I don't know about "popular", but definitely choose an agent who is well respected in the real estate community. Also make sure that the agent that you choose is a full time professional, not a real estate "dabbler". Networking is important in getting your home shown, but ultimately price, location and condition will sell your home.

Real estate agents always seem to have a buyer in their pocket for any listing they are trying to get. Isn't that amazing? Since the listing office usually gets half the commission and the listing agent usually gets half of that, getting the listing is much more important that actually selling the property. Some other agent will do that. A listed property is just money in the bank. That's the attitude a lot of them have.

With more and more MLS systems accessible to the general public, much of the selling work is being done by the prospective buyers themselves. A lot of them scour the MLS for potential homes, then arrange for their agent to show the house to them.

That is why one of the most important things you can do in checking out a REA is to look at his or her listings on line. If they are slap dash with few photos indicating mininal effort was put in, look elsewhere. If there are lots and lots of photos with flowing descriptions, then perhaps you have a winner.

Avoid any office that does not have its own web site, or has a poor web site. Those offices are out of touch with today's real estate market.

Have a look at the link below. Be sure to scroll down, there is another sheet with added questions.

(1) Does it make a significant difference to choose an Agent who is popular and well-respected in their office? Or in the community of RE agents they work with?

Very hard to choose an agent because if you really don't know anyone you very well could pick the wrong one. I know of real estate offices where other agents won't show their listings because they are difficult.

If the agent you have in mind is local to you then I would interview them but be careful of hiring someone that isn't in your zip code as they may not know the local market.

(2) And another question~~ Previously when I have interviewed agents (usually I interview 3 for each listing), each has said 'Oh, they have just the right prospective buyer." Then, if I list with a different agent, the agents I passed over never even show the property at all. Are they boycotting my listing because they are miffed, or did they just make that 'hollywood' statement to get the listing? Just wondering...?

Some agents just say they have a potential buyer. When I was looking for my last agent, I used the yahoo homes free service, I had 2 agents contact me, both saying they had buyers. I replied, well here is the MLS number, feel free to bring them by. They never replied.

I was afraid our 1st listing was boycotted. We listed with someone not in the area, no locals showed the house. The thing is, with so much inventory, they don't have to show houses that aren't listed with their agency because they have enough in-house.

In the end, I picked my 2nd agent because of his realtor.com page and easy going attitude as well as experience. We sold. I was an involved seller though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Agent interview questions for sellers

I've noticed that in smallish towns that some realtors get big big names, lots of listings, their faces on front lawn signs everywhere. I've never been involved enough to know whether there was anything behind the hype - but it would seem that the more clients they have, the more the agent and probably assistants are out and about the more activity in general......the more your house gets caught up in that and hopefully seen more etc. I think its a valid thought. Of course your house could also get lost in the potential chaos too.
These big name agents may or may not be popular.
But personally I think the psychology of popularity and good looks are both pretty powerful.
Last, generally I would think that the smaller the town the more these inter-real estate agent politics come into play. Small towns can be a lot like high school. The bigger the town the more the effect gets diluted I would guess.
Just my thoughts.

That is why one of the most important things you can do in checking out a REA is to look at his or her listings on line. If they are slap dash with few photos indicating mininal effort was put in, look elsewhere. If there are lots and lots of photos with flowing descriptions, then perhaps you have a winner.

Avoid any office that does not have its own web site, or has a poor web site. Those offices are out of touch with today's real estate market.

I can't stress enough hows important it is to find an agent that has good ads. The biggest complaint is people posting wondering why their house isn't selling, then they post the link and you see why. Some times it's a combination of seller & agent but others you have lousy pictures or the description is bad. Depending on what your home is priced at, you might want to insist on pro pics & a virtual tour. I've seen $400+ listings with crappy pictures, which there really is no excuse for since photography/tour packages are pretty cheap, from $100-$200.

IMO, a lot of agents got lazy with the housing boom. Everyone wanted to own a home, houses didn't sit long so agents didn't have to do much. Now, agents have to work at getting it right the 1st time because you only get one first impression

but it would seem that the more clients they have, the more the agent and probably assistants are out and about the more activity in general......the more your house gets caught up in that and hopefully seen more etc. I think its a valid thought. Of course your house could also get lost in the potential chaos too.

Seeing the other side of this, which is what happened to us.. agent 1 did not have an assistant but once she hired one I noticed the service we got was horrible. Emails didn't get answered, our open house had problems. Agent 2, I knew he had an assistant but he was always on top of things until his office moved, assistant was let go, then I think the secretary quit. I'm pretty sure we lost the one buyer due to her screwing up the contract commission rate. The more hands in the pot, the more mistakes that can be made.

Lots of good points to evaluate, thanks so much. And thanks for the list of interview questions. The Interview Questionnaire Thread was a good thread, too, and got me thinking about my own thread topic.

We live in Cincinnati and we have one real estate company (at least) that has a very outstanding website with an excellent 'Search' engine. Yes, that is where I look for potential houses. I don't just wait for the agent representing me to find properties. So yes, the websites and MLS listings are so important to me, as you say. And I do check them out before listing.

(It is amazing how many listings are cluttered with awful photos and incredibly bad grammar. But maybe the bad grammar is a marketing gimmick designed to connect to just the 'right' buyer?!)

When I need to find a property in Columbus, Ohio, however, I have had a very difficult time finding a good RE search engine (that I don't have to 'log into')or an MLS search that is complete. This lack of an important tool has kept me from looking into those listings, which is too bad.

