FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As Realtors take new stances to set themselves apart in the slowing home market of North Texas, two Dallas entrepreneurs are launching a two-pronged approach to lower costs: An Internet-based flat-rate listing and marketing service for sellers coupled with discounts for moving the household when a buyer uses the pair’s traditional brokerage services as an agent.

It’s a shotgun wedding of traditional brokerage services for buyers with a flat-fee/no-commission online approach for sellers through PlugInRealty.com.

“It’s been going on for a few years,” Edwin Dolatkhah, PlugInRealty.com’s vice president of marketing and operations, said of the online brokerage services. “But there are still very few of the traditional agencies that offer this kind of marketing service.”

PlugInRealty’s online approach offers home sellers an opportunity for a low-cost multi-listing and marketing services from a varying menu. The price ranges from $138 for six months to $695 for a full year. The online service puts sellers’ listings and photos on the multi-listing service, a host of real estate Web sites, including listings on Realtor.com and others, and even creates a seller’s own Web site. It also provides yard signs, an open house service, selling guides, fliers and listings in local publications. “There are no hidden fees and zero-percent commission,” Dolatkhah said.

That compares to a usual 3 percent commission paid to a traditional listing agent upon closing, or $6,000 for the sale of a $200,000 home. As a buyers’ agent, PlugInRealty is using discounted household moves -- $500 off with the purchase of a median-priced home and $1,000 off a move with a sales price of $499,000 and above – through a partnership with Dr. Move.com.

Although Dallas and Fort Worth have avoided the worst of the home-price declines, existing home sales here are still running about 40 percent below their 2007 levels. Average home prices in North Texas are down about 9 percent from last year and sellers know they will glean less equity from the home when it does sell. That means that home buyers and sellers are seeking ways to reduce costs.

PluginRealty.com launched its flat-fee Internet-based service last year and has now begun to market its site to North Texas sellers looking to save on the cost of selling their homes. After years of resistance from traditional real estate agents and brokerages, the number of flat-fee, online brokerage services is growing, largely as traditional agencies adopt components of the online format and as independent agents launch new services. For more information, check online at www.pluginrealty.com