Battle Heats Up Between ForSaleByOwner.com and NAR

STUART, FL Last week, the National Realty News reported that ForSaleByOwner.com claimed that it now has the ability to market homes that are For Sale by Owner (FSBO) directly on Realtor.com, without having to pay a real estate commission to a Realtor. 

After our article appeared, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) issued their own press release that alleged that the claims by ForSaleByOwner.com are erroneous and misleading.

However, during a telephone interview with Greg Healy, Vice President of Operations of ForSaleByOwner.com, he said that the company fully stands behind the [ForSaleByOwner.coms] press release, and has no intention to retract their statement.

According to Healy, the service has been in operation for about three weeks now and currently has ForSaleByOwner.coms customers listings appearing on the Realtor.com website.

Healy added that he does not dispute NARs claim that every property on Realtor.com must be listed by a licensed real estate broker that is a member of the National Association of Realtors.

The company is able to place homes on Realtor.com by listing them with a Realtor in a non-local MLS, added Healy. The listing agreement used by the companys partners is a limited service contract, similar to a discount brokers fee for service agreement.

The Department of Justices agreement with NAR that prohibits MLSs from discriminating against discount brokers provides confidence to launch this service directly to consumers, according to Healy.

To further explain the way the service works Healy used the following example:

If a FSBO in Florida wanted their listing to appear on Realtor.com the customer would enter into a limited service agreement with a ForSaleByOwner.com partner Realtor in the state of Washington.  The Realtor would then add the listing to the Brokers Washington MLS.  The MLS would then upload the listing to Realtor.com.

Any inquiries, either by phone or e-mail, would then be forwarded immediately to both the Realtor and homeowner using proprietary technology furnished by ForSaleByOwner.com.

The total cost to a new customer of ForSaleByOwner.com would be $599, for existing customers it could be as little as $200 to upgrade their service.  The partner Realtor would receive a portion of this fee as total compensation for access to the Realtors MLS and thereby Realtor.com.

This is just a new way to put properties on Realtor.com without paying a typical commission and following all the local MLS and Realtor.com rules, added Healy