The Basics
No matter how bad the real estate market seems to be these days, home sales do happen because people will always need a place to live. In fact, more than four million homes were sold in 2008. But with home values falling, today’s sellers are finding out every dollar counts when it comes to keeping as much of their home’s sales price as possible.
Many are deciding to sell their home themselves instead of hiring a real estate agent. Recent studies from Northwestern and Stanford Universities have found that “by owner” sellers are as effective as agents in maximizing a home’s sales price. After commissions are factored, the studies reported, these sellers are able to retain more of their home’s equity than those who sold with an agent.
Buy and Sell Real Estate Without Paying a Broker!

When Internet entrepreneur Michael Smith founded the real estate Web site StreetEasy.com in 2006, he took an unorthodox approach to staffing.
"For the first year, we had no one from the real estate industry working here," Mr. Smith said, adding that many of the site's most popular features, such as apartment price changes and days on the market, might never have become part of the site if an industry insider had helped to sculpt it. "We didn't want any of the assumptions that come from being in the business a long time."