Easy to Pick?

By Jim Palmer Jr.

Some years ago, I created a personal marketing ad that shows a young child picking his nose. The caption read, “It’s not as hard as you think to pick a good Realtor®”. I still believe that is true today!

I recently heard a radio ad that advertised an “easy way to find a good real estate agent”. They claim to have a data base that will immediately show you the “best” agents in your area. They allege to have done all the hard work for you, but it is unclear exactly how they come to their conclusions. Another radio advertiser confidently states that they personally sell more real estate than anyone in the whole area and if they don’t sell it, they will personally buy it. The problem with the first claim is that they are not connected with the data base that really has that information (the MLS), so their analysis of agents seems superficial. They make hasty judgments about brokers just to generate income. While it is free to the consumer, they require the buyer broker to pay a referral fee for that lead. In the second claim, the actual broker (whose name is in the ad) has about 50 agents working on their “team” and you will never talk to or work with that experienced broker who takes all the credit.

Homelight.com’s founder Drew Uher, says about his first buying experience, “There was no easy way to research an agent’s performance, online review sites were unreliable, and after working with several agents it was clear that none of them were created equal”. While I agree that no real estate agents are created equal, I disagree with his other assertions. It isn’t as hard as you think to pick a good Realtor®!

Any person with an average skill in social media or internet technology can quickly ascertain which real estate companies and brokers are doing the business in an area. A few phone calls or personal inquiries can help a newcomer get a quick read on who is doing the business well or in other words, at a high level of professionalism and service.

I recently sent a referral to a Florida broker. I had chosen a handful of possible brokers from a 20 minute internet search in the area surrounding the property and after asking the candidates a series of quick questions, it was very obvious who had the expertise to handle my referral. It’s not that hard to choose well!