A new Web site aimed at facilitating home sales without a broker launched Monday, focusing on properties for sale in the region.

FSBOTheDistrict.com (FSOB stands for “For Sale By Owner”) was launched by local homeowners who wanted to avoid getting a real estate agent involved in the purchase or sale of their real estate. The Web site does not share information with real estate agencies and is not involved in the transaction. Instead, it works only as a facilitator.

“Unlike national [for sale by owner] sites, which often have just a few listings in several cities and virtually no local resources for buyers and sellers, locally operated Web sites can provide region-specific detail, with links to local services,” said Jocelyn Batko, co-founder of the site. “The lack of a local FSBO Web site in the Washington, D.C., metro area has made it difficult in the past for homeowners to easily advertise their home and homebuyers to readily find local [for sale by owner] listings in the area.”

Involving a broker in a transaction, while helpful, is also costly. Typically, broker commissions are about 6 percent of the price of the home. Therefore, a $400,000 home would require about $24,000 in broker fees.

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com