Hiring Real Estate AgentsWhat's Your Method of Choice?

This is a topic that I'd like to pose to both consumers and real estate agents:

With literally millions of agents to choose from in America, and hundreds of thousands in major American cities, what is the most effective way to hire a real estate agent?

Personally, I'm one of those highly-strung researchers who spends ages of time fleshing out a topic before I move forward. But I know that the vast majority of consumers are not like this.

In fact, many of those consumers are my friends and family. And I watch as they hunt and peck their way through the buying process, going through multiple agents before they finally pair with one who suits them.

For consumers, I wonder, how do you choose an agent? I know many folks rely on referrals from friends and family. But, (in the realm of theory here) say my little brother is looking to buy his first condo....is it right to assume that the elderly lady who sold my parents their multi-million dollar golf course-fronted retirement villa is a good match for him?

So how do you filter through the thousands of options? How did you find your last agent, and if you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?

For agents, I'd like to give you a forum here. What things do you wish clients would know, do, research, or ask when they're looking for an agent? I know you all would be just as happy as your customers if clients and agents were paired appropriately. How can we make this happen?

After all, you've probably had your share of bad clients. I'm also pretty sure you may have salivated as you saw someone in your office working with a client who is an 'okay' fit, but would be a perfect match to your expertise.

I'm really looking forward to hearing from readers on this topic. It will certainly answer a lot of questions for home buyers across the country.