What are the qualifications of top real estate agents? How do you find and interview top real estate agents? In this article you’ll discover the answer to these questions, but you’ll also discover something that is below the radar for most people. Most people who search for top real estate agents to list their home or to represent them as an exclusive buyer’s agent, are not asking the right questions in the beginning, and if they are, most do not know how to interpret the answers they get.
The Search for Top Real Estate Agents
Let me unpack this idea before I share the secrets to finding and hiring one outstanding agent among the “top real estate agents” in your area. This is something I know very well, because I’ve been marinating in the real estate industry for four decades, first as a Realtor in Fairbanks, Alaska in the mid-70’s, then as a real estate lawyer, and again as the owner/broker of a real estate brokerage in Washington State. Along the way, I became an expert in real estate marketing technologies and the use of the Internet to reach qualified buyers. I’ve watched how SEO (search engine optimization) gimmicks and sales techniques have evolved, especially with respect to maximizing profits for the so-called top real estate agents.
What the public (i.e. you) doesn’t know . . . can certainly hurt you. Believe me, I made good money as a lawyer representing buyers and sellers who got hurt badly in a real estate transaction. The cost to you in not knowing the sales gimmicks and not know how a Realtor gets into that group known as “top real estate agents” comes in two very painful lessons–lost money and dangerous levels of stress. If you’re retired, you cannot afford to lose a lot of money, especially if you’re not a millionaire, assuming you’re on a limited pension and you’ve planned your retirement budget without suffering any devastating loses, right? And if you are in your 50’s or 60’s, you know that excessive stress over a long period of time can be the cause of serious physical health problems and lead to many bad things. So you’ve got to get this plan to hire a great real estate agent right without getting caught by the many traps for the unwary.
What I’m doing in this article, apart from helping you actually know for sure how to research and find a top real estate agent is to also know the critical steps or process that will get you to your goal. People often start running down the path to their goal, but if they aren’t asking the right questions, they won’t find the right answers. You wouldn’t jump in your car with your spouse and say, “Okay honey, let’s take a trip,” if you have no map and don’t know the way to your destination.
Questions About Top Real Estate Agents
The first question that you should be asking in the beginning of searching for “top real estate agents” in your designated area is, “What defines a top real estate agent?,” or “How are top real estate agents showing up in a Google search?” How you would personally define a top agent is quite different than Google’s search engine defines them.
Notice how the right question can lead you down a better path than the wrong question, or a question that assumes something not in evidence. In other words, if you started with a Google search for “top real estate agents in Sequim WA” you would get pages of results, with many sponsored results (often hard to tell if they are paid ads), and of course you would see several local Google businesses showing up blatantly in the listings. There are both paid ads for Google businesses, and their are Google businesses showing up at the top of the list as a result of other techniques, including paying for services that propagate a business in hundreds of places on the Internet, which increases the Google rankings. A lot more could be said about marketing, but I want to stay on point. If you are interested in learning more about the gimmicks top real estate agents use to win you over without actually being a great Realtor, you may want to read my books, The 7 Myths of Selling Your Home and Real Estate Brokerage from Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuosity.
Very briefly without going into all the technical explanations, let’s address this key question you should be asking, because you need to know the answer so you don’t get hurt. The question buyers and sellers are not asking is this, “How do Realtors get listed or show up in a Google search as top real estate agents?”
Why is this question so important for your financial and mental health? Because far too many consumers who are either listing to sell or buying a home, assume that the search results in Google, or any search engine, will give you the honest-to-God list of “top real estate agents.” They think the results are reliable in helping you find and retain a really good Realtor. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!
Top Real Estate Agents on The Internet
Wait, let’s understand why nothing could be further from the truth. Gimmicks are the name of the game on the Internet to get high ranking. A Realtor could pay to be at the top of the search engine results with a dozen different methods, but that same Realtor could be an unethical and unprofessional boob. To exaggerate to make my point, he could be an axe-murderer, but still show up in top Google rankings. You get my point, right?
Of course, there are other so-called “legitimate” sites like Yelp and Home.com and Realtor.com and Zillow, and so on, and you may see an article they have showing up for a search for “top real estate agents,” but once again, a Realtor can pay Yelp or Zillow or any of these sites to get a high rating on their site. This is a bright red flag doing a search and assuming the results will include nothing but good Realtors.
Don’t Miss This Point: After reading this article, you might think I’m being critical of agents who have high search engine rankings, but that’s not the case at all. I have very high ranking myself with 100’s of search terms and videos. I’m critical of gimmicks that deceive consumers, and as you’ll see I demonstrate that just because an agent shows up in top ranked sites or links, that doesn’t prove they are good or great or that they meet the minimum qualifications to be your agent. The best agent you could hire will very likely be there somewhere in the rankings as you search various terms, but you need to know how to filter and investigate further. That’s what this article will help you do.
These listings do not in any way give you evidence the Realtor whose photo your looking at has a depth of real estate knowledge, years of solid experience, discernment and wisdom, excellent negotiation skills, is a good drafter of documents, knows how to do the critical due diligence you’ll need done, AND is also someone who is honest and has integrity and will be fiercely loyal to you putting your best interests above his own commission. You can see there’s a huge disconnect between these qualities, which you would almost certainly expect from your agent, and how agents show up in top Google search results.
