When you want to sell your home, and have decided to enlist a real estate professional to help you, there are a few things you should know about your agent before signing the binding agreement.Experience is one factor but there is more to selling a home than finding an agent with years on the job.

Bear in mind that some listing agents will place your listing on the MLS and then just wait for the phone to ring from the agent who has a possible buyer and not do anything else but that.

How many homes has this agent sold? Many agents work part time, are new, or have had their license for a long time, but still do not have many sales. How many of the sales were as the sellers agent? Did the homes listed sell for the asking price, or a price close to the asking price? In other words, is this agent skilled in negotiations or will she quickly settle for a lower price to get the deal done? (And losing you a lot of money)

Some agents have a challenge negotiating with the buyers agent. Some do not have the skill, or the confidence to act on your behalf and get the best price for you. In a transaction involving a substantial amount of money you will want someone skilled and knowledgeable about bargaining and negotiating.

Besides placing your listing on the MLS, what other marketing plans does this agent have? Ads? Will they host open houses? Will those open houses be advertised somewhere to draw the largest amount of house-shoppers?

The availability of your agent is yet another important consideration. Will he/she be available during evenings and weekends? How long before they respond to a call from you or a potential buyer? When negotiations are underway and there are time limits in the contract, having an unresponsive agent can sink your deal.

What is the personality of this potential agent? Is she optimistic, upbeat, solution oriented? Or is she pessimistic about your property, about the market in general, unmotivatd to have open houses or to otherwise show initiative?

An agent should be chosen with care. All contracts have a time limit, and you could be forced to stay with an agent for months. Make sure it is an agent you like, trust and find competent.