Home Buyers Search On-line First, Before Making a Deal

"For Sale by Owners" AKA FSBO (pronouncedThe fact is that web-surfing home buyers are
"Fizz-boes") are taking control of the sale of their ownchanging how Canadians are buying real estate, and
homes!changing the real estate industry. With a flood of
Statistics show that its probably one of the best waysinformation Canadians are becoming much more
to go. So-called "Internet buyers." who comprised onlystudious in their real estate buying techniques and
28 percent of the market in 2000, accounted for 45%starting to chip away at the 6% commission that real
of the market in 2002 and may now be in the majority.estate brokers collect on each home sold.
The National Association of Realtors recently reportedCanadians have come to realize that they cannot
that for the first time, more home buyers nationwidecontinue to throw their equity out the window by giving
used the internet instead of newspaper ads as a keythousands of their hard earned dollars to agents. For a
information.majority of Canadian citizens their homes are their
- 66 percent of the buyers surveyed reported usingfamilies largest assets. Being a "For Sale By Owners"
the internet, compared to 49 percent of buyers whoAKA "FSBO" is simply good money managing, It puts
say they used newspaper ads.you in control of one of your largest assets, and Its
Nation wide real estate has increased 20--30% sincewhere the real estate market is going with today's
2000 but the cost of listing with a real estate agenttechnology.
has either increased or has been unchanged.