It is important to go with an agent you feel comfortable with, but who will also do effective marketing. Agents should all be in the same ball park for list price, since they should be using the same comps. Most people shop for houses online these days, so as long as your house will be listed on MLS (and make sure it makes it to sites like Zillow and Trulia as well) and you have good staging and good photos, there shouldn't be much difference in the final sales price. Remember that all price negotiating is done by you with advice from your agent, you get the final say, don't let yourself be pushed too low, but also try to remember it is a business transaction and the agreed on price will have to pass appraisal, so try not to be too emotional about negotiating.

I think a realtor that actually likes your house will be the better choice it is always easier to sell something you personally like IMO

i'm going to disagree, and say go with the larger operation, as long as *your* realtor is also a big seller. folks down the street put their historic house on the market with a big firm, as opposed to the historic home specialist i would have chosen. it sold at the open house, with multiple offers. in my heart i know the specialist would have still been busy putting ads in old home magazines by the time the other company had actually signed a PSA. so, i'm going to say having a large number of eyes on the house is apparently important!

this is based on your home having wide appeal, though. if you have a fussy old house that really needs the right buyer, than a specialist would be more the way to go.

One of the last homes I sold, I listed with two realtors who loved my home and I personally liked. However I didn't check how many homes they had listed and how many days it took to sell the homes. After the first deal fell through, their solution to selling my home was to ask me to lower my price again and again.

Once the contract ran out, I was approached by a realtor who thought she had the perfect buyer for me. I agreed to pay her commission and the house sold. I learned I needed to do my homework as this is an important business transaction, which most times also involves our feelings toward our homes. Good Luck

Every home is listed in the MLS. It comes down to who you want to hand the commission to. Get the home appraised by several sources. Make sure it is neat and clean and presents well starting at the curb - with the current mortgage rates selling is not hard.

Try really, really hard not to overprice you house, based on sentiment, or work done to the house. A good agent will be able to recommend a price based on comparable homes. And you can do a lot of your own research on line. Once you decide to sell, try not to think of the house as your home, but as a commodity, and try and keep the emotion out of the transaction.