An Internet boost for do-it-yourself home sellers

Many sites sell MLS listings for less. At www.e-liststate.com, California sellers pay $249 for a six-month listing. At 4salemls.com, Californians pay $395 for a listing that lasts until the house is sold. At www.ihsrealty.com, they pay varying amounts by county; for a Los Angeles County listing, the amount is $399. At www.housepad.com, which also operates as www.valuemls.com, the charge is based on a community within a county. A house for sale in Eagle Rock, for example, would cost $179 for a listing on an MLS -- only one of the services the site offers.

IggysHouse is providing the service without charging a fee to consumers.

"How is he going to make any money?" NAR spokesman Molony asked.

Fox said IggysHouse is paying the nominal cost for the MLS listings to drive more business to www.buysiderealty.com, his company's original real estate presence on the Internet. That site rebates 75% of the traditional commission received by an agent representing a buyer if the buyer finds his or her own home and works with the company's salaried agents. The remaining 25% of that commission goes into the coffers of the company.

"Sellers are buyers," Fox said, explaining that most homeowners who sell one house purchase another, and he wants those buyers. BuySideRealty's online business is growing, he added, although he declined to discuss by how much. He did give some local examples. A buyer of a $2- million house in Beverly Hills recently received a $42,000 rebate, Fox said, and another who is in escrow on a $2.3-million house is scheduled to receive $48,000. California's average rebate is $17,000, he said; nationwide, it is $11,000.

Like other sites that assist FSBOs, IggysHouse also sells "for sale" signs, directional signs and lockboxes. And, although there may be some money to be made in that area, Fox's top goal is generating more attention to his other Internet business offerings.

Many websites offer services for homeowners intent on selling their own homes, among them www.forsalebyowner.com\o7, \f7which is owned by Tribune Co., parent company of the L.A. Times, and charges $399 for a six-month listing on the MLS and the Realtor site. Whether these sellers list on the Internet or simply buy a "for sale" sign at the local hardware store, their numbers are growing.

*

gayle.pollard-terry@latimes.com