Some agents work part-time, so it's good to find out exactly how part-time they are and what their availability will be.

Also, find an agent who is familiar with the area you plan to move to. Working with someone who knows your new town or neighborhood inside and out is priceless.

I am no expert, but my advice is to just go look at places for a while to learn how the whole thing works--with as many agents as you can stomach. Go to at least one viewing without an agent--I learned a ton! Pay attention to what makes a property higher cost--it doesn't work how I was l always taught. Never listen to a realtor about what you an afford--they benefit by getting you to buy something more quickly. They get sales by "helping" you purchase slightly outside of your comfort zone. 10,000 is a lot of money to me, but would only make 600 dollars difference to a realtor, but a week or two delay. The realtor sees the benefit in getting you to purchase, and not in negotiating for your best interest. Know enough to do your own bargaining with any seller. Realtors spend on average two more weeks negotiating for personal purchases than they do for any client. I was actually very happy to work with no contract--most contracts I saw expected me to work with an agent exclusively--bad idea.

Current research says that your instinct about a home is a far better indicator of satisfaction further down the road than listing pro's and cons, so trust that gut not only about your agent, but about your purchase decisions. In other words--never talk yourself into a purchase.

I had a grumpy, no-nonsense, friend of the family. Not a lot of hand holding, but the frankness was refreshing and we really trusted him.

Buying in the summer I kept having agents, on both sides of the transaction, and sellers going on vacation. It is super frustrating to try to put in offers when everyone is away, or going away, or just coming back.

Most stressful and rewarding process of my life!

I actually found mine by visiting open houses in the area where I wanted to purchase. I didn't know anyone who could give me a referral, so it was my way of meeting a bunch of different realtors face-to-face in short amount of time.

I ended up finding a great realtor that way. It really gave me a chance to chat with them long enough to gauge their personality and sales style before I even had them show me a house.

Definitely try to pinpoint the neighborhood you want to buy in and then find a well-regarded agent who specializes in that area. One way to do this is just to start going to open houses in the neighborhood, pick a couple of realtors whose names you are seeing repeatedly on the listings, and talk with them to see which one you like.

My agent lives in the neighborhood herself, and had been in pretty much every house in the area, so she was very keyed in to what was priced too high, the typical renovation possibilities/costs for the 1920s and 30s bungalows in the neighborhood, what house was on a street that gets lots of noise from the freight trains at night, etc. She's also very active in the local community, and many times even knew the neighbors around the houses I was looking at. Plus, she was a perfectionist and a workaholic - we wrote the contract on my house at 11:30 p.m. Entire transaction was flawless.

I found my realtor through one of those free real estate classes/seminars. I know that sounds a little shady but it was really informative and he didn't put the hard sell on. What I found was that since he ran those classes he was used to working with new or first time buyers so understood that there would be a lot of questions. I didn't work with him long because I had already found the house I wanted when I went to the class. What he did do was show me around to several houses - and not in the most efficient way in terms of distance. He clearly understood buyer psychology. And he was a great negotiator. After my experience it's less important to me to work with someone I like personally - we don't have to be best friends. But I want someone who understands how people think and wants to win for me.

My agent (representing me as buyer) was a friend, and we had a verbal agreement whereby I agreed to use him exclusively unless I decided at any time that we should sever our business relationship. It worked great for me. I never felt I was being pressured to buy something that I either couldn't afford or didn't my lifestyle.

"didn't my lifestyle" = didn't fit my lifestyle. Sorry.

My first real estate agent came at the recommendation of a daffy co-worker, which should have given me pause. She was unprofessional in every sense of the word.

My second agent represented a close friend in three transactions and came highly recommended. She sold my house above the listing price and is now helping my daughter buy a townhouse.

I moved 60 miles away, so I had to get a local agent to buy this home. Not as bad as my first agent, but certainly not on par with the second. She got me a good deal on my house, but the people she recommended to work on my home (her husband, BIL and nephew) were all shysters.

Our realtor was recommended by a friend, she specialized in helping first-time homebuyers, especially ones taking advantage of government programs to secure loans, like us. She was great! But she also was a regular realtor, which meant she did buying and selling. "Buyers agents" are scarce round here, and we didn't ask for a different agent to represent us when considering a home our realtor was also selling. I wish we had. We didn't get robbed or anything, but we also got no advice or encouragement. Every discussion we had about the house and our offers took place after she left the room. We ended up missing the benefit of the reason she was recommended to us in the first place. I would definitely look for someone who is a buyer's agent only when looking for a house. Odds are, after you've established a good relationship with your realtor, you're just not going to feel comfortable asking them to refer you to someone else (who will get your commission instead) once you start considering a home that your realtor is also representing for the seller.

