How to Choose a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home

Colleen Gelardi learned the hard way that listing your home with a top-producing agent -- or even one recommended by a friend- - may not be the best way to pick a real-estate agent. " We just went with what our friends said," explains Gelardi, of Aurora, Ohio. "They knew the agent personally, and she'd helped them."

After their home sat on the market for months with little activity and even less feedback from their agent, Gelardi and her husband, Mike, switched real-estate agents. With their new agent's help, the couple sold their home for the asking price, about $100,000.