The founder of a website helping people to sell their own homes has found a buyer for his own apartment – with the help of a traditional real estate broker. ForSaleByOwner.com creator Colby Sambrotto even paid the standard 6% commission after selling his two-bedroom New York condo for $2.15 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Sambrotto spent six months trying to sell the apartment in trendy Chelsea through online listings and classified adverts. But the DIY home selling guru eventually decided to turn the sale over to a professional. Not only did broker Jesse Buckler set the price $150,000 higher than the original asking price, he went on to lure the elusive buyer Mr Sambrotto’s self-help methods had failed to attract. The Journal said the 2,000-square-foot apartment at The Lion’s Head building near Sixth Avenue is now under contract. Mr Buckler claimed the owner wasn’t asking enough for the apartment and was consequently attracting the right buyers. Broker Jesse Buckler encouraged Mr Sambrotto to increase the asking price of the apartment as a sales strategy Broker Jesse Buckler encouraged Mr Sambrotto to increase the asking price of the apartment as a sales strategy ‘At first he wouldn't let me increase the price,’ said Mr. Buckler. ‘I told him I know what I am doing—the market is picking up.’ Mr Sambrotto bought the apartment for $2 million in 2007, a year after he sold his ForSaleByOwner.com website at the height of the real estate boom. He told the Journal that he still believed in owner sales and discounted commissions, but added: ‘The apartment market in Manhattan was tightly controlled by agents.' 'So many buyers don't even bother to do a search online.’ Undeterred, he is now planning to launch a new sale by owner website, called USRealty.com. If the owner of a large and successfull for sale by owner website can't even practice what he preachs how can there be any merit in selling privatly?

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