Key Real Estate

What Key Real Estate does

Key Real Estate is a privately held, family-owned real estate brokerage headquartered at 501 South Main Street (The Kiel Building) in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Founded in 1966 by Robert and Norma Edwards, the firm has operated continuously for 58+ years and is currently led by Broker/Owner John Edwards, with third-generation family participation through agent Ben Edwards and Office Manager Molly Haner. The company serves residential buyers and sellers, land/acreage buyers, and rental clients across Council Bluffs and Southwest Iowa.

The firm's service offering spans residential sales, bank-owned (REO) property representation, acreage transactions, land auctions (with downloadable due-diligence packages including plat maps and FSA acres), and rental referral coordination through a partnership with councilbluffsrentals.com. Technology is built on the Placester platform providing IDX-enabled MLS search, agent profiles, and a mortgage calculator; the website also publishes educational blog content on buyer/seller topics. The company holds standard industry certifications (Realtor, CRB, CRS, GRI, EHO).

Key Real Estate operates on a traditional commission-based revenue model, earning transaction fees on closed residential sales, land auctions, and referral-based rental placements. Distribution is direct via licensed agents, supported by SEO-driven organic search and content marketing. The agent roster currently stands at nine, down from a 1994 historical peak of more than twenty salespeople, suggesting a mature, rightsized operation in a small regional market. No funding rounds, M&A activity, or external investment are recorded.

Name

Key Real Estate

Legal name

Key Real Estate

Website

https://keyre.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Key Real Estate is a family-owned real estate brokerage in Council Bluffs, Iowa, founded in 1966. It serves residential buyers, sellers, land/acreage clients, and rental referrals across Southwest Iowa through a team of nine licensed agents operating on traditional commission-based transactions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Residential Real Estate Brokerage

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121), Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Traditional Residential Brokerage (Existing Homes) (BPAJAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Rural Residential & Acreage Homesites Brokerage (BPAJADAE), Land & Development Site Brokerage (BPAJABAG)

Keywords

• Residential real estate brokerage
• Land auction services
• Bank-owned property sales
• Rental property referral
• Council Bluffs real estate

Headquarters

HQ city

Council Bluffs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Real Estate Commission: Traditional commission-based revenue from residential property sales and purchases. Agents earn commissions on completed transactions.
2. Property Management: Referral-based property management services for rental properties, connecting tenants with property owners/managers
3. Land Auctions: Auction services for land properties in Southwest Iowa

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Key Real Estate is a family-owned residential real estate brokerage providing full-service buyer and seller representation for homes, acreages, and land in Council Bluffs and Southwest Iowa. The firm also runs land auction services for farmland and rural properties, handles bank-owned (REO) transactions, and makes rental property referrals connecting tenants with property managers in the Council Bluffs market.

Product overview

Key Real Estate is a family-owned real estate brokerage providing a comprehensive suite of real estate services. The company offers residential property buying and selling representation, bank-owned property services, acreage sales, land auctions, rental referral services, and mortgage calculation tools. Founded in 1966, the brokerage operates primarily in Council Bluffs and Southwest Iowa, with services organized around core transaction types (buying, selling, renting, auctioning) supported by educational resources and valuation tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Property Sales Full-service real estate agent representation for buyers and sellers of residential properties in Council Bluffs and surrounding Southwest Iowa communities, including property search, showings, negotiations, and closing support.
• Bank-Owned (REO) Property Services Specialized services for buying bank-owned (REO) properties, including navigating the bank-owned offer process, related paperwork, and listing bank-owned inventory for buyers.
• Acreage Sales Specialized real estate services for buying and selling acreage and rural properties in Southwest Iowa, served through the dedicated Acreages property page on keyre.com.
• Land Auctions Auction services for selling land in Southwest Iowa, including farmland and recreational parcels, with downloadable supporting documents such as plat maps, CRP contracts, and FSA acres.
• Rental Property Management Referrals Rental listing referral services connecting tenants seeking rental properties in Council Bluffs with the brokerage's network of property managers and owners, accessed through the For Rent page and the councilbluffsrentals.com partnership.
• Market Analysis and Home Valuation Home valuation and market analysis services offered to prospective sellers through the "What's My Home Worth" and "List with Us" pages, including comparative market analyses and walk-throughs with agents.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• councilbluffsrentals.comminorOthersExternal rental listing platform used to direct tenants to available rental properties. Property managers use this site when they have vacancies to fill.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/keyrealestateCO
• Facebookfacebook.com/Keyrecb

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Key Real Estate