You're considering working with a real estate agent to buy or sell your home.

Real estate agents tout their knowledge and access to information, which can aid in everything from setting a price to negotiating a deal. But beyond that, what can agents do for you?

Photos by CHRISTOPHER OQUENDO / Special (ENLARGE)

Marshall Berch (left) and Chuck Smith of Re/Max Metro Atlanta stay in close touch with sellers.

(ENLARGE)

Lisa Crowder and Sean T. Casey film a virtual tour.

(ENLARGE)

The For Sale sign goes up in Marietta, and Jim Glover of Harry Norman, Realtors, gets ready to work print and online marketing and woo other agents with food and drink.

A major component is a marketing plan. A strategy for selling your home involves all types of out-of-pocket expenses — recouped by the commission when the house sells — ranging from balloons and signs to virtual tours and brochures to print and online listings.

Some agents admit it costs more to be successful.

"We are spending more money. Everything is so much harder than it's ever been within real estate," said Chuck Smith, a Re/Max Metro Atlanta agent who estimates marketing costs have doubled. "It's hard to keep anybody happy. The buyers are unhappy they're not getting a good enough deal. The sellers are unhappy they're not getting enough for their home."

Several metro Atlanta agents opened their checkbooks and shared their routines and expenses, as well as what they're doing to keep in constant communication with buyers and sellers to get that "sold" sign in the front yard.

Four agents share some of their top expenses — and where they are finding the biggest bang per buck.

SPENDING TO SELL

The agent: Wendy Greene, of Metro Brokers/GMAC Real Estate for 20 years, says her expenses relate to her focus on providing top-notch customer service.

The strategy: She has cut costs by producing marketing tools such as color brochures in-house. Her team creates them — she starts with 50 per house — and they're printed on her printer (she estimates she replaces the $40 ink cartridges every two to three weeks).

The expenses:

Greene doesn't have a set budget for clients when a home is listed. She'd rather have the flexibility to come up with new ideas to market the home. "I just do what I need to do," Greene said. Here are three of her most important expenses.

• $300-$400: A home warranty, which Greene purchases for sellers. It is transferred to the buyer at closing. "When you go to the closing, that's one expense they don't have," she says. "It does service the seller during the listing period and eliminates them from paying that when they close."

• $120-$250: Professional photos and a virtual tour for brochures, print ads and Web sites.

• $300: Lunch for agents during open houses, which she does frequently for listings. An open house in mid-July for a $780,000 home in Moreland had catered food such as chicken lasagna, salad, fruit salad, iced tea and assorted desserts. (That was one of three planned that day — another had a full lunch and one had hors d'oeuvres.) She also gives door prizes, such as a bottle of wine, to the first 15 real estate agents. She spends a couple of bucks on six helium-filled blue and orange balloons for each open house. "The balloons attract them. You can have a sign sitting there that says open house, and it's never noticed. If you tie those balloons on, it's like something is going on."

SELLING HISTORY

The agent: Jim Glover of Harry Norman, Realtors, who focuses on historic properties. He's seeing commissions from 6 percent to 8 percent of the sale price, plus agent bonuses of $1,000-$20,000 for new construction.

The strategy: He combines more expensive print advertising, which averages $120 per listing, with online ads, some of which are free and others that average $15-$20 per listing each month. He pays a percentage of his commission to a broker, receiving resources down to flier boxes, lockboxes and a 24-hour phone number with details about a listing at no cost. Glover said additional expenses are memberships, training and continuing education courses, which are tough to break down into a per-listing cost.

The expenses:

• $60-$90: Photos of a home, taken by a member of his staff.

• $100: Estimated amount for virtual tours.

• $100: Minimum amount spent on gas, which Glover said used to be one-fourth that amount.

• $400-$500: Signs for a listing.

• $500-$600: Food and drinks for agent caravans.

A PERSONAL TOUCH

Agents say listening to and keeping in contact with buyers and sellers are crucial. Here are five things you should expect an agent to be doing.

1. Finding out about potential new owners.

For a $1.375 million listing on Birmingham Road in Alpharetta, Nancy Murphy, an agent with Jenny Pruitt & Associates, Realtors, wanted to make an extra impact on buyers who returned a second and third time to view the home.

