How to select a real estate agent to sell my home

Personality fit is important. Jennifer Lucas is an extraordinary real estate agent. She does both selling and buying and she also has experience with construction and flipping houses. Her first hand construction experience sets her apart for buyers and sellers. She works incredibly hard. She was our agent when we bought and when we finally pull the trigger to sell and relocate to our dream house across the tunnel, we know we will use her as well. I have recommended her to friends who sold and bought in Oakland, Berkeley, Lamorinda and all have had stellar results. The way she stages the house for sale is remarkable and she uses social media well. jennifer.lucas [at] compass.com. 

We are huge fans of Deidre Joyner at Red Oak. She really went above and beyond for us when we were buying and we plan to use her to sell, too.

Personality. You need to meet them and see if you sync. You'll be communicating with them a lot so their communication style, how you feel when you're with them, the things they care about really matter. Also, they can provide you with other people they have worked with who you could ask questions to. We love our agent, and have used her for 3 transactions now, but I can see how she might not be for everyone. However, she knows literally EVERYONE in Oakland and those relationships got us both our places. So personality and network can go a long way and are what I'd consider if I was ever looking again. Like many things in life, there is no one right person or one right choice. Good luck! 

Agree with personality fit. We used sheri madden with red oak for two purchases and and sell and she is the best agent imaginable. Honest, hardworking, very knowledgeable and transparent. 

Personality fit and their local connections and understanding of the area is most important. The better they know you, the better they can represent your home too and help you prepare it for sale.

Many transactions are done between agents who know each other - ie if your agent is well connected and can sell to an agent they know and trust, you have more assurance that the transaction will go through. In addition, many agents share things off market so as a seller, there's the potential you could get a good offer before even having to list your home and therefore lower commission.

Bottom line: you should ask neighbors and friends who have recently bought or sold homes in the area who they recommend instead of reading reviews. Also by securing a referral from someone they have worked with, you will already enter with a trusting relationship. Trust is extremely important in the home buying/selling process, not just the highest price!

Finally, avoid redfin despite the allure of lower commission. Lots of agents don't like working with them and they are often less experienced, less connected, more focused on the tech. Someone with good commission will make a world of difference. When I was buying my home, I felt reassured when my agent knew the seller's agent who knew her clients well because it just brought much more trust to the entire transaction. I'm in contract now on a new place, and will sell with my agent too, and bought my first home w/ her. 

As a former real estate agent in the East Bay, these are my recommendations:

As a seller here, you only need a competent agent who is a good fit of personalities.

In contrast, a buyer in this market needs an agent with the patience of Job, the analytical ability of Einstein, and a well-tuned crystal ball to determine what price to offer that will secure the property yet won't bankrupt the client.
But seriously folks, look for an agent who has a GRS certification, indicating that they are smart and diligent enough to undertake some advanced study. Find out whether the agent will be serving you full-time, or whether they have an assistant who will be in more regular contact with you than the agent themself. This need not be a show-stopper if all else is OK. If you want a best buddy to guide you through the process of preparing your home for sale, that is a legitimate preference - though that will not be the case for every client or work for every agent

Sellers are encouraged to pay for staging.  The money you invest in this will be returned to you as a higher sale price. Logically it makes no sense whatsoever to pay people to redecorate your house for just a few weeks, but here we are.

I recently (during Covid) had to fly back east and sell my parents house very quickly.  The advice I got from folks was really worthwhile so here it is.  As others will have said, personality fit is most important.  All the agents provide basically the same services and you will get many recommendations.  Pick 3 that know your area, and have a good reputation and interview them.  You need to have a guide in the journey, it's not just about price.  Some will want to you to stage, some will want you to paint, some will just say move out and clean it and sell as is. You need to choose.  In our case I presented 3 realtor options to my mom.  One guy came with a full presentation, one just was too casual, and one was too pushy.  She went with the man with the presentation, he sold as is in one day with 7 offers over asking and did everything she wanted including going to the property every other day during the sale to feed the fish in the pond! I had to fly back to the Bay Area and he stayed in touch with me and made it so easy for her.  You should feel taken care of not pushed.  Good Luck!

