1. Do your online search and check out if the agent has a web presents and how the current listings are showcased to the public. http://www.realtor.com

2. Also ask agents to show you their marketing plan check list, a good agent will have a detailed list when what needs to happen for marketing your home. Our team utilizes a software program were we set the plan up and when we start the marketing process all the items come in our daily to list for each team member to be able to execute what needs to be done to expose your home to the public and to the Realtors. We post on many different websites and test that all the pictures are posted. For example when we reduce a price we pull in a plan that has 12 steps one of them is to notify all buyers and agents that have shown the home. On Wednesday we decide what homes to hold open for the weekend, again we pull in a plan and my assistant is directed by the plan of all the postings and notification we will have to make to have a successful open house.
The beauty of this is that at any time we can make a change in the master plan which we do often as our industry is forever changing. So make sure your agent has a detailed plan and an assistant to help. http://www.margomurray.com
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The dynamics of short sales and REO transactions present distinct challenges to REALTORS® and Buyers. 

Short Sales

Short pay transactions or “short sales” are transactions where the seller owes more on his or her home than the home is worth.  The distinct nature of these listings enable a third-party  the lender to intervene in the terms of sale and the lender will dictate after a buyer may have had his offer on that home that the lender will want the seller to counter and
sell the home for more than was originally agreed to by the buyer and the seller.
This is possible, because the lender will have to discount the note, so although the seller has signed a legally binding
contract subject to lender approval of the short sale.

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One of the sings of an improving real estate market is “cherry picking.” What happens is buyers look for the best property they can find. It has the best location, best amenities, best upgrades, best landscape and most important-
best price. As these properties begin to be priced at a number that corresponds to the buyer’s specific set of parameters, homes start to sell. One by one, the really good deals begin to sell. As these homes begin to sell, other buyers, who waited too long, get nervous and decide they had better purchase also. Once all the “cherries” are gone, we then have the “dogs” that no one wants. They are priced the same as the “cherries,” but are inferior in some way.  As these properties begin to sell, the new market value for the neighborhood is set. This is the new fair market value which guides both buyers and appraisers. After all the “dogs” are sold, sellers who have been on the market for months and years have a decision to make. They must either drop their price to fair market value or take their home off the market. As this process begins, inventory will drop and won’t be replaced very quickly. Many sellers will not want to sell their homes for the lower fair market value. When those properties, owned by sellers who are motivated and are willing to take fair arket value, sell, the real estate market will begin to stabilize. Unless the government does something stupid, we will slowly get back to a normal market where prices are negotiated over 10,000 to 20,000 dollars within the listing price.

There will always be some properties in neighborhoods that will sell for more or less. This stabilization has happened after each of the other cycles in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. Always remember the golden rule in real estate, “long term.” No one has ever been hurt by owning their own home for 20 years. That also means you don’t use your home’s equity as a savings account. If you kept the same loan on the property that you had when you purchased it 20 years ago, you’d have equity in your home and te value would be higher. Period.