Last month I took a look at ways to sell your home on the internet, as well as a Realtor's take on going the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route. It was all part of my quest to make an informed decision.

After these stories ran I was contacted by ForSaleByOwner.com, one of the services I looked at in the FSBO website showdown. I was able to speak with Eric Mangan and Greg Healy to get a better understanding of a typical for-sale-by-owner transaction, as well as greater trends in the sell-your-own arena.

Since price seems to be most important in this buyer's market, I asked Greg how the commonly held idea that consumers don't know how to accurately price their homes fits into the option of going the FSBO route. Greg explained that while the issue of home valuation was a valid concern in the late 80's and even mid 90's, the Internet and open flow of data has enabled consumers to get the same pricing data a Realtor would use for determining a valuation.

Selling a home in today's market is a challenge, but going it alone as a "For Sale By Owner", adds a whole new set of issues to the equation. I began looking into the FSBO market after a good friend asked my opinion on several online sites that offer service to for sale by owners. After looking closer at many online solutions, I decided that I couldn't give valid input without getting a Realtor's take on the FSBO market.

While the Internet is busy leveling the playing field in many industries, selling your own home isn't quite as easy as selling your old comic books on eBay. There are disadvantages and risks to going it on your own. In order to find out about the hazards and issues associated with selling your own home I spoke with a Kari Nisler Hafeli of Marcie & Associates Realty, Inc. in Ohio.

The first thing Kari stressed was that selling homes is her full time job, and that having a professional with years of experience and knowledge is a big plus. Even more important is the exposure that you gain from using the Multiple Listing Service, a tool that agents use to list and find homes. When you use a Realtor your home is listed on the MLS for all to see. Although it's possible to contract to have your FSBO home appear in the MLS, it does cost money.

According to his website, Tom Hopkins is one of the top sales gurus in the world: "His first book, How to Master the Art of Selling, has sold over 1.6 million copies and been translated into ten languages." He is known as "the builder of sales champions."

So it's fair to say that the techniques he suggests are probably employed by a good number of successful real estate agents. Here's a sample of his "advice" for real estate agents looking to increase sales, from his book Mastering the Art of Selling Real Estate:

"If there is a charge to refinance the property prior to the maturity date, don't call it the prepayment penalty. Who wants to be penalized? No one. Call it the prepayment privilege."

I understand the it's the real estate agent's job to put his best foot forward but, to me, that language is incredibly misleading. The truth is that everyone who buys a house has the privilege of prepaying; a prepayment penalty just adds a special cost for doing so. This tricky euphemism has no basis in reality.

Any real estate agent will tell you that the internet has changed the world of selling homes -- most buyers browse listings online, and no longer have to rely on realtors to see MLS listing sheets. Today's buyer is far better informed than in the past. So it's no surprise that agents are looking to use the internet to generate business -- posting homes on Facebook, setting up LinkedIn profiles, etc.

But the New Jersey Association of Realtors has taken it to another world -- the world of Second Life, an online, massive multiplayer computer game. The group has purchased an office in the game, and is hoping to use it to provide potential home buyers and sellers with information and resources.

The investment is small -- only a few hundred dollars -- but it's interesting nonetheless. It got me and many others writing about it, so it's already generated a good amount of publicity for the money.

With the New Jersey real estate market suffering along with the rest of the country, Realtors need to find business. Perhaps they should consider turning the virtual office into a functioning business, selling Second Life real estate. It's probably a better investment than most real estate was a few years ago.

Getting sound unbiased advice about real estate is almost impossible. Asking a real estate agent if now is a good time to buy is like asking a barber whether you could use a haircut. Most real estate agents are ethical, well-intentioned people, but remember: they make their money selling homes, not telling people to keep renting.

When you're talking with a prospective real estate agent, here's a great question to ask them: do you own a home in the area where I'm looking and/or do you own any investment properties here? Find a Realtor who is actively investing in real estate and you've found a Realtor whose putting his money where his mouth is. There are a lot of agents out there preaching the gospel of real estate and then stuffing their commission checks in savings accounts paying 0.3%. This is a good way to screen those clowns out.

A lot of observers -- myself included -- give real estate agents a hard time. The National Association of Realtors serves as the agitprop of the housing market, declaring a brighter future no matter what the actual environment is. Ebullient optimism cheered on by the industry led a lot of people into serious financial woes.

But it's important to remember that a home is the best investment most people will ever make, and the impact of real estate agents on the financial health of the country is, without question, an overwhelmingly positive one. Right now the industry is looking for ways to target 20-somethings, and that could be a huge contribution to the welfare of Generation Y.

The USA Today reports that, in an effort to connect with young people, real estate agents are posting homes on social networking sites and making YouTube videos.

One solution: find younger real estate agents who can connect with young buyers. According to RealtyTimes, almost one-third of real estate brokers. are over 60. Only 12% of sales agents are under 35. This might seem like a crazy time to go into the real estate business but, if you're a recent graduate struggling to find a good job, it just might be worth a shot. There would seem to be a huge market (The echo boomers) that older agents are having trouble connecting with.

More and more, home sellers are using non-traditional real estate service companies to sell their homes, and I wonder if this says something about the future of real estate agents.

Up until several years ago, a home seller had to list their home with an agent if they wanted their property to be a part of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). And most sellers wanted to be a part of MLS because that's how the majority of homes were advertised and sold.

But now there are discount brokers and real estate service companies that offer home sellers the opportunity to be a part of MLS at a much lower cost. Many are featuring "a la carte" pricing, so sellers can pay for exactly which services they want, but often save significant money when compared to traditional real estate agent commissions.

In case you've been holed up in a cave watching re-runs of Little House on the Prairie, it's a pretty tough real estate market. With volume and prices down considerably, many Realtors aren't coming close to the earnings they had during the bubble.

But they may be able to make up for some of it with higher commissions. According to BusinessWeek, "Most agents charge 6% and will sometimes agree to less. But more and more agents, especially successful ones, have started charging more than 6%, in part because selling a house is more time-consuming and expensive than it used to be. And fewer homes are selling. Sellers in some parts of the country are paying up to 8% and sometimes more, agents said. Builders, eager to get rid of inventory, sometimes offer more than 10%."

There's something wonderfully ironic about this. At the height of the bubble, Realtors sold people homes at inflated prices. Now that those people are looking to dump mortgages that they can't afford, they'll have to pay a Realtor more to sell the home.

Is paying a Realtor extra to get your home sold worth it? I'm not so sure. With a sluggish real estate market, there are plenty of agents looking for listings. And shouldn't they be working hard to get your home sold anyway? If paying extra will make them work harder, does that mean they aren't giving it their all? I would question the quality of an agent who only tries hard if you pay him more money.

If you do opt to offer a bigger commission to get your home sold quickly, try to get something tangible in return: more advertising, free staging, etc.

I've been reading quite a bit about redlining and discrimination in housing lately. Tragically, minorities tend to pay higher interest rates on mortages, even after adjusting for factors like income and credit scores.

But for sheer disregard for law -- and any definition of morality or ethics -- it's hard to beat this now "retired) real estate agent who tells a prospective buyer (a hidden camera investigator) that the development does "not have a mixed community" and goes on to say that African American do not keep their yards neat.

Most Realtors -- the ones I know personally -- are ethical people who care about their clients. But I can't help but wonder how common this illegal "steering" towards segregated neighborhoods is.

Congratulations to the news crew on this case for great work.