For Sale by Owner’s and Flat Fee Listings are popping up more often for good reason

About 15% of all homes are sold without a real estate agent (For Sale by Owner).  Many are predicting that this number may rise dramatically as the housing market softens.  High loan-to-value ratios, increased home equity loans and other factors could result in many sellers deciding that they cannot afford to pay 5-6% in commissions when selling their home.

Add this to the high growth in real estate values and the temptation to try something different will likely drive more consumers to seek out alternatives when selling their home.  FSBO services now range from simple website placement to flat fee MLS listings to document preparation.

Most of these companies offer these services for fixed fees rather than commissions and are a fraction of the traditional brokerage commission.   "It’s just really hard to pay that $22,000 commission," Debbie Carbonatto ( a FSBO) said, adding that they already have sold one home themselves, with good results.

"FSBO can be a real win-win for buyer and seller," she said.