I don't know what your timeline is, but when my DH and I were buying, we just went to a lot of open houses in our "pre-looking" phase and ended up working with a Realtor we met at an open house that we hit it off with. We just liked what he did at the open house, liked the time he spent with us, and had a feeling he would do a good job for us. He did, and when we sold the house 3 years later, he did a great job brokering that sale, too, and made us a tidy profit.

Of course, this was in the Washington, DC area in the early 2000s, so a much different market from today.

It depends, in part, on how much you know about where you are looking. Personal recommendations can be very, very helpful in finding a Realtor, and yes, you want folks who are going to put the work in. When we moved to Florida, we called the father of a friend who my husband went to high school with. He was going on vacation but hooked us up with someone in his office -- she was FANTASTIC and we had a lovely experience. A year later my parents needed someone, and the gal who had been our agent had left the Dad's office, we were torn. Ended up recommending they go with the Dad rather than follow the gal to the new shop, and that turned out to be a bit of a mistake.