If you're going to go through an agent, find someone you don't mind dealing with and who won't bug the living crap out of you every time something comes on the market. I went through my friend's sister and she actually listened to what my criteria was for finding a house. After looking through several in the price range, you start to realize more things you want/don't want so you can have them alter their thinking as well. Lastly, if you can get your hands on the county MLS book like we did, it's a lot easier to look through at your own pace. We found a house in the town we wanted in a location we like and it was at the very top end of what we could afford. But we were able to work it out. Today it's easier to just go to
www.realtor.com and search the zip codes you want to look in. But in order to view a house, you usually need to go through a realtor anyway.