Moneywatch loves FSBO!

Nobody has any equity to spare.

That's the sum of all the commentary and handwringing about declining equity.

So if you've got less equity, you can't afford to jauntily share it with a real estate agent.

It's nice for us that the economy is justifying our business model, but nicer yet that the financial media recognize that Our Time Has Come.

Hence: this new CBS Interactive video, which showcases the new economics of selling a house.

It's All About Providing Consumers with Choices

A few weeks ago ForSaleByOwner.com launched a new product allowing sellers to have their home marketed on Realtor.com without having to be on their local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Realtor.com gets nearly 5 million visits a month and is obviously a powerful place for anyone who wants to market & sell their home. This new service is great for people who want their home listed on Realtor.com and not on their local MLS, allowing buyers to contact them directly without going through a real estate agent and saving sellers the cost of an expensive commission fee.

Our news has received plenty of play in the press and in various real estate blogs. One of the interviews we did was with RealEstateRadioUSA, which aired this great interview with Greg Healy (VP of Operations for ForSaleByOwner.com) that helps consumers understand how our new service provides them with more choices to sell their home.

ForSaleByOwner.com Again Makes News

We received another piece of news coverage last night. This time it was the WMAZ-TV, which is he CBS affiliate for central Georgia. Click on the above to see the newscast. The Associated Press is also running a story this week that features ForSaleByOwner.com. To read this story, and others, please visit our Press Coverage section.

And the Winner Is...

As previously noted, we were selected to represent the "for sale by owner" industry in an online debate held by U.S. News & World Report. We faced off against Jay Thompson, a blogger and real estate broker based in Phoenix.

We debated the topic, "Do You Need an Agent to Sell a House," and U.S. News & World Report asked readers to decide who won. The results? We are proud to report that we captured 66% of the votes, an overwhelming majority that shows that more people are looking to gain independence from using real estate agents. Greg Healy, VP of ForSaleByOwner.com, gave an interview to RealEstateRadioUSA.com on winning the debate. Click here to listen to the interview.

We've been asked to defend our strong showing in yet another upcoming debate on another real estate topic, and we'll keep you posted.

The Polls Are Open!

As noted in a previous post, we've been engaged in an online debate hosted by U.S. News & World Report. The topic.... "Do you need a real estate agent to sell your home?" pitted our very own Greg Healy - VP of Operations - against Jay Thompson, a blogger and real estate broker in Phoenix.

The actual debate part of the contest has concluded, and now we're on to the voting stage. Luke Mullins, who is an Associate Editor at U.S. News & World Report, has moderated the debate and has asked readers to cast a vote to decided who won the debate.

The McCain-Obama presidential election might be in November, but for the next day or so if you click here you'll have the chance to vote on who won our FSBO vs. Realtor debate.

Fighting on Behalf of FSBOs

As the "for sale by owner" industry's leading website, we have been asked by U.S. News & World Report to participate in an online debate on the topic "Do You Need a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home." For the next seven days or so we're facing off against a representative of Realtors, and you can follow the debate by visiting this site.

Add your comments to the U.S. News & World Report debate, and give your thoughts as to why agents aren't needed.

Starting July 21, the magazine will be having an online ballot box allowing readers to vote who won the debate. So remember to check back and vote for ForSaleByOwner.com!

CNBC Reports on ForSaleByOwner.com

As the leading "for sale by owner" real estate company, we're consistently called on by the media to provide our perspective on the real estate market. We've been working with CNBC on a feature story they decided to run on how people can save money by selling their home themselves. They interviewed one of our customers who, probably like you, once wondered if he could sell his home without an agent. Read what he had to say in the CNBC article and how he saved $30,000 using our services!

Accolades From NBC

Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, who also contributes to NBC's "Today Show," has named ForSaleByOwner.com as the best website to buy a house without a broker. Check out the article here. What makes the site the best? Probably because it gets more than twice the online visitors than its next closest competitor, and offers all the home pricing tools and real estate resources to sell and buy homes while saving on commission.