A 'New' Way to Buy a House: You Get to Name the Price

Why should home sellers have all the fun? A South Florida real estate broker has trademarked his public pricing model with the hopes of changing the way we buy houses.

Under current tradition, a seller determines the asking price for his house generally after consulting with a real estate agent and comparing what other homes in the area sold for recently. The real estate agent who lists the house fronts the marketing costs out of pocket and doesn't make a nickel unless the house sells.

Under the Fred DeFalco way, a home would be offered for sale with essentially a "make me an offer" notice -- no predetermined listing price. Buyers would figure out what they wanted to pay for it and submit a non-binding letter of intention to buy the home. It works similar to a sealed bid auction where the seller doesn't actually have to accept low bids but can use the buyer's expression of interest as an entry point to negotiations.