Not all agents or brokers are REALTORS® -- there is a difference.

How to evaluate an agent

In making your decision to work with an agent, there are certain questions you should ask when evaluating a potential agent.

The first question you should ask is whether the agent is a REALTOR® .

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics (which in many cases goes beyond state law). In most areas, it is the REALTOR® who shares information on the homes they are marketing, through a Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Working with a REALTOR® who belongs to an MLS will give you access to the greatest number of homes.

You should then ask:

• Does the agent have an active real estate license in good standing? To find this information, you can check with your state’s governing agency.
• Does the agent belong to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and/or a reliable online home buyer’s search service? Multiple Listing Services are cooperative information networks of REALTORS® that provide descriptions of most of the houses for sale in a particular region.
• Is real estate their full-time career?
• What real estate designations does the agent hold?
• Which party is he or she representing--the buyer or the seller? This discussion is supposed to occur early on, at "first serious contact" with you.