How to Choose the Right Agent – and PERSON – For You

There are 9,561 real estate agents who are affiliated with the Austin Board of Realtors at the timing of this article’s release. That means approximately 1 out of every 100 Austinites is a licensed real estate agent. With such a wide variety of people to choose from, how do you know you are choosing the right person to represent your interests in the largest transaction you will ever make?

Choosing the right real estate agent starts with choosing the right person. How someone determines the right person can differ widely based on your chosen set of criteria; however, I am going to focus on my top five determining characteristics. These five characteristics are great because they are simple to identify and can very easily predict success.

The five characteristics to look for when selecting the right real estate agent, and the right person, are: 1) Likeability, 2) Trustworthiness, 3) Professionalism, 4) Accountability, and 5) Track Record of Success.

Likeability

To many, being likeable won’t jump out at them as one of the most important characteristics to have; however, I believe it is critical. You will be – and should be – spending a lot of time with your real estate agent leading up to, during, and after the transaction. The agent will be your trusted advisor to all things real estate, so having some social chemistry will be beneficial for the relationship. Working with someone who isn’t enjoyable to be around may cause a barrier to the flow of information.  You need your agent to think the way you do to ensure they will act quickly when an opportunity presents itself. Additionally, being likeable will make the next four characteristics easier to leverage in a working relationship.

Trustworthiness

Trust is the foundation for all new teams being established. It also is the foundation for all successful teams. Patrick Lencioni wrote about trust in his New York Times best seller, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” In his book, he identifies that when there is an absence of trust, the team members will have a fear of being vulnerable. Great agents need their clients to be vulnerable with them. When a client is completely open and vulnerable, massive strides in discovering true goals for a desired outcome can take place. When you meet with your agent, there must be an overwhelming feeling of trust that comes from this individual in order to be as successful as possible.

Professionalism

Gary Keller defines a professional as, “a person who knows what they know, knows what they don’t know, and knows how to figure out what they don’t know.” This definition really resonates with me. As a real estate agent, I seek to be an expert in all things real estate. In a city and market as large and complex as Austin, it is impossible to be the top expert in everything. I understand that and accept it. As a professional, I attack situations where I am not an expert with honesty and a focused plan to discover what and who we need to be successful. Does your real estate agent have this mindset? What does their network look like? Having a professional mindset, and a network that can be leveraged to solve any problem, ensures your ultimate success in real estate.

Accountability

All agent-client relationships should have mutual accountability built into their partnership. Clients must be put into a position where they can hold their agent accountable to producing certain results; similarly, agents must be able to correct their clients when they fail to fulfil their commitments in the relationship. Good real estate agents invite the opportunity to be held accountable. They trust so much in their personal and team abilities to produce results that it is actually a welcomed opportunity. In some cases, accountability is a chance for the agent to differentiate themselves from others. Our real estate team actually invests in software that allows our clients the ability to view most of the tasks we are performing daily for their real estate transaction. We believe in our service and our ability to produce results so we want others to benefit from the knowledge of what’s actually taking place. Great agents invite your efforts to hold them accountable and are strong enough to hold you accountable to what you say you want your desired outcome to be.

Success

When I hear the word successful, I immediately think of track record. Track record is the continuous, growing success, or lack thereof, someone has achieved over time. A track record of success can be built in 5 or 50 years – total time doesn’t matter. Let’s discuss a real estate agent who has been in real estate for 1 year. Clearly, their track record of success in real estate is short. What if I told you that this same person was the valedictorian of their high school class, played professional sports, ranked in the top of their classes for undergraduate and graduate educations, achieved massive results in other careers, and now has started their own real estate business. With the trajectory of this person’s past in your mind, how likely is it that they are going to do a tremendous job for you in your real estate transaction? This individual will be successful no matter what they choose to do. They have proven that over time. Know your agent’s past by asking a lot of questions about it. It will give you the ability to predict the future.

Picking a real estate agent shouldn’t be any different than choosing any other teammate, partner, or service provider. We must ask ourselves, with whom do I work best? Who are the types of people that make the best teammates? What does success look like to me? The characteristics of Likeability, Trustworthiness, Professionalism, Accountability, and Success will always be present in the answers. Be choosy about whom you team up with for the largest transaction you will make in your life.