A real estate start up, LeaveYourAgent.com, recently joined the real estate battleground with a lofty goal, “We want to be THE go-to FSBO website”, said co-founder and CIO, Jared Twitchell. For those who aren’t in the know, FSBO stands for “For Sale by Owner”, or in other words, no agent is used in the real estate transaction. http://www.LeaveYourAgent.com believes that users want free, and that’s what they’re giving them.
With the downturn in housing, FSBOs have become increasingly popular as home owners find it harder to make a profit when selling a home. As one lifelong Utah resident Amanda Ainslie remarked, “If I don’t use a real estate agent, I save 6%. That’s a lot of money, 6% will pay for all the furniture for my new home.” Mandy’
According to fellow co-founder and CTO, Jeremy Burgess , “Many of today’s buyers will find the home they want on the internet, thus minimizing a real estate agent’s utility. In the past, agents earned their keep by finding homes that buyers couldn’t. That’s not the case anymore. In fact, I bet buyers and agents are using the same websites to find homes.” Thus, the question is raised, “Do we really need real estate agents anymore?” In response to this question Jared Twitchell said, “You won’t get rid of agents. Someone will always have a need for a good agent: like out of town buyers who are unfamiliar with the market or individuals who don’t have the time. But, the real estate industry will have to adapt to the internet just like every other company, and that adaptation usually includes a loss of market share to nimbler and more innovative companies like http://www.LeaveYourAgent.com.”
LeaveYourAgent.com’
