Online home sales become another real estate option

Houston - Houston area home sales are on track to beat last year's record pace, but the traditional way of buying and selling a home may be changing. While sellers typically pay about 6%, in commissions, to the agents involved, a growing number of internet companies say they can offer the same service for a lot less money.    

When Everett and Rosemary Upchesaw decided to sell their Cypress-area home, they listed it with Dallas-based Door.com. The new online real estate brokerage charges a flat-fee of $5,000 to sell client homes, which is often thousands less than traditional commissions.    

The Upchesaw's sold their home in less than a week and say the experience was convenient and trouble-free. "I really appreciated the ease that it was," says Rosemary, "They took a lot of pictures; put it online so other people could visually go in a look at the home. I just felt really comfortable."  

Alex Doubet is Door.com's founder. He says the company's centrally-located agents are licensed to practice in the seven states where it's doing business.    The average savings for each transaction, he says, is $10,000. "You have an agent selling your house, who is a full-time employee; sitting at their phone, ready to handle negotiations on offers, when they come in; ready to answer your call, when you make it," says Doubet.    

Door.com is just one of a handful of such companies, including so-called 'iBuyers'. Those are companies that offer to buy your home, often at a discount rate, that allows a quicker move. Added to the nation's 2 million real estate agents, it means a lot of choice to sift-through, before listing your home for sale.