I would also recommend getting to know your realtor by letting them share about their own life and interests. Probably they will do this naturally given their chosen profession. But our home hunt started slow until we realized through chatting with our realtor that as a lifelong suburbanite she was not showing us many homes that were in neighborhoods she wouldn't want to live in: her idea about what made a neighborhood suitable and safe was off the chart different from ours (having lived in an urban setting for many years and loved it). Once we were able to deal with that, we had a lot more homes to look at.

OT, after I found my house my real estate attorney reviewed all paper work. He also attended the closing to check the documents before I signed, clarify confusing sections, and point out details I should know. He even told me later how long to keep each paper. I'd hire an attorney even to buy a second house since there's so much fraud here now. OTOH, my big sister, who's experienced in finance and has bought and sold several houses, wouldn't hire an attorney.

On the buyers' agent thing...I ended up buying a house that my realtor had also listed, and selling my old house to another one of her clients. Because I knew this was a possibility going in (since she's got a large % of the listings in the neighborhood), I asked and we talked about it before I even hired her - she had a colleague in her office who served as the buyer's agent in those situations; she was also excellent and really did treat the negotiations as an arm's length transaction. I would not want to be in a situation where the same agent was representing both me and the other side.

@slowartist - sounds like you had a bad experience! As someone in the profession - I am often appalled at the practices of other Realtors. I can personally say I have never pushed a client to purchase outside their comfort zone, to move forward in a closing they weren't comfortable with, or to even sign a contract until we had written our first offer. In my state, we are required to have one if we are writing an offer, but not before - I always felt that if I was doing a good job for the client, they would continue to work with me as their Realtor whether or not we had a signed representation contract. Yes, there are good agents and there are bad agents - just like in any profession. Do your research and interview agents before moving forward!

Having sold recently, I selected someone who sells A LOT of houses. They really know what works, and how to price.

Also, make sure you talk about what is included in their fee. Many don't include things like professional photography. When you look at listings, you realize how important good photos are!

Mine included photography, as well as professional brochures etc. Well worth it.

His back office staff were also exceptional, which is a good thing to check, since you will most likely be dealing with them to set up showings and generate the schedule.

If they don't even have an assistant, they are probably only in the game part time.

Since realtors are a notch or two above car salesmen in terms of ruthlessness and shadiness, you really should go with someone you know if at all possible.

why do you need a realtor at all?

technically when you are buying, you don't pay your realtor, but since the % comes from the price of the house sold, a realtor would not be interested to negotiate hard to get you a cheaper price on the house, no?

I am an ABR and SRES in NY State and I am totally amazed reading some of the comments. Do you realize that unlike car salesmen, Realtors are held to a Code of Ethics? and that we sometimes deal with buyers and sellers who have no personal ethics of their own? and that we must also have 22.5 hrs. of Continuing Education every 2 yrs. to retain our license? and that our learning is continual and not static? and that we work 24/7? and we don't get paid til we sell something? I challenge any of you, who think real estate is like selling a car, or is an easy profession, to pursue your own RE license and all it entails...and I wish you good luck! All I can say is I love what I do! One of the first things I tell my buyer clients is that I am brutally honest! I have dealt with buyers who THINK they can afford a 200,000$ home when in fact they only qualify for a $100,000 home, and who have walked away from me because they didn't like my honesty! Too bad for them! I NEVER show homes to a buyer WITHOUT a pre-approval, and will ONLY show them homes within that budget. If I believe the asking price on a home is too high, I will let them know that and tell them why! Because of my own personal and professional ethics, I WILL NOT sell someone a house for an inflated price just to increase my commission. So, I don't know what kind of agents you are speaking of, but you see, the onus is not only on the agent, but upon the buyer too! Yes, I chose Real Estate as my career (not a sales job!) in order to earn money...but the main incentive for my choice as Realtor is to assist people into buying their own homes so they may realize an increase in their own wealth. In the meantime, to those who can afford to buy a home, this is a great time to buy one you can afford! So go out and get pre-approved, find yourself an ABR and then your new home! Happy house hunting!

I have to agree with @RealtorElaine