By Leigh Kamping-Carder | The Wall Street Journal
Verley Platt, a 72-year-old Philadelphian, decided to go solo. In April, she listed her stone Colonial home—sans real-estate agent—for $1.1 million.
A quick sale at asking price, she figured, could save her $66,000 in agent commissions—worth all the hard work. “That’s a lot to spend for someone else to sell your house,” says Ms. Platt, who runs an online business selling hats to cancer patients.
In the past few years, more luxury homeowners like Ms. Platt have taken the “for sale by owner,” or FSBO, route, according to data from real-estate website Zillow. In April, 3.5% of high-end listings—defined as the top 5% priciest homes in their respective cities—were listed by the owners, almost double the percentage in April 2012, but still a small segment of the overall market.
