It really depends of individual real estate agent. The most important thing is to price the house correctly! The next very important thing is that when Seller is interviewing a real estate agent to sell the house, that agent should not only tell, but what is most important - SHOW - how the house will be exposed (especially on the internet, since over 90% of buyers start their home search there) to the largest number of potential, qualified buyers. Agent should Show the Seller how his/her house will be positioned to compete with other similar similar houses for sale on the market. Full motion, high definition, walk through video tour should be included in the marketing plan. Home seller should make sure that the house will be an Open House 24/7 in Video! This way, potential buyers can visit the house at any time, even when Sellers are sleeping. Here are some examples http://youtube.com/iamopenhouse , http://IAmOpenHouse.com . Past clients experience rating of the agent should be checked on http://www.har.com. Many real estate agents are calling incorrectly slide shows or distorted, spinning, dizzying 'virtual tours' as Videos. I am one of only few real estate agents offering full motion high definition videos for my listings.

Representing the largest real estate firm, I can tell you that REMAX has the largest web presence of any company out there. That aside, it's important to remember to hire an AGENT that works in your area and that you feel will market the home well...When it comes to online presence, REMAX has the other companies hands down, BUT even some of their agents do not take advantage of that. Web presence, marketing and guarantee of services are all factors in deciding who to hire when interviewing agents. Also, is the agent using all available marketing avenues that buyers are wanting, such as full MLS presentations, syndication to sites like this one and of course, the newest trend in real estate, full motion video (I do not know of any other agents in the Katy area using full video presentation on their listings besides Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team).

Since 80% of buyers start their search on the Internet, I would say this exposure is one that will sell your home. Exposure is useless if the home is not priced correctly and staged nicely. I use a 7-point pricing strategy that when followed and held accountable will get your home sold!

A seller should consider the level of marketing as well as the individual agent when deciding who to select for representation. There are very good agents working at all types of brokerages (big and small) but not always the best marketing and this boils down to how much money will be spent to market the home outside of the bare minimum "HAR MLS and sign in the yard". Most of the the larger franchise firms (or Brand Company as identified in the questions above) take a portion of the agents commission to pay for extensive local, national and international marketing and have access to areas of marketing through volume listings that the single practitioner or smaller firms do not have. Many smaller firms (non-Brand) take little or nothing from the agent commissions to pay for marketing and that is what you get. It is then up to the agent themselves to spend this money to market. You will have to interview the agent to see if this is budgeted in their marketing strategy. In the end, both the experience of the agent and the strength of the marketing that will get the job done.
Christi Borden, Realtor
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors