Surely we’ve all encountered a few licensed agents who didn’t bring much value to the table (I know I have), but some of them can really play a pivotal role in making deals happen.
I’ve worked with a few who have done amazing work and provided solutions that I couldn’t have found on my own.
What do you think makes a good realtor/agent? Do you think there’s a way to reverse engineer this profile to find the good ones in any given market? @jarenb did a blog post on this for land specialized agents a while back... but I’m talking ANY kind of real estate broker here.
Obviously, any self-respecting realtor will say great things about themselves, but is there a more objective way to figure out which ones are actually the best and get them to work for you?
@retipsterseth I think the biggest thing for me is communication, promptness and a sharp mind.
Most agents just get a listing and mindlessly list the property. They don't go through the effort of thinking how to frame the property from a marketing perspective.
A good agent should get back to you within a few hours top, be very strong in their communication skills and have the sharpness to think like a marketer.
@retipsterseth I agree with @Jarenb and specifically in regards to communication and promptness, which ultimately go hand-in-hand for me. Another couple qualities would be well-networked and a true willingness to help. As an example, I just met a realtor this past month who sold my property the same day she put up just a "Coming Soon" sign. The reason she sold it so quickly was b/c she already had a network of retail buyers and builders in the area that were already interested. Leading up to the sale, she took the initiative to light a fire under the surveyors that wouldn't respond to me but did respond to her b/c of her relationship with them, as well as scheduled and met with a land clearing company that she was in network with. AND she only charged 6% commission, but I ended up giving her 8% just for her extra help. Better believe I will be looking to market more in her area of coverage just to work with her on more deals.
I agree with Jaren Barens. The characteristics that are common in every realtor is their communiaction skill, problem solving mindset and their ability to take risk.
A good realtor should be honest and he has the ability of making network of connection. He should understand their local market completely.
Promptness is a good first filter. The one realtor who turned out to be a superstar returned my initial message within half an hour. Every other realtor I’ve ever contacted (including the couple of duds I made the mistake of working with) didn’t return my initial call until the next day.