency that disrupted the Denver market a bit by offering flat fees instead of the typical Realtor commissions, has been bought by Houwzer, according to a news release.

Terms of the deal were not released.

Both companies have marketed a ‘flat-fee, full service’ real estate option, with a selling point of offering to save consumers money at the closing table while offering to provide “industry-leading” customer service, according to a news release.

Trelora was founded in Denver in 2011 by Joshua Hunt, who resigned in 2018. It started on the premise that brokers get paid too much commission and offered $2,500 to anyone who listed a home with the company, regardless of the selling price. Last year, it raised that fee to $3,000. The seller’s commission is usually 5%-6% of sales price, which the agent typically splits with the buyer’s agent.

The former chief executive officer in 2021 said at the time the discount brokerage grew enough to expand into seven states and 13 markets. He claimed then to have saved Colorado clients more than $62 million in commission to sellers in that decade. Now, the companies claim they have saved an estimated $125 million in real estate commissions.

The merger means Houwzer will now serve four out of the five regions in the nation, adding on 14 more states.

Houwzer already operates in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to the release. The company will also move its method from mortgage broker to fully-delegated lender, allowing more options for consumers, according to the release. This transition will be supported by recently acquired intellectual property from the former “next-gen brokerage,” Reali.

Mike Maher, founder and chief executive officer of Houwzer, will remain the chief executive officer and will continue to stay on the board of directors for the company once consolidated. Rod Ward, the current chief executive officer of Trelora, will be joining on as chief revenue officer.

Colby Sambrotto, who has worked as the chief marketing officer for Trelora, will join the management team. Sambrotto co-founded and sold ForSaleByOwner.com as the real estate industry went online in the mid-2000s and has held senior positions at or founded a handful of real estate companies, according to the release.

Maher said they have been talking with Trelora since late 2018. Despite being competitors, they did not ever cross markets. In 2021, Trelora’s leadership team began talking with Maher about the potential of a consolidation.

“The opportunity presented itself, Rod and I started a conversation back in February or March of 2022,” Maher said. “There was good cultural alignment, there was good mission alignment, there was good visual alignment, and ultimately there was just a lot of complimentary things about both companies.”

As a consolidated company, there is both profitability and significant metrics in agent productivity, gross profit margin, net promoter score (NPS) and attach rates for mortgage and title, according to the release.

“We will normalize our product as a consolidated entity, and so we’ll move to a singular product entity where whether you’re a buyer or seller in Philly, or a buyer or seller in Denver, or all the markets we are in, we’ll essentially normalize that product and standardize it,” Maher said.

When Trelora entered the Denver market, the company’s flat-rate listing agreements angered Denver-area buyer brokers who felt cut out of a commission and who often refused to work with Trelora.

Rather than working as 1099-workers — or workers who are considered contract workers — Trelora has W-2 employees, which was completely different from the traditional real estate model.