Debra Kamin

On a $2.75 million house, that's over $100,000.

Exactly. For many people in this country, that's a salary for a year they can only dream of achieving. And he could not figure out what the agents were going to do that was worth $100,000.

Exactly. For many people in this country, that's a salary for a year they can only dream of achieving. And he could not figure out what the agents were going to do that was worth $100,000.

And a lot of real estate agents obviously would disagree with this, but from Mike's opinion, this is his asset. He did not want to put forth $100,000 or more of the sale price to an agent, but nobody was willing to negotiate.

And a lot of real estate agents obviously would disagree with this, but from Mike's opinion, this is his asset. He did not want to put forth $100,000 or more of the sale price to an agent, but nobody was willing to negotiate.

So he said to himself, how hard can it be?

So he said to himself, how hard can it be?

I'm going to do it myself. That's my plan. And he began not just selling his house on his own, but chronicling the whole thing online for viewers and building a following as he did it.

I'm going to do it myself. That's my plan. And he began not just selling his house on his own, but chronicling the whole thing online for viewers and building a following as he did it.

He starts running into roadblocks. He learns very quickly that the industry has made it much harder than he thought to sell his house. First of all, he knows that if he wants a buyer to come, he needs to offer commission to the buyer. He was willing to.

He starts running into roadblocks. He learns very quickly that the industry has made it much harder than he thought to sell his house. First of all, he knows that if he wants a buyer to come, he needs to offer commission to the buyer. He was willing to.

It's almost like he's in court representing himself.

It's almost like he's in court representing himself.

So he knows if I want buyers to come, I should probably be willing to pay the buyer's agent commission.

So he knows if I want buyers to come, I should probably be willing to pay the buyer's agent commission.

Exactly. So he's willing to pay that commission, and he wants to get the house listed on the MLS so people can find it. Now, if you're not working with an agent, how do you list a house on the MLS?

Exactly. So he's willing to pay that commission, and he wants to get the house listed on the MLS so people can find it. Now, if you're not working with an agent, how do you list a house on the MLS?

He Googles it. He figures this out. There's companies that do this for you. But he lives in Colorado, and he quickly learns that in Colorado, there are laws that say if I'm going to list the house on the MLS, I have to also do a bunch of other stuff, and you have to pay me all this stuff. It's a rule designed by realtors to make it too hard to get your house listed on the MLS.

He Googles it. He figures this out. There's companies that do this for you. But he lives in Colorado, and he quickly learns that in Colorado, there are laws that say if I'm going to list the house on the MLS, I have to also do a bunch of other stuff, and you have to pay me all this stuff. It's a rule designed by realtors to make it too hard to get your house listed on the MLS.

Then he realizes that he wants to get his house listed on Zillow. Everybody uses Zillow and Redfin to search for houses.