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ISO: A Sale Without an Agent
Jasmine and David Ng tour an Alexandria condo Getinet Bantayehu, right, is selling for his brother.
(By Melissa Cannarozzi For The Washington Post)
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By the second week, she was talking to real estate agents. But Minsek said she still wasn't prepared to pay a 6 percent commission. She thought she had located a few more potential buyers via Craigslist and wanted an agent to vet them for a reduced fee of perhaps 2 percent.
"I'm under a time constraint and it's difficult for me to take time off to show the house," she said. "Otherwise I would be able to do it all myself."
Some real estate agents would scoff at Minsek's decision to hold an open house on a holiday weekend. And some for sale by owner ads on Craigslist are decidedly amateurish. One recent listing for a "hot" 16th Street condo featured four photos of a tiled bathroom and the notation, "batteries went dead so photogs of living room, kitchen and front of building are not available."
According to the National Association of Realtors, 5 percent of all home sales in 2004 were originally listed as FSBO, but the owners went on to use a licensed agent to get a sale.
New Role for Realtors
But some people, like Owners.com's Udelson, think the rapid rise of Internet sites, combined with a self-sufficient generation, will eventually revolutionize the real estate industry, just as it has revolutionized the travel industry.
"It's going to be a big, big challenge for real estate agents in the years ahead," he said. "The challenge is for the industry to come up with new service options to address the needs of this emerging generation -- such as flat fees for specific services, discounted commissions or services for do-it-yourself sellers."
He said, "The real estate market is hot and there's a lot of programs targeted to young grads -- no money down, fast turnaround, rehab it yourself. They don't hesitate to respond and they're confident they can do it on their own."
Daniel Yohannes, 36, a real estate investor, agrees. "I wouldn't even think about using an agent in this hot market," he said. "The title companies will provide you with all the information and documents you need. And you can list the property yourself and find lots of interested buyers."
Yohannes is looking for a buyer for a just-completed U Street NW loft he bought when it was under construction eight months ago, listing the property with washingtonpost.com, Washington City Paper and Craigslist.
"The people who contact me are professional and savvy and ready to buy," he said.
Many of the owners interviewed concede they may have been able to get a higher price if they had used an agent, but they think they still would have paid more in commissions -- so they came out ahead in the long run.
"I think Realtors fuel the craziness around the bidding process -- they up the temperature," said Colleen Mitchell, who bought a home in Silver Spring with her husband with the help of a real estate agent after they sold their California property on their own. "One of the nice thing about Craigslist is that it's more personal and more relaxed."
