Don’t entrust your home sale to just anyone. The right match can help your home sell faster and for more money.

Selecting a listing agent is an important decision. Unlike with a buyer’s agent, you’ll sign an agreement with a listing agent for a fixed term, and with the sole responsibility of getting your home sold for the most amount of money, and in the least amount of time.

Here are some tips for choosing the best listing agent — and some important considerations for home sellers doing it for the first time.

The local advantage

A good local real estate agent knows the intricacies of each market and how it operates. They know the building department, the tax assessor, and the local real estate customs.

Being local means that they know the other agents and have relationships that will serve to help you. Their local experience will make the difference between a quick sale or your deal falling apart and dragging on for months.

How local is local? In most towns and communities, agents cover a few school districts. If they come from too far away, they may not be your best choice.

Experience counts

There is no doubt about it, experience matters. The agent who’s sold more homes in your town or neighborhood clearly has the track record.  And, they are more qualified to sell your home than someone with less experience.

How? They know the inside scoop of many of the recent deals. They know which agents are working with real buyers, and which to steer clear of.

Through their experiences, they will know which features or finishes work best in the market. They’ll know which home got the best response and which did not. That knowledge base will translate into value add for you.

A personality match

You want an agent who is honest, trustworthy, ethical and easy to be around. Sometimes the agent who’s sold the most may not be the best agent for you.

You will spend a considerable amount of time working alongside this person for up to six months, or even a year. You must trust them and feel that they can be trusted externally.

This agent will represent you and your interests to the public, and you must have complete faith that they will serve you effectively.

Finally, you’ll have to like this person and find them to be easy to be around. If it’s not a personality match, no matter how successful they are, look for someone else.

Attention, please

Sometimes sellers ask questions like, “Will you be present for the showings?” or “Will I interface with you daily, or an assistant?”

Folks who want or need personal attention need to let their agent know that right away and make that a part of the decision-making process.

In some cases, busier agents aren’t set up to give personalized attention or to be present everywhere for everyone. They have systems and folks in place to operate the business. And it’s that operation that makes them successful.

A less busy agent might purposely choose to work with just a few clients at a time. As such, they would be wiling to do more or be more hands-on with their customers than a busier agent.  Know what you expect, and don’t settle for less.

Ask around

One of the best ways to find a listing agent is to get a referral. If a neighbor or friend sold in the past year, ask them who they worked with and how happy they were.

Before reaching out, check out the prospective agent’s reviews and previous business online.

If you interview them, ask them for references from other past clients. Good real estate agents work their business purely on referral, and the last thing they want is to cut off a referral source or kill the chance to get another.