The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the founder and former chief operating officer of ForSaleByOwner.com tried to sell his New York City apartment on his own for six months… unsuccessfully. In a proper fit of irony and in line with research that has proven homes listed by brokers sell more easily and for higher prices, the former founder turned to a real estate broker to get the job done.

And get the job done is exactly what he did, quickly selling the NYC apartment for $150,000 more than the owner's previous asking price.

From the WSJ article:

"Looking to move his family to the suburbs, [Mr. Sambrotto] said he carefully staged his apartment for sale himself, and put it on the market. But after using a mix of websites to publicize his apartment, he said he had only 'middling success' and switched to a broker"