how do I list my home as for sale on this site? I've signed up for an account, but can find no information on how to do this.

Ralph, this site - like most heavily traveled real estate websites - is broker based. You need to be an agent or broker to post properties here. While there are some "by owner" sites you can post to, you should consider that there is usually a fee and, more importantly, that buyers don't usually go there. Most buyers, which are your target audience, use brokerage related sites such as John L Scott or Windermere for searching, while others use the largest of the "non MLS" sites such as Homes.com, Zillow or Yahoo Real Estate. Consider where you'd spend your time searching for homes, and place your property there - even if that means hiring a broker. A quick note about that - when you hire a broker, you're hiring an advertising agency and your chief negotiator. Selling by owner has a success rate of only about 7%, which means a failure rate of about 93%. Even most agents, who are supposed to be professionals, close far less than 50% of the listings they take. My best advice is to try it on your own first, and once that doesn't work - and it won't - interview and hire only the best of the best. Then listen to, trust and act upon their input. Hire someone with no less than 5 years of experience, and who is consistently a top ten percent performer. Verify references and look at their currently listed properties - are they represented in real estate magazines & other print media that buyers like? Are they featured prominently at websites like this one, and are the photos excellent? Do they utilize nice looking virtual tours? In this declining market (values dropped about 5.5% nationally in 2010, or about $27,500 on the typical $500k house), going the wrong route and having a property sit for six months or a year, whether by owner or with the wrong agent, can be far more expensive than hiring a quality person on contingency who will market well and negotiate strongly for you.

Hi Ralph - You can't list your property on this site without being a real estate agent. There are some sites you can pay to list "for sale by owner" on, but most qualified buyers don't search for properties there. If you were going to look for homes, where would you go? What ever your answer is, it's probably where most other buyers would go, to. That is where I would list my home - even if that means hiring a broker. "By owner" has a success rate of about 7% nationally - or about a 93% failure rate, if you look at it that way. Even most agents, who are supposed to be pros, only close about 40% of the listings they take - many fare worse. A real estate broker is not a "salesman" - they are your advertising agency as well as your chief negotiator - and only a slim few are truly good at wearing both hats. Try it on your own, but it's very likely that you'll end up hiring a professional within a few months. Hire the wrong one and the property will likely sit, unsold, for six months to a year and "expire". Hire the right one, and it should be gone within 90 days or less. Incidentally - listing on "by owner" sites isn't free. They charge you to post to the site and, if they are associated with the local multiple listing service, may charge you $500 - $2500 to list it, plus there will be an additional 3% buyer's agent commission if it sells - so it's nowhere near free. If it doesn't sell, you're simply out the $500 - $2500 bucks. Hiring a quality broker, on contingency, means that they will spend their money & time trying to sell it for you - and there is never any cost to you if they are not successful. In a declining market (values dropped over 5% in 2010 alone), a property sitting unsold for six months or a year and then having to eventually hire a broker anyway is far more costly than paying someone excellent at it 5% to begin with.

Visit www.chrissoon.com and go to my link to access fsbo.com website, some are free, some there is a fee. As with stock trading, you can trade on your own on-line or hire a professional financial advisor that can built a wealth investment portfolio for you, the same with selling a home, which I am sure is your prized lifetime posession, you can chose to hire a Profesional Listing Broker. Call me if you have any further questions (425)802-0518

Aloha Ralph, Call my daughter, Charelle Zimnicki, at 206-617-0127 or email her at charelle.zimnicki@gmail.com. She is a Real Estate agent for John L. Scott out in Green Lake. If you are curious about real estate in Hawaii, please visit http://www.pahoahomes.com/1/Meet-Lucena

Hi Ralph. This site is not for listing your property. It would be beneficial for you to hire a Realtor to sell your home. Its tough to do it on your own in today's real estate market. Call me at 206-920-0244, I will be happy to help. Or email: shelleyshomes4u@yahoo.com

Ralph, The account you signed up for allows realtors to get a free profile on our site. It also allows realtors to access and answer questions on our Q&A section. For non realtors the free account allows you to save listings to your account to come back to at a later date and ask questions on our Q&A page. If you need more information on how to list on our site please contact me directly at 757-351-7558 or zimmers@homes.com.

Hello Ralph! I was the listing agent on your condo when you purchased it! Small world! So, this site is for Realtors, however, there are many sites to use as an owner/seller. If you'd like to contact me at :lindyhisatomi@cbbain.com, I'd be happy to give you more information. Or, you can call me this weekend at: 206-550-0712. Looking forward to talking with you! yours, Lindy Hisatomi,CRS

I believe this site is for Realtor listed properties. I would be happy to help you with this. Feel free to call me or e-mail me to discuss this further.