How do you choose a realtor?

I’m lucky. My favorite cousin is a realtor. She knows exactly what I like. Luckily we have similar taste and we both watch all of those HGTV real estate shows and we can read each other’s mind regarding what we like and what we don’t like.

Ask friends for referrals.

You certainly can interview a realtor. Are you listing your house? Then they should come talk to you, and show you the selling and listing information around your community.

Ask if they take you all the way through the selling or buying process. When real estate was hot some agencies had salespeople to help hunt for the house, and other people see the contract through. I personally hate that set up.

Agents who do corporate relocation typically have a very formal presentation if that interests you.

You can look up their license online and see how long they have been licensed and if there are any complaints.

You’re right that if you just randomly call a real estate company you will likely get someone random.

I have purchased three houses and sold two. Like @JLeslie mentions, asking friends for referrals is a good idea. If you are selling, a little research on line should help. Go to a site like Realtor.com and see how the properties are presented by various realty offices. The quality and comprehensiveness (is that a word?) of the presentation (number and quality of photos, etc) will give you an idea of the effort they are willing to expend. Look in the papers for the transactions, see which offices and agents have the highest success rate.

You don’t have to list with whomever answers the phone, you can talk to others in the office you pick for your listing.

I’m sorry, I don’t remember if you live in the US, it may be different where you are.

Last year, I sold my house in Concord, where we had lived for 26 years.
While we were living there, a lot of houses were sold in the area, and a certain real estate agent was very visible. When it came time to sell our house we called her.
In the end, we did not use her for the sale. She did help us estimate the value of our house, and expected to be a part of the final sale, but the situation changed, and we sold the house to our daughter. That said, if my daughter did not buy my house, I would have used that agent, though she was very expensive.

Accredited realtor’s are found by word of mouth and also by referrals, there are many ways you can find the best one for you and to meet your needs, or if you have friends who have experience with estate agencies ask them to point you in the right direction.

@Safie What does accredited mean? Only realtors can legally call themselves realtors. I am licensed by the state of FL for real estate sales, but I am not a realtor and not allowed to call myself one. I used to be a realtor, but I let it lapse.

I’m in a small town in the Midwest, so everything is very provincial.

I listed a small commercial office building, and I did as @filmfann suggests, listing it with the leading realtor in the area.