Redfin.com
Selling or buying a home? Save serious money using this online real estate broker. There are trade-offs, but if you're willing to do some of the legwork, you can save $10,000 to $12,000 in lower commission fees. So far the site only covers the Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles markets, but Chicago and Washington are on deck. Other innovative online brokers include ZipRealty and BuySide Realty. Before you list, get a sense of how much your property could fetch on Cyberhomes, a new Zillow competitor that provide home valuations based on property, mortgage, ownership and appraisal records—the same data realtors who charge 6% commissions consult—and charts average sales price trends by ZIP code. Curious what the new neighbors paid for their house? Type the address into PropertyShark to get the details on the transaction.