Dollars & Deals: For Sale by Owner
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for "Dollars & Deals" with the man who knows everything when it comes to saving you money, consumer advocate Clark Howard. If you're thinking of selling your house, do you really need a real estate agent? Let's ask Clark.</s>CLARK HOWARD, CONSUMER ADVOCATE: This morning's question is from Todd in Thousand Oaks, California. Todd, you're thinking of selling your house on your own, not using a real estate agent. You want to know is it worth it to save on that commission? Well let me tell you something, doing a FSBO, for sale by owner, can be absolutely great for your wallet, but only if you come up with a solid plan. What do I mean by that? I want you to have a 12-week sales plan. If you hired a real estate agent, you would expect to give them time to sell your home. You need to do the same for yourself. When are you going to show that home? Do you have it decorated like you need to? Do you have it priced right? Are your closets clean? Do you need to paint? You need to think through how you're going to get that house sold, what it's going to look like to a stranger. Another thing, do not think about cutting real estate agents out entirely. Protect agents. If a real estate agent brings a buyer to you, pay half commission. Because if that agent isn't protected on commission, guess what, when they're taking around buyers, guess who's house they never show, it's your house they don't show. And you know what, if you're able to sell your house in that 12 weeks, great. If you're not, then it's time to look for a real estate agent.</s>COSTELLO: And Clark will be back next Friday with more "Dollars & Deals." You can e-mail us your consumer questions, just visit our Web site, CNN.com/daybreak. In the meantime, you can get Clark's money saving tips on the Web. The address, ClarkHoward.com. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com