Are you a first time home buyer? With so many choices to make and so much at stake, it’s essential that you prepare. For advice, check out the First Time Home Buyer Guide from realtor.com® to learn the 10 steps to purchasing your first home without a hitch.

When you’re buying or selling a house, you’ll likely reach out for professional help from a real estate agent. But how to choose? There are Realtors and just plain real estate agents, part-time and full-time agents, family friends who are in the business, maybe even neighbors down the street. Which one is right for you?

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How to choose a Realtor®

The first thing you might notice while trying to find home-buying help is all the different titles: agent, broker, Realtor®, etc. Are they all the same thing? Not exactly.

A Realtor® is either an agent or broker who is a member of the National Association of Realtors®. Realtors adhere to a detailed code of ethics to treat their clients honestly and fairly. Consider it added insurance that they’re committed to your cause.

A real estate agent is anyone who’s earned a license to sell property, which typically entails taking 100+ hours of course work and then passing a state exam. A broker is someone who’s continued his studies and can hire agents to work under him.

Conduct a preliminary search online

We shop online for everything these days, and finding a real estate agent is no different. Make sure to check out their Facebook page Reviews as well which will give you useful information.  Also, feel free to ask the Agent about the  number of years of job experience, number of homes sold, and the price of homes typically dealt with. Take note of a Realtor’s track record, because this can tip you off to superstar agents nearby and whether they’re a fit for your needs.

Work with a professional agent

Devin and Karen Carroll of Texarkana, Texas, found what they thought was the perfect house. So they reached out to a convenient real estate connection.

“I called a family friend who is a part-time real estate agent,” Devin Carroll says. “She showed us the house and we submitted an offer. It was at this point the fireworks began.”

Carroll says the seller’s agent was an experienced negotiator “ready to go to war for her clients.” His agent was immediately intimidated. It took only one phone call for the veteran agent to stand her ground on price, and “from that point on, my agent was scared to negotiate.”

Lesson learned. Carroll says the next time around, he’ll look for a professional agent, one who’s not scared to negotiate and who is more concerned with getting a great deal than with sealing just any deal.

Finding the right agent for home sellers

“The days are gone where a real estate broker simply places a sign in the yard, enters it into (the Multiple Listing Service) and sits around their office waiting for it to sell,” says Damian D. Hall, a real estate broker in Greenville, South Carolina.

For sellers, that means searching for a proactive, technology-savvy agent, Hall says. Because buyers start with the internet, he says “photos must be professional, magazine quality, and the description has to be detailed and really sizzle.”

Also, look for an agent who has some social-media marketing muscle. “It’s scary how much Facebook alone knows about its users, but at the same time it’s pure gold for those looking to put a product — or in our case, a listing — in front of the consumer most likely to buy the house,” he says.

Finding the right agent for home buyers

On the other side of the transaction, Scott Durham, a Realtor in Reno, Nevada, says there’s something to be said for a buyer’s agent with a solid track record of closing deals.

“The average real estate agent sold only four homes last year,” Durham says. “Think about if you are purchasing a home and you represent 25% of that person’s income for the entire year. Do you really think they have your best interest at heart, or will they do just about anything to get the deal closed?”

He says a typical buyer’s agent will simply search the MLS for homes, but great agents will hunt down homes that aren’t even on the market yet. They’ll contact homeowners in the desired neighborhood or launch a direct mail campaign in the desired area with specifics on the buyers and their family.

Ask questions

Ask all of these questions. This is no time for being shy:

• How long have you been in real estate? You’re looking for a seasoned agent and while she doesn’t need decades of experience under her belt, less than a year of experience can be concerning.
• How long have you lived in this area? One noteworthy exception to the previous question is if she’s lived in the area for a long time. A newly licensed agent shouldn’t be automatically removed from consideration,” says Mindy Jensen, a Realtor with Equity Colorado Real Estate. If they’ve lived in the area their entire life, they likely know more about it than an agent who has been in the business for years but only recently moved to the region.” Weigh overall experience against local experience when making your decision.
• Do you have a team, or do you work alone? Many standalone agents are excellent, but don’t ignore the value of a team. Working with a team is important,” says Angelo Puma, a real estate agent in Keller, TX. It increases response time and availability. Often, solo-run agents are double-booked when you need their attention, and you may lose that perfect property.”  
• What is your schedule? If they’re not a full-time agent, you need to know when they’ll be available. If the only time you can see houses is in direct conflict with times they have to be working their other jobs, you could miss out on a lot of properties,” says Jensen.
• Do you have any vacations planned? If they’re heading out of the city anytime soon, make sure they have a back-up in case you find the perfect home while they’re out of the country. Murphy’s Law rules Realtor vacations,” says Jensen.

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport Bossier City area.  Click Here to See if I Should Be Your Agent