Charlotte North Carolina Real Estate Guide

By James R. Hagerty
From The Wall Street Journal Online

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Patrick McCrea figured his four-bedroom home in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, featuring new hardwood floors and a hot tub, would "kind of sell itself." So he decided to use a discount real-estate broker rather than pay a standard commission of about 6%.

Mr. McCrea, an entrepreneur, turned to Sharon Jebavy, who owns a tiny discount brokerage called HomeWise Real Estate Services, based in Columbus. For a flat fee of about $500, she places listings on the main database for brokers in any given Ohio region. Her customers also typically agree to pay a 3% commission to any agent who locates a buyer.

But shortly after signing with HomeWise in February, Mr. McCrea found himself in the crossfire between scrappy discounters and Cleveland's real-estate establishment. Myra N. White, a branch manager at a big local brokerage who heard about the listing, told Mr. McCrea that he was "damaging" himself by working with Mrs. Jebavy.

The discounter, she warned, had run afoul of rules of the database, which Cleveland brokers control. For instance, Mrs. Jebavy had customers with "For Sale By Owner" signs on their lawns. That violates a rule of the database -- which relegates such listings to less prominent status. The database staff even dispatched someone to take pictures of the offending signs.

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