The Importance of Choosing a Great Buyer's Agent
Updated: Sep 8
Many buyers and sellers fail to realize how important choosing the right agent is in their home buying &/or selling process.
Common Mistakes of Buyers Choosing an Agent:
Apathy About Their Agent Choice
Because of buyers & sellers failure to see how important this process is, it's not uncommon for them to take an apathetic approach at analyzing what different agents are offering. Many buyers and sellers spend a lot less time than they should seeing what exactly the agents they speak to and research actually are offering.
Related:
Quickly Picking the First Agent That Contacts Them
What agent contacted me first? Timeliness in real estate is critical, with expeditious showings and expeditious offers being very important for buyers, but the brand new agent who is not in another appointment is a lot more likely to be available to call you as soon as you reach out than an agent who happens to be helping another client at the time of your initial inquiry. Brand new agents will tend to have a lot more time on their hands than experienced agents, but most buyers won't want to work with a brand new agent & I don't let brand new agents even fill in for me when I'm finding agent fill-ins for buyers if I'm unavailable, typically only using agents with more experience than I have, all with over 150 transactions under their belt, with one agent I use having over 700 past transactions.
Related:
Adam's Values (See #1 - Staying Available)
Picking the Most Persistent Agent
Just because an agent really wants to work with you, doesn't mean that they will actually do the best job. They may have a lot more time on their hands because they're not busy with other clients, or they could simply do a lot less for the clients that they serve than other agents who might be contacting you less frequently who may still be responsive to your inquiries.
Picking a "yes man" & the Most Agreeable Agent
Some agents can be dishonest, even if it is to the harm of the buyers they work with, in order to get a new client or close a new sale. The agents that will agree to whatever you ask may not actually be doing you a favor & may simply care more about getting you as a client than actually helping you.
Related:
Why Buyers & Sellers Often Choose Not to Work with Honest Real Estate Agents & How To Avoid That
Here are some of the main reasons why your agent choice is so important:
Seeing Properties Before They Go Under Contract
Some agents care a lot more about getting buyers into homes before they go under contract with another buyer. Even if you get in the home before it goes under contract, if you don't make an expeditious offer, that showing doesn't matter much. Does your agent:
Educate you and set you up for success for expeditious showings?
Set you up for success with an excellent search?
Have experienced agent fill-ins available when they are not available, do they have no fill-ins, or do they let whoever is the cheapest or free fill-in for them?
Offer Success & Making The Right Offer
In some cases, many buyers want a house, but out of many offers, only 1 gets it. In other cases, a multiple-offer scenario still yields a lower-than-asking price sale. I've won an offer for buyers in as many as an 8 offer scenario and closed on a home where buyers purchased for as much as $49k below the asking price. Sometimes, the winning offer isn't the highest-priced offer, and sometimes, the highest-price offer is far above the next highest offer if no escalation clause is used, wasting that buyer's money in some cases.
Related:
Differences in Agent Honesty, Ethics, Care for Buyers' Interests, & Avoiding Buyer's Remorse
Agent honesty, ethics and care for their buyers' best interest varies substantially. In some cases, buyers inadvertently choose dishonest agents because of their dishonesty without being aware of it. If an agent isn't honest, they won't be as likely to point out any negatives of homes you see before showings or during showings. If you are unaware of the pros and cons, you are more likely to be surprised by a home inspection or have buyer's remorse from things that a home inspection & similar inspections don't cover, like flood zones, flood zone projections, tax rates, hurricane evacuation zones, busy streets, & more. If you don't have an agent that is willing to educate you about how to find things yourself that are in protected classes that an agent has restrictions on pointing out, like school districts and crime, again, you are more likely to experience buyer's remorse.
Some Agents Are Much Better at Equipping Buyers Before They Are Ready to Purchase
While some agents can't do much for a buyer if they aren't ready yet to purchase, other agents have a number of ways to help, i.e.:
1. What do Buyers Need to Purchase a Home?
2. Long-Term Financial Preparations for a Home Purchase & How Adam Can Help
3. Credit Boosting Meeting with Adam
4. Budgeting Meeting with Adam
5. 10+ Types of No Down Payment Required Mortgages
Different Agents Have Different MLS Access & Are Familiar with Different Local Customs, Local Contracts, & Local Resources
Not all agents have access to the same MLS. While I have 5, many only have 1, and there are areas I won't cover due to my lack of MLS access. If an agent does have MLS access to where you're looking, they might still be willing to work with you, but won't typically be able to send you properties from that MLS, could be unfamiliar with local customs, could be unfamiliar with local contracts, and could cause you to not get a property if they use their own preferred contract rather than the contract that the listing agent is familiar with & prefers.
Related:
Zillow Searches & Other Public Website Searches Vs MLS Searches Which Multiple Listing Service(s) Are Needed to Buy in SE VA?
Agent Experience: Brand New to Thousands of Personal Past Transactions
Agent experience can range from brand new to having helped clients to buy or sell thousands of homes. That said, agent experience isn't everything, & some buyers prefer to work with an agent that isn't so busy that they won't have much time for them, so some buyers may want to look within brackets of experience, such as agents who have sold at least 50 homes or agents who have sold at least 100 homes. You can often see how many homes they've sold on their Zillow profile, but some homes may not appear on there.
The experience of their company or the team that they are apart of doesn't matter nearly as much as their own personal experience. My next door neighbor, who didn't know that I was a real estate agent when he listed (he said he would have used me if he had known) once listed their home with another agent that was the first year in the business. The seller thought that the agent had sold most of the homes in the neighborhood, when in reality, he had never done a single sale in the neighborhood. Either the agent was lying, or he may have been using the "royal we" regarding the sales of his company. Be sure to know the difference. Sure I'm part of a company that's been around for decades in the area, & my father has personally sold thousands of properties in the area, but my personal sales volume matters a lot more than that of my company.
Agents Have Vastly Different Physical & Digital Resources, w Some Having Much More than Others
While the physical and digital tools of some agents are extremely limited, that of others is substantial. In my case, I have a top 1% combination of physical & digital resources for buyers.
Informed buyers & sellers make the best decisions. Has your agent published much with guidance at every step of the home buying and home selling process with not just the basic knowledge but also with information tailored to your area (SE VA) when applicable?
Vastly Different Experiences with Agents: Check Their Reviews
Agents can range from being deadbeats and unreliable to the best thing that ever happened to a buyer looking for a home, as you can sometimes tell by their reviews. I have dozens on various platforms. One past client of mine stated, "Honestly, while I may be a first-time home buyer I really feel I had someone reliable and trustworthy on my side. I never felt incompetent although my knowledge and experience was low to none. I never felt unnecessary stress as I knew I had a great source of knowledge available to me by the name of Adam Garrett. I had an amazing realtor, teacher, advocate and guide through the whole process and never felt alone." Emily Another former client of mine stated, "Adam is a person with a heart of gold - a man of God. This man went out of his way to help me when I was buying a home. I didn't know anything about getting a home. He did things for me any other realtor would have never done. I have so much respect for him; he changed my life and I just want to say thank you again. I wish there were more people in this world like him. You made my dream come true. I like him as a person and am proud to have him as a friend."
For more details, see:
What to Look for in a Buyer's Agent for Your Home or Other Real Estate
Related:
Zillow Searches & Other Public Website Searches Vs MLS Searches
Which Multiple Listing Service(s) Are Needed to Buy in SE VA?
What to Look for in a Listing Agent for Your Home or Other Real Estate