If your 100+ year old craftsman home in Berkeley is in good to great shape, it will sell itself for more than you ever thought possible. You can go two ways, the first is to use a discount service to try to minimize the amount of commission paid out. The second is to find the most connected Berkeley agents, the ones who sell the most homes, and hire them create a bidding war situation utilizing their network. Avoid the 90+% of the agents who transact less than half a dozen homes in Berkeley a year. There are a lot of these people basically working part-time, who for the most part, don't have a great understanding of this brutal market.

Signed, burned by dilettante agents

I adore my real estate agent, Dan Walner.  He is maybe in his mid 50s (and so not a hip young guy), but has been working Berkeley and Oakland for a long time.  He will be very good at assessing what you should put your house on the market for and in helping take care of all your needs around the sale.  His number is 510-205-7159 and email is dan.walner [at] compass.com.  He is with Compass RE.  One thing you have to be concerned about with some agents is that they greedily want to set your price artificially low so that there is a bidding war over her property.  I believe Dan eschews this philosophy and will price your house accurately so that the buyer knows what it is worth.  In my view, it is a horrible practice in the Bay Area to artificially lower the price in order to have 20 or 30 buyers competing with each other, given the plethora of buyers out there (especially for Berkeley properties). 

Hello,

I think you want somebody that is smart, warm, caring, experienced, skilled and knowledgeable that feels like a good fit for you.  I would recommend that you speak with Marni Fischer of District Homes in Berkeley.  She embodies all of these characteristics and then some.  Marni has many years of experience, specifically in the East Bay.  We had such a great experience with her that we think anybody would be lucky to work with her.  Her number is: 415-722-0032 and her email is marnifischer [at] gmail.com.  

Best of luck!

We worked with Marilyn Garcia: https://marilyngarcia.com/. She was phenomenal. We were moving to the region/country and buying our first house. A friend of ours is a successful realtor in Southern California so we asked that friend to interview/recommend a realtor in Berkeley; she chose Marilyn. Marilyn walked us through the whole process. She is very knowledgeable about the market, smart, direct and personable. We were able to buy our current house (also a 100+ yo craftsman) despite many challenges (it was a messy situation on the seller side) due to Marylin's determination to build a strong relationship with the selling agent and her reputation within the industry. We got in when no one else could. We haven't sold a house yet, but we fully plan to use Marylin when we do. Her properties around here are always presented impeccably. 

Agree fit is really important. Someone you trust and know will do what's best for you and your family. It's also really helpful if you can use someone that is well connected in the community. I highly recommend Megan Micco who is at Compass (her email is megan [at] meganmicco.com). She helped us buy our house and made what I feared would be a torturous process, feel fun and much less stressful. I have recommended her to several people (including my family). She's kind, direct, and seems to know everyone in Berkeley/Oakland. She also LOVES her job and you can tell - she's incredibly responsive, believes in building long term relationships, and gives very sound advice but doesn't pressure you do anything you don't want to. She has a special place in her heart for older homes, so I think this would be a particularly good fit for her. Happy to chat more if you want more info!

Hi! I have nothing but amazing things to say about Chris Nava at Highland Partners.
We are in the process of buying a house and the level of personalized support we’ve gotten from him is nowhere near what other 5 star agents do. Highly recommend you get in touch to discuss. 
https://www.thehighlandpartners.com/christopher-nava/

Oooh.  Since I see we are recommending specific agents please let me second the recommendation of Marilyn Garcia.  www.marilyngarcia.com.  She got us into a great home that has doubled in value in the last 12 years.  I've been following her work since and see she is really well connected, incredibly experienced with our local market.  Easy to work with.  I hope to work with her again.