ForSaleByOwner.com Contest Challenges Homeowners to Guesstimate Home Value For Fun and Profit

CHICAGO, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Every home has a price, and behind every price is a story. The ForSaleByOwner.com "Is Your Home Priced Right?" contest challenges homeowners to thumbnail the value of their homes and explain that value – in 200 words or less and with one photo. Whether homeowners are buying, selling, or staying, knowing what their homes are worth enables them to spend the right amount on maintenance, improvements and insurance. That is the mission of the new ForSaleByOwner.com Pricing Guide, which contestants can use to research their submissions to the "Is Your Home Priced Right?" contest.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110308/MM61814LOGO )

Each of the four winners will be chosen by the ForSaleByOwner.com expert panel and will receive a basket of real estate prizes:

• A $1,000 home improvement gift card
• A premium listing package on ForSaleByOwner.com
• A free appraisal to find out what their homes are worth in today's market.

"Our goal is for all homeowners to understand the constantly changing variables that go into home valuations," said Stephanie Hammell, Director of Public Relations for Tribune Digital Classified Marketplaces, which includes ForSaleByOwner.com. ""Is Your Home Priced Right?" is a fun way for homeowners to research the value of their homes and for four homeowners to win a $1,000 gift card for home improvement projects."

ForSaleByOwner.com offers a deep menu of articles and interactive tools in their Education Center that provide homeowners with information and how-to's for buying, selling, and owning their homes. As the country's largest by-owner listing and service company, ForSaleByOwner.com's mission is to help homeowners keep more of their equity by selling directly.

"Is Your Home Priced Right?" winners will be profiled at ForSaleByOwner.com explaining their winning home-value rationale. The appraisers' opinions will be the basis for national case studies in home pricing written by ForSaleByOwner.com staff.  Complete contest rules are at: http://www.forsalebyowner.com/education/index.php/media-kit/584-qis-your-price-rightq-contest-rules-

About ForSaleByOwner.com

ForSaleByOwner.com is the nation's largest and most robust "by owner" real estate website. In 2010 alone, ForSaleByOwner.com facilitated sales of $1.8 billion worth of residential real estate, enabling homeowners to keep at least $72 million* in home equity for themselves.  

Since 1999, ForSaleByOwner.com has saved home sellers more than one billion dollars by coaching and equipping them with information, tools and services that enable them to buy and sell houses directly.

By selling directly, homeowners can recoup more of their home equity by controlling transaction fees. The company charges $89 to $689 for its wide range of advertising, listing services and related information and tools. A homeowner selling a $300,000 home through a full service real estate agent would lose $18,000 in equity, based on the traditional 6% commission.

ForSaleByOwner.com was acquired in 2006 by Tribune Digital, a division of Tribune Companies, and is based in Chicago.

*Based on some home sellers paying a 2% commission to the agent representing the buyers of their homes. The traditional real estate commission is 6%.

www.ForSaleByOwner.com

SOURCE ForSaleByOwner.com