If you're going to sell your home, how do you decide on the Realtor to hire to market and advertise it?

Do you hire a friend? Get a referral? Use whoever's face you've seen on the cart at the grocery store? Interview the several agents that market and mail into your neighborhood? There are 40,000+ licensed agents in Southern California and you need a way to winnow that group down.

On the average $800,000 Orange County home, there can be $80,000 (or more!) on the table. And this includes MORE than just the selling price. A good agent will help you, as the seller, get as much of this money as possible. So how do you identify who is and who isn't a good agent?

I suggest that there are 4 critical questions that should be asked - and the answers given will help you immediately identify whether you're talking to a real pro.

(1) How do you handle setting an asking price?

(2) Do you negotiate offers in person?

(3) What do you do to sell the house to other agents?

(4) How do you handle dual representation?

This video discusses how a true professional will answer these questions. If the agent with whom you're talking does NOT answer them this way, immediately move on!