News

The founders of a popular local online news website are getting into the real estate business.

Dustin Bartholomew and Todd Gill, the local duo who launched the Fayetteville Flyer in 2007, have partnered with veteran real estate broker Jay Downing to form a full-service real estate company called Flyer Homes.

The new firm will serve the northwest Arkansas region with a focus on helping residents buy and sell single-family homes in Fayetteville.

Bartholomew and Gill said they’ve seen real estate agents have success entering the news business in other markets.


“We just thought, ‘What if we do it in reverse?,’” Bartholomew said. “When we started the Flyer, it was a trend for real estate agents to create news sites, to establish themselves as experts on their neighborhoods, and to create space to advertise their listings.”

Bartholomew and Gill debated getting a license for themselves, but decided instead to partner with an established agent.

The two approached Downing about the prospect of starting the company after he helped Gill buy and sell a home about a year ago.

“He was so great throughout the process,” Gill said. “He just had a great strategy, and he was so low-pressure, I thought ‘This is the guy I need to go into business with.”’

The potential for exposure for clients through the Fayetteville Flyer’s large advertising reach is what convinced Downing to help open the new business.

“I think what we are going to be able to offer local homesellers will be impossible to match,” Downing said. “Working closely with the Fayetteville Flyer, the level of exposure that we’ll be able to offer for our listings is really unprecedented in this market.”

As lifetime natives of the area with a finger on the pulse of the community, Gill said, he and Bartholomew will also be able to offer an unique advantage to local buyers.

“Being from here, and knowing these neighborhoods the way we do will be really useful for prospective buyers” Gill said. “And while nobody can see the future, no one is more on top of what’s coming to town – in terms of developments, road widening projects, and other things that might affect a neighborhood – than we are.”

Downing, a northwest Arkansas native, returns to Fayetteville after a brief stint in La Crosse, Wis. where he led a branch office for the largest Century 21 franchise in the country. A 10-year veteran in the industry, Downing will lead all real estate operations for Flyer Homes.

Bartholomew and Gill will head marketing efforts for the company, providing professional photography, web design, and social media services as well as premium advertising placement on the Fayetteville Flyer and the site’s social network for Flyer Homes clients.

About Flyer Homes
Flyer Homes is a full-service real estate firm serving all of northwest Arkansas, with a specific focus on helping residents and newcomers buy and sell single-family homes in Fayetteville.

Created by Fayetteville Flyer founders Dustin Bartholomew and Todd Gill, and veteran real estate broker Jay Downing, the company provides unprecedented exposure for their real estate clients through a partnership with the Fayetteville Flyer.

About Fayetteville Flyer
The Fayetteville Flyer is an online news source focusing on professional city government reporting and coverage of local arts and events in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Founded in 2007, the site reaches over 60,000 unique visitors per month, with a social network including over 40,000 fans and followers across northwest Arkansas.