The following is an excerpt from Christine Karpinski's book, Profit from Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide to a Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment (Kaplan, 2005, ISBN: 1-4195-0691-9, $19.95).

If you know friends or vacation homeowners who've recently bought properties in your target community, ask if their agents were reliable, professional, and trustworthy. Get their names and interview several. Add them to those you found on your internet search.

In your quest for the perfect match, here are questions to ask when interviewing prospective agents:

• How long have you been selling?

• What areas of town do you specialize in? (Note that buying property in specific parts of the area can differ significantly as do the expertise of the agent in those specific areas. For example, on the golf course comes with different concerns than buying on the beach in terms of insurance and other factors.)

• Do you own properties yourself in this community?

• Are you a good negotiator? Ask for examples of specific deals that they've negotiated.

• What resources do you have that would support my purchase? What resources does your office provide?

• Would I be dealing exclusively with you or with something else?

• Are there benefits to spending part of my time with your assistant?

• Who will ride herd on the contract?

• Who facilitates the transaction in the background?

• Who actually talks to the sellers' agent?

In my experience, it's critical to be upfront and honest with the agents I work with. I'm eager to share my list of criteria with them, so nobody wastes time looking at properties that don't meet that criteria.

© Christine Karpinski 2005