infundibulum

Smart Mobs: FSBO [For Sale By Owner]

A pointer to a good article in the NYT today about a couple of cousins in Wisconsin who have started up a realtor-free real estate website that seems to have struck a nerve.

It’s interesting to see how many sites with rather obvious ideas (”cut the middle man out of industry X”) are only now starting to become successful — it’s not just the concept, it’s the implementation, and, equally important, the people involved, that matters.

And it’s also interesting to see how little the actual design of the website has helped this particular venture:

That is what David B. Zwiefelhofer, Webmaster for FsboMadison, would
like to see, and he constantly encourages Ms. Miller and Ms. Murphy to
expand. “I think this is the one place in the country where FSBO could
overtake” the multiple listing service, he said.

His clients, not surprisingly for a social worker and a nurse, are
embarrassed by their success, Mr. Zwiefelhofer said. “It bugs me to no
end,” he said. “ The Web site still looks like it was designed by some
high school student five years ago. “

I think this is pretty awesome — they went to the library and got some books on how to start a website. (Actually, I don’t think it looks all that bad.) And now between the two of them they’re pulling down 300K a year and are perfectly happy.

Talk about getting real…