The current economic downturn has consumers looking for ways to trim their budgets and create a financial safety net to make it through the recession. Real estate is still one of the areas of the economy struggling to keep a toe hold. The drop in home values has hit many markets in the country extremely hard. In fact, many homeowners in those areas now owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Foreclosure rates have continued to increase, which has exacerbated the surplus of unsold homes on the market. The Obama administration introduced a housing aid plan that many hope will provide a boost to the real estate market and, in turn, the economy. One of the main goals of the plan is to help responsible consumers and their lenders make mortgage payments more manageable, thus reducing the number of defaults and foreclosures. The one welcome change in all the real estate tumult has been interest rates. Many consumers who had previously put their home purchasing decisions on hold, are now encouraged by historically low interest rates. But many budget conscious buyers are considering options like fee for service real estate and even shopping for homes without a realtor.



The way people buy and sell houses in this post bubble economy will likely be very different than ever before. When real estate was booming, real estate agents could pretty much run the show. As buyers clamored to find a house and be the highest bidder, realtors were maxed out with business. But even before the recession, the face of real estate was morphing into something different. Ten years ago, there were no fee for service real estate options or online homes databases. You had to rely on a realtor to find listings and see homes. If you used a real estate agent, your only choice was to pay them a set percentage of the price for a home you bought or sold. The web has put consumers at the helm of their real estate transactions. You can see property photos, take virtual trips through neighborhoods and know a listing price without ever even meeting with a realtor. Fee for service real estate, a new trend in realtor relationships, is also putting consumers at the helm. Fee for service real estate is a model that charges a consumer for real estate services, in lieu of a commission percentage. Different companies offer different fee for service real estate choices. It can be as structured as an ala cart or hourly menu, or a charge for a selection of basic services with additional costs incurred for work beyond that. Fee for service real estate models give consumers more choices and more control over how they want to buy and sell their homes. Real estate agents who support the model believe it shows the value of their work more than a strict percentage commission model does.