Michigan-based Ralph Roberts is making news once again by announcing that he will waive the listing commission for the first ten families in each of three counties - Wayne, Oakland and Macomb - who contact him between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day who have been laid off or lost overtime and can no longer afford their homes as a result of layoffs and plant closings faced by employees of GM, Ford, Delphi, Daimler-Chrysler and other automotive related companies.

"The families of metro Detroit and Michigan are facing a terrible situation, with these recently announced massive plant closings and layoffs, the likes of which we have not seen in many years," said Ralph. "I feel very strongly that those of us in real estate who have been fortunate and enjoyed success have a responsibility to extend ourselves to individuals and families who are facing some very hard choices."

Ralph's marketing strategy is to target families who need to downsize and get into a smaller house that they can better handle financially.

As an example, on the sale of a $200,000 house, the listing commission of usually 3%, or $6,000, will not be charged to the selling homeowner.