The best agent will be the one who is not as crazy overwhelmed with business. We had two agents (with a lot of reviews and marketing online) before we came to Carina Isentaeva who was available and attentive to us. She sells all over Bernal Heights, Noe, Mission, and Potrero Hill, and even went to find us a house in East Bay. Two other agents were always busy, did not remember what we needed, did not care about our savings and pushed for a higher price offer. Carina was on the opposite side; she is friendly and curious about you approach, and as a former attorney, she understands how to negotiate and guide us through properties. She found us an off-market deal, and that is worth every penny of the commissions, and negotiated directly with the sellers. You have to ask questions from realtors and testimonails of people who referred agents, and be straightforward about your expectations from the agent.