When People Ask Me What Makes a Good Real Estate Agent, This is What I Tell Them

A lot of people ask what makes a good real estate agent. How can you tell the good ones from the bad?

Real estate is a very popular profession and there’s a lot of us out there. When I was thinking about how to sell myself with my new marketing materials, I tried to think of what set me apart, and it turned out these are all the things I think are most important in my business and in general when looking for a real estate agent.

Marketing and Sales Skills

One thing you should always be looking for up front is a real estate agent who has sales and marketing experience. You have to think, your real estate agent is going to be selling your home, so they better be able to see what the selling features are and know how to put it in front of buyers who are interested. 

Marketing and sales isn’t something that comes naturally to most people. It’s a skill that needs to be learned over time. It doesn’t hurt to check out what kind of marketing your real estate agent has done for other people’s homes. Is it professional? Does it represent the home well? Don’’t be afraid to do a sneaky Google search and see what your real estate agent talks about and provides online as well. 

Ongoing Help

As yourself this question: once your real estate agent sells your house, what will they do next? If your real estate agent simply moves on and makes no effort to check in on your new home after the sale, did they really care about finding you the best home? 

When getting referrals for real estate agents, ask your friends and family what the connection is like after the sale. Does the real estate agent go above and beyond to make sure you’re comfortable? Do they have any resources for you for how to invest in your new home to increase the re-sale value? 

It’s important you’re picking an agent who you can have an ongoing relationship with. You’re investing financially and emotionally into a home and your agent should have a good sense of how to support you with both of those aspects. 

Time Saving

People often don’t consider what an immense time-save realtors can be. There’s a lot of marketing, outreach, connections, paperwork and more that go into getting a home sold, and real estate agents can handle the bulk of it. Someone who is working full time and saving up for a home doesn’t really have time to put together house photos and real estate ads. 

When looking for an agent, make sure they know their stuff and who strike a balance of communicating openly with you, while also staying out of your hair and supporting your current lifestyle. Selling your home is a big step, and someone who makes it as seamless as possible is a huge asset. 

Plus, real estate agents know exactly what to do which will move the whole process of selling your home along much faster. 

Someone Who Knows the Market

More to this point, real estate agents literally have the job of staying in tune to markets. 

When looking for an agent, see if they have up to date information on markets and can answer your question. 

Around Guelph, it’s important to know someone who also knows markets in surrounding towns like Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Fergus, and Elora. Someone who has many points of references and knows the styles and sizes of homes in all these places will be a huge asset and save you a ton of time as well. 

Connection to Other People You’ll Need

The process of selling your house is going to involve a lot more than just you and a real estate agent. You’re going to need mortgages, cleaners, stagers, and more little things along the way. 

Real estate agents are savvy marketers (or at least they should be), so it’s a good sign if the one you’re choosing has a large network of connections in other areas of buying home. It’s likely a good sign that other professionals trust and continue to refer their clients to the same real estate agent and vice versa. 

Putting You First

At the end of the day, you should look at your real estate agent and feel like you can trust them. Your real estate agent should be doing what they can to support you through an emotional and huge step in your life. Strangely enough, personality, connection, and communication between you and your agent should be a primary concern. 

A good sign an agent is good is if their getting to know you as a person. They should want to get to know all about you and what your days are like so they can consider that in your new home. They should be asking about more than just what you want in a home. A home is just one part of living a healthy and happy life. Your agent should also try to find you a location that will suit your hobbies, be friendly to your lifestyle, and be a good place for your soul as well as all your stuff.