People are so quick to jump to the “top agents” in the industry but sometimes those “top producers” are not best for you and your needs. I helped so many clients in the beginning of my career who gave me a chance as a young agent after feeling left behind or not “important enough” to those agents. Unfortunately, I learned in my first couple of years how common this was. So many well known agents become so busy and begin to shift their focus. As their business grows and their reputation improves, they focus more on higher priced deals and less on buyers. Listings are the bread and butter of a real estate agent and million dollar listings are the driving force of any #1 agent.

Buyers and lower income sales are not their primary focus any more so too many agents of higher prestige let their other clients fall by the wayside. They don’t return calls or let their team handle those deals and you end up working with different people throughout the escrow and home search. This inconsistency can be such a problem and a turn off to many clients—especially newer buyers and sellers who aren’t really experienced in buying and selling homes.

It’s absolutely critical in your home search and listing experience that your agent be very communicative, treat you as an important client to them regardless of your budget, and not send you through multiple team members and “buyers agents” to facilitate your deal. You hired that agent so make sure that’s the person handling everything and answering your questions and being the one you can reach out to.

Another thing to keep in mind is how does your agent relate to you and your specific needs? If your agent is older and hasn’t lived in the neighborhood you’re searching or had a child in the local school district in many years, or ever, they don’t have a perspective from their own experience of schools and teachers, sports programs, extracurricular programs, etc.

When I first bought a house, I had all of these problems when finding an agent who’d really take the time to help us. Our budget was small, we couldn’t afford anything most agents wanted to even show because they were fixers, some needed a good professional cleaning and dumpster, and many of them had kids older than me, so no personal experience in the schools, neighborhoods, parks, things to do etc so proximity to those things they didn’t even know much about or care to help us learn those answers. When we’d call, we were often stuck talking to assistants and agents in training who didn’t know a lot about the things we’d been speaking to the agent about, they’d get us confused with another client’s escrow, or days would pass before our emails and phone calls were answered. We learned they had $3 million dollar deals going on and other clients to show that were going to be much more lucrative for them so our appointments were pushed back, rescheduled, handled by someone in their office, or canceled with a text and nothing else said for a day or two.

Don’t go with an agent or team that does this. If that agent acts like they’re too good to be showing low end homes, fixers, or less than sexy homes, find someone else. Top agents aren’t eager but new agents are. They’re still learning but a future good agent will be getting the answers to you and coming back with communication, tons of listings to show you, and be VERY active in emailing and calling you. They’ll be wide open to show houses and put in the work to land the deal they need. Give them a chance. Every top agent was a new agent once and they got to the top by hustling when they were at the bottom.

Look for an agent that isn’t too busy and booked out, answers by end of day, and is willing to provide solid answers and information to what you’re asking and looking for. Even new agents can be busy with showings and offers so it’s not always easy to return every call right away but a good agent, new or experienced, will get back to you as soon as they have a few minutes to sit down and give you all of their attention—that’s important and a huge factor in hiring someone as your agent. Otherwise, you should be moving to someone else. I spent years as an agent before moving to the lending side and this is why I maintain my real estate license. I can either help clients myself or refer them to great agents I know are excellent to work with, in even the toughest escrow situations, and I know when a client is being treated poorly. As lenders and agents, the mark of a good agent is sometimes unseen by the client but never more visible to those involved in the business side of the transaction—and that’s where I know who is good and who will not be a good fit. I know who I would never want my lending clients to work with because I know who gets the job done and who doesn’t in my local market, and others I have worked with. I know the problem solvers and I know the problem causers.

I can refer anywhere in the country at no cost to clients so please reach out if you’re needing an agent who listens to you and understands your situation fully—and cares.

You can call, text, or email me, Jennifer Larson, at (760) 625-6736 or agentofparadise@gmail.com.

I’m based in Southern California and also have a home base in New York, including the WNY areas. Please reach out and share this information with anyone you who can use it. Thanks so much.