Jacksonville man's invention allows home bids online - Jacksonville Business Journal:

The nearly three years Mark Bloomfield’s Atlanta home sat on the market were both frustrating and inspirational. Bloomfield was frustrated by the negotiating process involved in selling real estate — particularly the fact that prospective buyers must sign a purchase and sale contract and provide a binder, usually 1 percent of the sale price, before they can even make an offer.

He finally sold his home in 2006 after cutting the price several times, but thinks it likely would have happened a lot quicker had it not been for the formality of the purchase and sale contract. That inspired him to develop software that allows prospective buyers to make real-time, nonbinding offers directly on a real estate agent’s Web site. It’s a technology that Bloomfield said will change the real estate business because it will provide a level of transparency that isn’t there now and will help drive the market, particularly now...