For decades the real estate world turned in a very predictable manner. The roles of the buyers, sellers and real estate professionals were well defined and the real estate transaction followed a distinctive pattern. It would be an understatement to say that the real estate market has gone through some changes in the last two years. Along with these changes - the dynamics of real estate have been redefined thanks in large part to the internet. With the help of the World Wide Web, buyers and sellers have become more empowered thus enabling them to buy and sell with more ease.

As technology advances, the real estate industry is transforming itself from agent centric transactions to consumer centric practices. With the help of the online industry, consumers now have more real estate knowledge, tools and resources at their fingertips than ever before. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than 72 percent of homebuyers now begin their home search online. Thanks to the Internet and other technological innovations, more real estate information is now freely available. As a result, consumers are demanding more choices, improved services, faster transactions and lower prices.

Buyers are not the only ones that are benefiting from the internet. With the downturn of the housing market the last thing sellers want to do is pay a hefty commission. More and more sellers are taking a stand by not wanting to pay the sales commission that an agent would command. This is understandable, as it will save you roughly 6% in commissions...which can easily be more than ten thousand dollars.

For example, if you sell a home for $250,000 you would traditionally pay your agent $15,000...the buyer's agent gets 3% ($7500) and the seller's agent (your agent) gets the other 3%. The buyer never pays any commission; that burden falls completely on the home seller. It's no wonder that sellers are opting to sell their properties independently, without the help of an agent. This explains the increase in the number of For Sale by Owners. Sellers who are not affiliated with an agent make up a large part of our market today.

So what makes a seller think they can sell their home on their own? The answer is the internet. The internet allows sellers to market their homes to millions of people with just a few clicks of their keyboard. Pricing information, Comparative Market Analysis and Recently Solds can all be available on the web for the sellers who choose to list their own homes. Years ago - agents were the must haves for this kind of information, but this is no longer the case; simply put - the face of real estate has changed. Therefore, if you have the time to sell your own house and you are interested in saving thousands of dollars...then go ahead and take the plunge. You will be happy you did.