I have had some experience using RE agents in Pasadena, CA, and there I definitely got the impression that the RE agents were in 'cliques', a lot like junior highschool. At times it was funny to watch the interaction, but I don't think I would be humored if my house didn't sell.

Following on with my inquiries, I'm also wondering if an agent might be reluctant to negotiate (in an agressive manner) the purchase agreement with another RE agent because they are afraid their business relationship or the next transaction with the agent will be strained. Any thoughts on this?

I don't know, I just find the whole real estate marketing and deal making rather a murky non-transparent situation. And I wonder if I am alone in this feeling or not...?

Thanks again. f.

Below is an example of a RE company that has a good search engine (at least I think so). (I have no relationship with it, I just wanted to cite it as one example of many, I'm sure.)

Here is a link that might be useful: RE Search Engine Example

Following on with my inquiries, I'm also wondering if an agent might be reluctant to negotiate (in an agressive manner) the purchase agreement with another RE agent because they are afraid their business relationship or the next transaction with the agent will be strained. Any thoughts on this?

I certainly think this is true. I've interacted with some REA that were very nice people. So nice and polite that I felt they couldn't overcome their manners to be "rude" to really negotiate. Personality, psychology, alpha and beta types, pecking order, respect for certain individuals, sexism, ageism - we are human animals and those things impact all aspects of our lives including business relationships. If you want to include this in your search for a realtor I think it makes sense but will be hard to do.

I've also found that some agents will badmouth a very popular agent; jealousy no doubt.

We went with an agent that seems to get the majority of lakefront listings; 3 other agents said, oh no, you shouldn't have, call me if it doesn't turn out well, etc..

He's a gem of an agent and we love him ; we are under contract presently , if the transaction goes through, we'll love him even more......lol.....

(It is amazing how many listings are cluttered with awful photos and incredibly bad grammar. But maybe the bad grammar is a marketing gimmick designed to connect to just the 'right' buyer?!)

I think it has to do with them not having to do much when the market was better. I still have the blurb from our sold house, it was written with help from posters here. I can tell you that we were able to fit about 4 or 5 sentences, maybe more. There's no reason to abbreviate as some do.

When I need to find a property in Columbus, Ohio, however, I have had a very difficult time finding a good RE search engine (that I don't have to 'log into')or an MLS search that is complete. This lack of an important tool has kept me from looking into those listings, which is too bad.

This is why I mentioned realtor.com. If I was moving, it is where I would start my search. For my state, it had everything. From there, I signed up at all of the major sites, Remax, Century 21, Prudential Fox & Roach, Exit Realty (big here in NJ), Caldwell Banker. I then did my search at every site. Maybe someone else can explain it better then I can but it seemed that every site subscribed to something different to get houses to show on their site. My 1st agent said she was allowed 7 of these key things (or what ever they were) to pull from. She said it was why she had 2 sites as one pulled from the other key things. I wish I remembered more, but this was true of the sites I used other then realtor.com.

Now, if I found a house from one of my email updates, I was able to go to my favorite of all of them, throw the MLS number in and find it that way, but normally it wouldn't have come up on my search using that site. Exit realty for some reason seemed to send the most houses in emails. You have to find what works for you as a buyer.

As a seller, you do the best you can using what you are given to work with. I'd asked one agent to send me a list of her listings because I wanted to see how many of the search engines I used her listings would show on. I wanted to be sure our house was going to be out there. One agent I interviewed said they advertise on over 30 sites online. I also would look at their "about me" page on the company web site. I couldn't believe how many agents don't even fill them out. Usually you can find a link for view my listings, I've gone as far as googling the MLS number to see what pops up.

Roselvr, your MLS search info is very interesting. I did not realize there were so many 'hang-ups' to getting a complete search from one RE site. It makes it very bothersome to fully search a community's listings to have to log in to so many different real estate company sites. I have used Realtor.com before but I find it a headache and a breach of privacy to sign up at all the other sites (and I didn't want to be flooded with unwanted RE agent e-mails).

The reason I am interested in the searches is because I have invested some $$ into a nice rehab house project in Columbus. And I can't readily find the listing when I do searches. I know the agent is top-notch and I have been sent the internet listing by him, but it's hard to find just by searching, which to me is a big roadblock to fast sales in this market.

If I were trying to buy a house (like this one offered for instance) I would be totally frustrated. Not to mention really miss out on looking at a great house. And now I'm wondering how many great houses I've missed checking out! (-:

About the negotiating, I think what you all say is true and in accord with human nature, too. What kills me about some agents is when they say the selling party will be 'insulted' if presented with a low offer, so we should raise our offer. I think it's the RE Agents job to present the offer in an attractive format and try to get a counter.

Oh, well. I guess that's what makes RE investing a fun challenge.

If you'd like to either post the MLS number of thew one you're having problems finding or email it to me if you'd like help privately, I'd be glad to see what I can find from sites I'm signed up on.

Hopefully a real estate agent can explain why it's hard to get everything in a search. I know the MLS system is explained at wiki but I haven't read the whole thing.

Thanks, roselvr, for your offer.

However, don't want to bother you...I will just call my partner about the search and see what she comes up with.

I was just trying to do a search like a normal random home shopper might look for a potential home and I couldn't get it to surface.

Will let you know if I find out anything useful.

Thanks again. f.