Brief recap:  I started by suggesting you should first know the level of experience of the prospective agent.  Then we considered the matter of solo agent vs a team.  Now we’ll consider the issue of quality.

In just about any field you will have a spectrum of quality, from low to high, with many shades of variation along the way.   My my, is this ever true in real estate!  And, the consequences of a mis-handled transaction can be huge, so your judgments about the agent’s quality are important.

With just a little bit of effort you should be able to get a reasonable sense of whether your approach to quality is matched by the agent’s approach.  But where do you look?

If you don’t want to have personal contact with anyone before you have a better sense of what they are all about – a common preference especially among Internet empowered consumers – start with a careful look at their website.   The website is one of the primary technology tools in the agent’s tool kit.  What does it reveal about their approach to working with tech savvy consumers?  Moreover, what does it say, if anything, about their business philosophy and approach to working with clients?   Does it inspire confidence, or is it just OK?

In the same context, does the agent have a blog?  The answer to that question tells you something about their technology approach.  If they do have a blog, you may find lots of revealing information within the content that will tell you about who this person is and what they are about.  Take just a little time to review the blog content.  If it is maintained with current content, it may tell you a lot about the agent and their quality sensibility.

If you have progressed to the step of having a conversation with the agent you can, of course, ask a few questions that are important to you about what you want to know.  My questions would include both of the first two “sign posts” we previously discussed (experience and team) as well as those we have yet to discuss in this series.   Regarding quality, I would simply ask an opened-ended question that lets the agent discuss how they work to ensure a quality experience for their clients.  Something like, “Can you tell me about the approach you take and the things you do to make sure we get a good result?..tell me how you work with your clients?”

Listen carefully to their answer.  And factor this into the other sign posts.  Be honest with yourself about your assessment.  You may like the agent’s personality – and this is important, you need some chemistry – but I want to emphasize that you should not make this decision on personality alone.

A great agent will welcome your level of interest, and will want to share all the many things they do behind the scenes that many consumers don’t know about.

If you’d like to see this series in video, visit our VIDEO CENTER and scroll down to “The Right Real Estate Agent for You.”

Feel free to  Contact Us with comments or questions.  And…if you want to get each new post on “The Straight Scoop” delivered to your email address, please use the “SUBSCRIBE” box in the upper left side of this blog.

Next time around we’ll cover the fourth big sign post on your road to making a great agent selection.

With just a little effort you can go into your choice of agent with confidence.  It is one of the biggest transactions of your financial life, so do give it the “due diligence” it deserves.  You will be rewarded for your efforts.

The second sign post I’d suggest you consider is whether your agent is a “one man band” or a team.  The issue here is the level of service and the quality of support you will be getting during the transaction.  There are great agents who choose to do everything as solo performers.  On the other hand, there are agents whose client service systems are not what they could or should be because they do too much on their own.

Remember, you can find an agent you may like that works on their own, and you may find an agent that you don’t like that has team support.  Of and by itself, this “sign post” is not a stand alone deal breaker.  But it is one part of the total package you should consider.

Would you hire an accountant, attorney, or physician who did all of their own administrative and other support work?  Would you feel comfortable knowing that a third or half of their time was not in the direct practice of their discipline, and therefore not contributing to their knowledge and skill as a practitioner?

On the other hand, would you be more comfortable knowing that there was more than one person attending to the myriad of details that are contained within every real estate transaction?   Would you feel more confident that the details of your purchase or sale would be better managed with the support of a team, rather than a single person?

In the earlier part of my career I worked pretty much on my own.  I know that since I have had several people to support me and my clients, as members of my team, I am better able to focus on the most important aspects of serving my clients.  It takes more work and effort to perform as a team, but I believe a well-integrated team is better positioned to provide exceptional service and support.

So…how can you discover how any agent you are considering deals with this issue?  From a distance, you can look at their web site and try to see if they promote a team approach.   Some agents do use Virtual Assistants, and this is one form of team support in which the Assistant is paid by the agent to help in the processing of each case.  This would not necessarily be evident from the agent’s website.  You can also simply ask the agent via email or through a phone contact about this issue.

If you’d like to see this series in video, visit our VIDEO CENTER and scroll down to “The Right Real Estate Agent for You.”

Feel free to  Contact Us with comments or questions.  And…if you want to get each new post on “The Straight Scoop” delivered to your email address, please use the “SUBSCRIBE” box in the upper area of this blog.

Next time around we’ll cover the third big sign post on your road to making a great agent selection.

[This post by Kathy O'Neal.  You can contact her at kathy@kathyoneal.com]]