written by: Mark Koebrich , 9NEWS Consumer Reporter
KUSA - As the housing slump deepens, sellers are having to get very creative to draw more "eyeballs" to their property.
9NEWS Consumer Reporter Mark Koebrich says sellers have a lot of options when it comes to selecting a real estate agent or a real estate company, including the latest "electronic" agents.
In a real estate market this desperate, many feel they need a full service broker.
"They just don't want to have to deal with it, and a lot of it is, they just don't know what they don't know in the transaction," said Greg Zadel of Zadel Realty.
Many others who have bought and sold property before, like Carolyn Kruse, may find a discounter like Assist-2-Sell more to their liking.
"I think it's their network that keeps drawing me back cause when you have happy sellers, they often come back as happy buyers," said Kruse.
She says she also likes the idea of knowing the fees up front.
"We're full service but we just charge a flat fee so what we do is we make up for it in volume," said Assist-2-Sell agent Dan O'Meara.
Now, another option, a brand new wrinkle: Internet brokers Relogic and ZipRealty.
Will and Lori Pescatore, who are shopping the Denver market, like the idea of looking at ZipRealty's listings whenever they want.
"We search all different hours and stuff, so Lori can get on there and search whenever she feels like doing it," said Will.
"That's right," said Lori. "I don't have to call real late at night. If I'm looking at something I can get all the information. It tells me about schools; it tells me about the area."
Perhaps best of all they say, consumers can use the website to dramatically narrow their choices before beginning a home tour.
"Years ago you had a book and you opened it up and you were lucky to have the outside picture. Now they have as much information about the house as I do," said ZipRealty broker Jetta Brouker.
ZipRealty CEO Pat Lashinsky agrees.
"The great thing is - you can actually see 50-100 homes while you're sitting at home in your bathrobe in front of the computer at 10 o'clock at night, and you can say, here are four that are worth my time tomorrow," said Lashinsky.
It streamlines a process that use to take weeks. The ZipRealty site also has a feature that allows you to make an "offer" on a property to see if you're in the ballpark.
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