After two years of lightning fast sales and soaring prices, the housing market is finally starting to cool.

Inventory has been slowly increasing, taking off some of the pressure of competition that once saw buyers making offers within minutes of touring a home — if not before — and well above asking prices.

Now, some sellers are finding they have to actually lower their list prices. Which may leave them searching for ways to save on transaction costs: namely real estate agent fees.

Sellers typically pay between 5% and 6% of the sale price to their real estate agent, who then typically splits the money with the agent representing the buyer.

But there are ways to sell a home without using a traditional agent. And while it can save you a bunch of money, it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting — and what you’re not.

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The flat-fee option

Almost 90% of homeowners used a real estate agent to sell their homes over the past year, according to a new report from Realtor.com.

Joe Bourland, a real estate agent in Phoenix, says there’s a good reason the majority of people work with Realtors.

“It’s work,” he says. “There’s effort and expertise involved and skills that most homeowners don’t have.”

Yet not everyone feels they need an agent to hold their hand through the sales process — or they just don’t want to pay a 6% commission. In these cases, sellers often turn to so-called flat-fee real estate brokerages.

These companies charge an upfront fee to list your home on your region’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — a searchable database of properties for sale.

Sinan Zakaria, the broker for San Diego-based Listed Simply, which offers a flat-fee service in California and Arizona, says that with the market simmering down, sellers are looking for ways to save.