I know agents who say they can handle eight listings at once; I know others who claim to comfortably handle twice that many. There is no right number, but the amount of business an agent has right now does affect your service, ranging from how much time an agent might have to communicate with you to how often she will be able to show your home.

If you are working with a buyer's agent, those other clients could actually be your competition for a home. If a terrific property comes on the market, you'd like to know you will get first crack at it, and that may not happen if the buyer broker has a lot of customers and you're second or sixth or eighth on his list of people to call.

As with all advisory relationships, a lot of your decision will be based on instinct and who you feel you can trust. If you hear about a workload that sounds unreasonable, ask about it.