Whether you're moving because of a new job, or are trying to avoid foreclosure because you got suckered by a mortgage broker, you're not alone in your desire to try and sell your home.

As of this writing (2008), the subprime mortgage rate meltdown has made homes a drag on the market; unlike three years ago, when housing prices were going up, and selling a home was easy, now you have to be a bit cannier about it.

Your three principle options for selling your home are selling it yourself, selling it with the assistance of a flat rate or discount broker, or selling it through a real estate agent, with a negotiated commission. Past advice was to tap into the then-current hot market and see about selling it yourself for a few months before trying to enlist the aid of a broker.

When looking into these three sales options, there are some basics you should do before engaging a professional or starting this journey. The first is market research. Look carefully at what home prices are really selling for in your area, and set your expectations accordingly. Look also at how nice the other homes in your area are; the nicer they are, the likelier it is that you can post a sale of yours.

The second are the basics of any home showing cycle: Put a fresh coat of paint on the exterior, clean up the house, remove clutter, and clean up windows. Make sure to fix whatever's absolutely broken before trying to sell the house, and try to present it in the best light possible. We know that's almost impossible with children in the house, but it's often times the difference between selling a home and getting passed over.

While it's still possible to do 'for sale by owner' home sales, it's gotten a lot less likely. If you're going to go this route, all the burdens are on you – scheduling the showings, marketing the home in the region, and handling all the federal and state disclosures, title transfer and paperwork. Plus, you have to identify potential buyers, and differentiate between well and poorly qualified ones. If you do go this route and get to the point of signing papers, be sure to retain an attorney to look over the title transfer papers. When looking at marketing your own home, get three 'market comparisons' from experienced agents. They know what they'd sell the home for. Be up front with them – if you're going to try to do an owner-sale, most will still help you. More than 80% of home owners who try to sell their own homes give up – and in down housing markets, that's closer to 95%.

The big benefit of having a broker comes with the first and second issues mentioned in the last paragraph. You have to schedule all the showings, you have to do all the marketing, and those are tasks that take a certain number of hours per day to make happen. One of the reasons why brokers are generally worth their commissions is because you're paying them to do things you don't have time for, or you're paying them to do things that they can do better than you can – like get the home out into listings, line up home buyers and show them multiple homes, and knowing the ins and outs of title transfer paperwork. All of these are exacerbated in a down housing market.

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