When it comes to selling your home, you want to find the best Realtor for the job, the one who will advise you on how to prep, stage, and price your home for a speedy sale with the greatest return on investment. This means conducting some research.

How do you go about hiring real estate agents who are going to deliver the best results? You can start by getting trusted referrals from family and friends, but you still have to exercise due diligence. There are several questions you should ask when interviewing potential real estate agents to sell your home.

Who Do You Work for?

Most real estate agents do not work with one client exclusively, and they often deal with both buying and selling homes. This means you could end up with a potential conflict of interest if the agent selling your home brings his or her buyers into the picture.

While agents are required to inform you of such conflicts, you’d probably prefer to avoid the situation by hiring an agent who agrees to serve solely as your agent in the sale of your home. This means he or she will not show your listing to their clients looking to buy.

What is the benefit of this situation? An agent acting in your best interest will help you get the most money from your home sale, whereas an agent helping a client to purchase property is tasked with negotiating the lowest possible price. You can see the conflict inherent to having an agent that represents both parties in the transaction.

How Long is the Contract?

When you hire a real estate agent to sell your home, you generally have to sign a contract that gives your agent a set amount of time to get the job done. The state of the market may affect the specific time frame your agent requests, but you should probably anticipate 3-6 months.

What Will You Do to Sell my Home?

This is important, and the best estate agents will offer a laundry list of services. Most will have a variety of assistants and service providers to help manage listings, including taking photos and posting and updating your listing on social media and MLS (multiple listing service) sites.

Your agent should also offer advice on improving your property for sale, including fixing and staging your home. He or she will advertise and hold open houses on your behalf, as well as coordinate with you and potential buyers to show the property. Your agent should also help you to price your home accordingly to encourage a speedy sale while still earning you the greatest possible profit.

If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.