ISO: A Sale Without an Agent

Like so many relationships these days, it started when his ad on the Web site Craigslist.org caught her eye.

She called him to express her interest, and they agreed to meet on a bright Saturday afternoon in June. Rita Johnson was a law school student from Arizona looking to move to Washington; Getinet Bantayehu was a recent Harvard grad.

By the next morning, she was ready to commit.

So, tucked at a table in a crowded deli, Johnson wrote out a check for $20,000 as a good-faith deposit on Bantayehu's two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Southwest Washington. He had listed it for sale on the Internet classified advertising site for $399,000. They exchanged signed contracts over cups of coffee. In the glow of mutual goodwill, he offered to pay half the condo fee for the first year.

"It was an emotional sale," Bantayehu said afterward. "She noticed all the little details I'd put in, that I didn't think anyone would notice" -- the counter-depth refrigerator, the crown moldings, the Ralph Lauren "River Rock" textured paint.

There wasn't a real estate agent in sight.

There are no official statistics, but Johnson and Bantayehu seem to be part of a growing number of buyers and sellers who meet through Internet sites, rather than professional agents.

Internet site operators say younger people especially are more likely to eschew agents and try to buy and sell property over the Web that they have come to depend on to meet all their needs.

"It's a generation that's very self-directed and their first reaction to anything is to head to the Internet," said Steve Udelson, chief executive of Owners.com, a Web site that lists properties for sale by owner. If the net-savvy want to find a mate, book an airline ticket or buy stock, he said, they go to eHarmony, Orbitz. or E-Trade. "They're not pre-disposed to paying commissions for anything. They've grown up in an era where you cut out the middleman and use the Internet to find the lowest cost options."

Bantayehu, 21, has already bought and sold several investment properties without using real estate agents, who usually charge about 6 percent commission to sellers.

"If you have the time and energy to do the work, then it doesn't make sense to use a Realtor," he said. "I mean it's not like being a doctor. Obviously you wouldn't want to perform your own surgery. But it is like being a barber. You could save 20 bucks and give yourself a haircut. Except when you're your own Realtor, you save like 20,000 bucks."

Like many sellers, Bantayehu prefers listing his properties on the popular Craigslist Web site, an Internet bulletin board where people can post free notices. Created 10 years ago on the West Coast, Craigslist now has Web sites for almost 100 American cities. Users can post notices seeking dates, roommates, employment or advice without having to pay a fee. Others are selling clothes, furniture, cars and, increasingly, real estate. It's all free, except to those posting job listings in some major cities.