How REItrades is Automating Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

11 Nov 2025

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The commercial real estate industry has long operated on relationships, handshake deals, and traditional brokerage methods. A new platform is now challenging this approach by creating a direct connection between institutional buyers and sellers, removing many traditional intermediaries.

REItrades, an AI-powered commercial real estate marketplace, completed its soft launch in October 2025 after several years of development. The platform represents a shift in how large commercial properties change hands, focusing on deals worth $10 million and above through direct principal-to-principal transactions.

From Athletic Scholarships to Real Estate Innovation

The journey to REItrades began in an unexpected way. Founder and CEO Artur Muller moved from Brazil to the United States in 2004 on a Division I tennis scholarship. After college and a brief period in coaching, Muller obtained his real estate license in 2013 while living in South Florida, initially working with Brazilian investors interested in local properties.

“I did a little bit of residential, but mostly commercial deals, investment properties,” Muller explains. “I quickly realized I didn’t want to do residential, so I jumped full force into commercial.”

The transition from athlete to entrepreneur took time. Muller started his own brokerage firm in 2016, recognizing the need for a distinctive approach to stand out against larger firms. His strategy focused on building relationships with institutional investors and sourcing off-market deals.

“What I would do is build a network of real estate investment firms and funds, get their acquisition criteria, and source off-market deals to present to these companies,” Muller says. “There was always a huge appetite for deals that were direct to seller. As soon as I said my goal is to bring you unique, exclusive opportunities that are not being publicly marketed, I automatically had their attention.”

Identifying Market Inefficiencies

After years of building this network, Muller identified a fundamental issue in the commercial real estate market. Sellers faced a choice: work with traditional brokers for maximum exposure but pay high commissions and endure lengthy processes, or sell off-market at potentially discounted prices due to limited exposure.

“From a seller standpoint, they were pushed to only one option, and that was to sell through a broker if they were looking to maximize the sales price,” Muller observes. “The off-market sale provided limited exposure, so it often didn’t make sense to sell off-market. There was no platform that provided the ability for sellers to sell directly without selling at a discount.”

This insight became the basis for REItrades. Muller saw that much of the traditional brokerage process was already automated, brokers often “push a few buttons to build the marketing materials” and use existing platforms to market assets. However, commission structures had not evolved to reflect this reality.

Building an End-to-End Solution

REItrades functions as a comprehensive marketplace that automates the entire transaction process. The platform begins with broker opinion of value (BOV) services through partners, then guides sellers through creating listings using AI-powered templates tailored to each asset class.

“When you create a listing through our platform, we have OM templates for every asset class, because every asset class has different attributes,” Muller explains. “We collect all the information on the asset that’s required, which we use to build the marketing materials.”

The AI integration generates marketing content including executive summaries, investment highlights, and location highlights, supplemented by data from third-party partners. The system then creates teasers for initial buyer outreach and comprehensive offering memorandums for qualified prospects.

The buyer matching process uses detailed criteria filtering. Buyers update their acquisition preferences on the platform and receive automated notifications when relevant deals become available. The NDA process is digitized, with e-signature capabilities providing immediate access to detailed property information once agreements are signed.

Quality Over Quantity in Buyer Networks

REItrades has assembled a network of over 5,800 decision-makers from more than 3,300 pre-vetted firms. The vetting process is strict, requiring firms to manage at least $50 million in assets under management.

“Our target niche is institutional profile commercial real estate investment firms—private equity funds, REITs, investment asset managers, family offices,” Muller says. “We require firms to have at least $50 million under management, which shows they have expertise in large dealings and a significant portfolio.”

This focus on institutional buyers addresses a key market dynamic. As Muller notes, there are essentially two types of commercial real estate investors: independent individuals who rarely pursue deals above $10 million due to financial constraints, and institutional investors who rarely consider opportunities below that threshold.

Exclusive Listings Drive Engagement

One of REItrades’ main differentiators is its exclusive listing requirement. Properties listed on the platform cannot be marketed elsewhere, a strategy designed to maintain buyer engagement and ensure maximum exposure within the targeted network.

“For an asset to be listed through REItrades, it has to be exclusively marketed through our platform. That’s how we built our network of buyers and how we keep them highly engaged,” Muller explains. “They only get access to our deals through our platform.”

This exclusivity model addresses a frequent challenge in commercial real estate marketplaces, where listings often reach primarily brokers or unqualified buyers rather than serious institutional purchasers.

Early Traction and Market Response

The platform’s soft launch in October 2025 featured more than $120 million in listings, all properties valued above $10 million. Muller was able to source these listings within two months of having a demonstrable platform available for potential sellers.

“It was a matter of two months to source those opportunities, which shows that our business model is not only extremely attractive to buyers, it’s now becoming more attractive to sellers,” Muller notes.

This rapid adoption suggests the market was prepared for this type of solution. The timing is particularly relevant given current economic pressures on institutional investors.

Technology Adoption in a Traditional Industry

The commercial real estate industry has historically lagged in technology adoption, but Muller sees this changing. Current market conditions, especially sustained high interest rates, are creating pressure for cost optimization and efficiency.

“There’s a lot of institutional capital being invested in these funds, which is putting pressure on them to look for new alternatives to save money and optimize,” Muller observes. “If they’re not adopting new technologies, they’re staying behind the competition.”

Even traditionally conservative institutional investors are now showing greater openness to new methods, driven by the need to maintain competitive advantages in a challenging market.

The Development Challenge

Building REItrades required translating complex real estate processes into automated workflows—a technical challenge for someone with industry expertise but limited software development experience.

“The most challenging part was working with a senior backend engineer and trying to explain what I wanted and how I wanted it, while requesting things that were realistic from a software standpoint,” Muller reflects. “You think something is going to be so easy to do, but then it becomes so complicated.”

The solution involved breaking down complex processes into manageable components. “If you look at something in the big picture, it’s going to look completely different when you segment it step by step on a small scale,” Muller explains.

Looking Forward

REItrades represents a notable change in commercial real estate transactions, offering institutional-quality deal flow without traditional brokerage overhead. As the platform scales beyond its initial soft launch, it could reshape how large commercial properties are bought and sold.

The success of REItrades’ approach—building buyer networks first, then attracting sellers with proven access to qualified purchasers—shows that even established industries can be improved when technology addresses real market inefficiencies.

For institutional investors and property owners operating in the $10 million-plus commercial real estate market, REItrades offers a look at a more streamlined future where technology enables direct relationships while maintaining due diligence and professional standards.

REItrades continues to operate its beta platform while preparing for a full public launch. The company remains bootstrapped and focused on expanding its network of institutional buyers and exclusive listings.