Judging from your post, you probably don't have enough experience selling houses to do this on your own. For a Realtor, I would recommend finding a driven BROKER who owns the office and list with them.

I usually try to find one I can break out of jail, so they owe me. ;)

1. This isn't my first rodeo so when buying I try to deal directly with the listing agent. How to lose a deal... get two middlemen muck ing up the sale. As a seller I have worked with the same broker for about 6 years. We have served on a city commission together, so we know how each other works. It's been a successful partnership.

2. In the OP's case as an inexperienced seller I would, A) Find out via the local realty board who are the top agents in your neighborhood. That means they probably know what's going on locally, may have buyers, etc.

B) Interview several, get their market value estimate and ask what their marketing plan entails and includes. MLS, magazine, signs, etc.

C) A bigger agency "can" produce better results, but YMMV.

Finally, you DO NOT want to hire family or friends, just because they are. This is business, go with the best. Also you don't want a listing specialist - who just seeks listings, then waits for a buyers agent to bring an offer. You want one with many contacts.

One investment home I owned with a partner for over 25 years became vacant and we decided to put it up for sale. My partner interviewed 4 agents/brokers and came up with the two most con pendent of them. I met them and asked their opinion on what needed to be done to the house to make ready for a quick sale at a market price.

I'm a contractor and didn't agree with their ideas. My partner got mad after spending 1 full day interviewing realtors. After all, since I'm a contractor I was going to spend around a month fixing up the property. My partner doesn't know how to compare 1 day of his work against my 30 days of hard labor.

So I contacted two of my local agents with a good track record. They specialize in the neighborhood. They met with me and my partner and gave their opinion also. What a difference between my partners choice. These agents didn't want us to spend too much time and money and gave us the bare bones make over.

The female agent, one I've know for over 30 years, has sold over homes in that neighborhood and comes highly recommended. But she has an abrasive personality. This is a good thing, so that other buyers can't take advantage of her or us. Her ideas were spot on. Instead of re-doing a complete kitchen (I just put in new appliances, sink and faucet), we sent the money removing the cottage cheese ceiling, smoothing it out and doing an interior custom paint job. Also we put in new laminate flooring.

We sold the house in two weeks and closed within 30 days. At close to market.....

John,

NO FRIENDS!!! They will be disappointed so be ready to say "I only hire people I am willing to fire". They are too close and the relationship will be distorted. And just because they are a freidn does not mean they know diddly about selling.

Find sold comps in your neighborhood and find the realtors who BROUGHT THE BUYER. Chance are they have other such buyers. Same with the selling realtor.

Stats show that realtors bring in a higher price than FSBO, and buyers are shy, not wanting to confront a seller unless you are providing financing.

Realtors are selfish with their time a prospects. They will ignore listings with a reduced commission. If anything, offer extra commission They will trip over themselves for an extra 1/2%.

EVERY buyer will have a whole house inspection. Simple and tiny repairs will instantly kill a deal. I cut a deal with an inspector for the realtor's rate, he inspects and WE write down the problems, no photos, no report, we fix them, then he comes back and makes a clean report because we fixed everything! We print copies and leave them on the counter for the showings.

I don't want an appraisal to kill the deal so I also pay a discounted price for a real licensed appraisal. Again I leave copies out for all the see my price is legit. Builds buyer confidence and AMAZINGLY the bank comes in at the same price!

Note: today's buyers have NO IMAGINATION and want PERFECTION. If ANYTHING is cracked or worn or outdated the house will not sell PERIOD. Their "Contractor Brother In Law" or Daddy will convince them the house needs too much work.

Your competition is brand new construction.

Clean space sells. Take half the furniture and half the clothes and half the dishes out, rent a storage unit.

Remove ALL personal items (photos of the kiddos, wedding pix, etc)

Make your own luck!

BRAD

I agree with the thought that you want a high-protein, high-ocatance go-better. That may be your friend, but it probably is NOT.

A friend often doesn't have the guts to tell you to your face that your home smells bad or the "cute" drawings on your fridge are a turn-off to buyers. Unless your friend has insulted you to your benefit more than once, don't hire him. Btw, read that last sentence 4 or 5 times...I mean every word of it. "Insulted you to YOUR benefit" means he RISKED his status as your friend to tell you something you needed to hear, badly!

You need a Realtor who can tell you the facts and you'll listen.

"High protein high octane" means they SOLD 100 homes last year...or if they're still new they did 25 the first year and 50 the next and so on. You want a WORKER who brings buyers to the table, not a "list it and forget it" agent.

In my area we have some of Dave Ramsey's Endorsed Local Providers. Go to his website and check. You put in your info and they call you to schedule an appointment.

I did this for selling my last two home. Wow! These guys/gals knew their stuff. I had to list them and do a "Pros/Cons" list on each. Almost no Cons at all....in the end it came down to the "bottom" agent had sold 100 or so in the past year, the middle agent sold near 200, and the top agent sold almost 400.

My house was listed and sold for more than I was going to FSBO it for in about 3 weeks. I netted several thousand more in the pocket even after commissions and found two good contractors in the meanwhile from their list of service providers.

Sid,

I assume you know there is a difference between a 'Realtor'

1. NEVER hire a friend / relative

2. Re read #1 til you understand it.

NE,

As others have said, never hire a friend or relative. More than likely one of you will feel cheated in the process or feel they are doing the other a favor.

Roy, I'm wondering why an agent would go to your open house. With hundreds of listings on the market with great pictures, why would they take the time to educate themselves on the features of YOUR house?