So she brought in breakfast for the second visit, which included the couple, the husband's parents and a friend. When she learned the couple wanted to return to the home another evening, Murphy asked the agent what type of wine they enjoyed drinking. She brought a bottle of wine — which cost $63 — and cheese, setting it up at the lake's gazebo. "On a beautiful, not-so-humid evening, [they could] go down and enjoy the tranquillity of the lake. It allowed them to linger a little longer and think about it in the relaxed atmosphere. They were impressed and appreciative."

Her efforts resulted in an offer, although Murphy said in mid-July it hadn't turned into a contract.

"We all spend a little more time, energy and hospitality, whatever it takes," Murphy said. "It seems like we're spending more time for maybe not quite the return we used to get."

2. Scheduling consistent updates.

Every Monday, Prudential's Stevens sends out reports that show how many people have looked at the listings on various Web sites, and other details about how the marketing plan is proceeding. Murphy's clients also know they will hear from her through weekly client conferences via e-mail or phone. "We're going over what's going on as far as the market, not just locally but globally," Murphy said. "The seller nowadays, and the buyer, they're just more informed. They want to be more actively participating in all of that. I utilize them in the planning of all of it."

3. Following up promptly.

Sellers want timely responses, and they want to know what's working, Murphy said.

Smith and Marshall Berch, Re/Max Metro Atlanta agents who have worked together for about eight years and been in the business for 16 years each, say they keep in "constant contact" with sellers to provide feedback from showings and update them on what nearby listings have sold, what hasn't sold and what's new on the market. "A lot of the frequency is driven by the individual client. Some of our clients need daily contact; some of them want monthly contact," Smith said.

"The amount of contact we have with them is more often, because the house is on the market a longer time," Berch said.

4. Being an adviser to buyers.

Extras like limo rides from the airport and concierge services are something Stevens offers to out-of-town buyers, but she doesn't have many takers. "With a buyer, it's just taking the time," she said. "It's more of a time issue than it is forking out a lot of money." That includes taking clients out to eat, showing them the community and spending time on the computer doing research and in phone calls to update buyers on potential properties. "People are looking at more homes. There's so much on the market, they get a little confused," Stevens said.

5. Keeping the door open — virtually.

Clients of Kenny Cook Realty Metro Atlanta can log onto the company's Web site to see scheduled showings and feedback, how many hits online listings and virtual tours have received — even when the flier box was filled. "If they're up at midnight and just kind of curious, they can check in on there," Casey said.

FOCUS ON LUXURY

The agent: Sheila Stevens, of Prudential Georgia Realty, who focuses on luxury homes in north metro Atlanta. Her gross sales reached $12 million last year, compared with $4.2 million in 2006.

The strategy: "In this market, it's about marketing trends and always being on the cutting edge of technology," she said. She sends quarterly e-mail newsletters and more frequent e-mail blasts to 200 agents focusing on high-end properties with information about listings, price changes and other details that could help sell a home. She also does networking through Chamber and other groups and hosts "Ladies Nights Out" in different neighborhoods, where women travel in limos to area retailers for pampering.

The expenses:

• $20-$30: Cost for each 20- to 30-page bound home books she places in homes (the number she creates ranges from as few as 15 to as many as 40, depending on the length of the listing). It includes items such as photos and text about the home, city and county information, the seller's disclosure, plat of the home, country club membership details and a CD of a virtual tour.

• $150-$300: Home staging (minus furniture or accessories).

• $250-$350: Videos, photos and virtual tours

USING THE WEB

The agent: Sean T. Casey, owner of Kenny Cook Realty Metro Atlanta

The strategy: The intown company's biggest investment is in its Web site and supporting infrastructure. He's making upgrades that will allow visitors to the company's site to view all properties listed with the Georgia Multiple Listing Service and First Multiple Listing Service, to see them on a map and pull up other details about a potential home.

The expenses:

Casey says it's difficult to break them down to a transaction-by-transaction level, but here's an idea of estimates.

• $15: Directional signs (he normally uses two to three per listing)

• $15: Sign topper, with agent name and number

• $30: Arm sign installation service for duration of listing

• $35: Flier box, which can be used on three to four listings before it needs replacing

• $75: Sign, which can be used on three to four listings before it needs replacing

• $100: Full-color fliers (typically 50-100 per listing)

• $180: Lockbox, which can be used for years

• $200-$300: Professional virtual tour. "If I have a silver bullet for marketing and selling a home, it's a virtual tour. That tour serves as foundation for the content of the rest of my marketing," said Casey, who uses the written content online and in printed material and the photos on fliers.

• $1,000-$2,000: Staging, depending on the property