BOSTON -- It's no secret that the real estate market is a roller coaster ride for buyers and sellers these days. Now, some local real estate agents are going high tech to try and make that big sale.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that real estate agent Lisa Johnson is trying to sell a split-level, four-bedroom house in North Andover. With the market slow, she's trying something new: she's using Twitter and Facebook social networking sites to sell her properties.

"The most likely thing for me right now, to use it, is for new listings. When I get new listing or when I've just signed up a contract, I'm saying to people, 'OK, I just listed this, it's going to be coming on on Tuesday,'" Johnson said.

Typing in a couple of words, she Tweets her followers and they Tweet their followers and the word gets out, with hundreds of people in her cyber-neighborhood getting the word about the latest open houses and new listings.

"It's free and it takes me 30 seconds to put the message out there. It reaches far more consumers," Johnson said.

She's able to message a client instantly when he wants to know about a new house. No phone, newspaper, flyer or ad book. Johnson's already sold 25 houses this year and she credits much of her success to social networking.