A Tale of Two Agents: How To Tell If Your Real Estate Agent is Good
In this article, I’m going to outline what you should look for when looking for a real estate agent to help you purchase a home. I bought my first home in 2019 and my second home in 2021, and I had a completely different experience between the two agents I used. I want to share with you my perspective on what qualities from my two agents stood out as being qualities that I will look for in an agent if I were ever to purchase another home. Granted there may be more qualities to look for, I wanted to highlight those that I think are most important.
This article is broken down by what qualities to look for in a buyer agent:
- Promptness and availability
- Knowledge of the market and prices
- Knowledge of homes and local codes
- Getting to know what you
- No pressure tactics
I suggest going on a couple of home tours with several different agents and trying to spot these qualities. If you find an agent that exhibits these qualities, stick with them for the rest of your home tours.
Promptness and availability
Time is of the essence when making offers and viewing homes. Your agent should be prompt and available when you need to reach them. They should make it a priority to be there with you for all your home tours. If you’re late to viewing or late submitting an offer by even a day, it could cost you the home. On the first home, I bought, my agent and I were the first party to view the home. Because of that, we were able to submit the first offer and negotiate with the seller’s agent to cancel the open house. The sellers, who we later learned were trying to sell as quickly as possible to relocate out of state for a job, took our offer and didn’t look at any others. Granted, this was in Michigan in 2019 as opposed to California in 2021, promptness and quickness allowed us to snatch the house before anyone else could get a chance to make a competing offer. Make sure your agent is prompt and has a sense of urgency; this is critical when hunting for a home. If your agent isn’t, chances are another buyer’s agent will be.
Knowledge of the market and prices
Knowing how much a home is worth in a given market condition is critical to making a competitive offer. Your agent should be familiar with the market in the area you’re looking to buy; if not, they should have connections to get that information. Do they know the average number of days a home was on the market? Do they know on average how much above or below the asking price a home sells for given the location and square footage? Do they know the average number of offers a house in the area gets? A good agent will have access to the data to answer these questions. A great agent will have the data internalized, condense it for you, and tell you what a competitive offer is. When it comes to predicting the sale price of a home, a great agent should be as close to a fortune-teller as it gets.
Knowledge of homes and local codes
A great agent will also give you a general idea of the home’s condition and shape. Are there are pit-falls due to shoddy construction or code violations that will bite you later? Will you need a new roof within a year of purchase? Are there plumbing leaks or mold? In a highly competitive market such as California, you may have to waive the inspection contingency. Other times the inspection report provided by the seller may be incomplete, and you may not have the time to hire an inspector to look at the multiple homes you’re considering. In those times, a great agent can inform you of the condition of the home and whether or not repairs or renovations are needed.
They get to know you
Great real estate agents don’t want to waste their time or your time. They will understand what you are looking for, help refine your “needs” and “wants”, and push you to determine a realistic price range before spending significant amounts of time showing you around homes. They will do this so that 1) you don’t waste time going to homes you have no intention of making offers on, and 2) when you find a home that checks all of your boxes you can act quickly and make a serious offer without hesitation.
No pressure tactics
A great real estate agent will not pressure you into buying or making an offer on every home you visit. They will, however, push you to narrow down your wants and your target price range. They will also be honest with you if you’re passing up on homes that check all your boxes and if you’re spending time looking at homes that don’t fit your target price range. A little pressure is good, but a good agent will never push you to buy a home that doesn’t match your desires.