You probably recognize that what I’m sharing here is relevant not just to a search of top real estate agents, but to every industry. Remember, the answers you get in life are only as good as the questions you ask, so what then is the question you should be asking yourself if you are truly wanting to retain the best real estate agent you can find in your market?
Here are the kinds of questions you should ask when it comes to finding and retaining an outstanding real estate agent. (Assume every time I refer to the male gender I am referring to the female gender too.)
Research on Top Real Estate Agents
First, read quickly through the questions and don’t focus on the blue letter answers yet. Then come back and read the blue lettered answers.
- Does he (or she) have a depth of real estate knowledge so that they can know exactly how to do their job for you effectively and so they will know the answers to your questions along the way and deal with any contingency? Answer: You won’t find the answer to this question by how high an agent ranks. It’s important for you to acknowledge to yourself that high ranking or their advertising position has nothing to do with establishing whether they have real estate knowledge, years of solid experience, discernment and wisdom, excellent negotiation skills, is a good drafter of documents, knows how to do the critical due diligence you’ll need done, and is someone who is honest and has integrity and will be fiercely loyal to you putting your best interests above his own commission. Where do you find the real answer to this first question? By reading what they’ve written and watching their videos. If they have no written material that they have personally authored, and they have no videos, they have not demonstrated to you they have any real estate knowledge. Note of caution: Beware of Realtors who are posting blog articles that are created with AI (artificial intelligence) or a posting service, because that is a way to make you think they have knowledge they don’t actually have. Most of the time you can tell if the article was created by the Realtor in that local market, and the articles can be too generic, but some AI is getting so good, it can actually appear to have been written by that person. This is just one of the items on this checklist, but it’s your job to have discernment through all of these checklist items.
- Does he have maturity, discernment, and wisdom in representing you? Answer: This is also not going to be answered by any of the optimized articles on the Internet, but you should consider maturity and discernment and wisdom as important characteristics of someone representing you when it comes to a large sum of your money. There’s no formula to answer this one, but after reading their articles, books, and watching their videos, you will get a pretty good idea whether they possess these qualities.
- Is he articulate with both the written word and spoken word? Answer: This will be clearly answered in how he talks with you and how he texts with you and from the emails he sends you and from his written articles. Again, this is not something search engine ranking answers, nor will you see this issue answered quickly in the links you’ll find in Google. You have to dig deeper.
- Is he a top negotiator? Answer: This is also not answered on the Internet by ads or ranking. He should have plenty of material on the Internet for you to view that gives you the confidence that he is an excellent negotiator, and you can ask him questions on the phone when you interview him to further validate this. This sounds like an obvious step everyone would take, but the NAR tells us from a national survey that 85% of consumers hire the first Realtor they talk to, and that appears to be without any research and without any kind of serious interview.
- Does he know how to draft unambiguous language in legal contracts? Answer: The answer is the same as the last answer, but I segregate this question because of its importance. The vast majority of Realtors, like 90% of all Realtors in the U.S. are terrible at drafting language in an addendum or clarifying something via email or in an SMS. As a lawyer, I know that the reason so many people end up in disputes and costly litigation is because of ambiguous language in their contract. Realtors are not trained in drafting unambiguous terms, and most do not possess English writing skills or effective communication skills. I battle this all the time as I deal with listing agents on behalf of my buyers.
- Does he know how to do all the due diligence you will need to save you from disaster? Answer: Few Realtors know the legal ins and outs of due diligence. Practicing preventive law is far better than trying to get out of a problem when you’re in the middle of a dispute. But this also is about protecting you and making sure you get all the research and due diligence done on the home you’re buying so you don’t end up with a nightmare after you close and move into the home. There is a long list of traps for the unwary, and if your Realtor doesn’t know them all and how to keep you from getting ensnared in them, you’re not going to be well represented. You won’t find simple answers to this question on Google either. You’ll have to dig, but a good agent should provide plenty of good material already on the Internet for you to review.
- Does he have a good track record with clients? Answer: Good reviews are an indication he has a good track record, but you should be aware that just because someone has 124 positive reviews doesn’t mean they automatically check off all the other items in this checklist. A high volume Realtor will try to get reviews from every client who likes him, but not bother to get reviews from those clients who now hate his guts. Beware that sales gimmicks are full of deception in order to trick you into hiring them. I’ll mention one of the gimmicks that is quite disgusting and tricks many clients into hiring them. Years ago an agent who had 22 other agents working under his name would run Seattle ads that said, “I sold 500 houses in the past 12 months. List with me, and I’ll get your house sold in 30 days,” or words to that effect. Well he didn’t sell 500 houses himself as he led everyone to believe. The 22 agents back in the office did all the cold calls and all the meetings and all the paperwork. But people listed with him in large numbers because they thought he was some kind of superman Realtor. He wasn’t. He was just a liar who became wealthy. The other point you should take to the bank here is that large volume is not proof a Realtor is a top real estate agent. It’s surprising how many people think it does. Volume has no bearing on the qualities or character of a good real estate agent. In fact, many, like myself, limit the number of buyer clients I take on at any one point in order to make sure I can do an excellent job for each client. I turn away clients periodically for that reason. You want an agent whose God is not money.
- Does he have a reasonable marketing system so clients like you can find him? Answer: Listing agents rarely have good marketing systems directed to buyers. They simply list and hope you call them from a search on Zillow. If you are looking for a good listing agent, I strongly urge you to read my book titled The 7 Myths of Selling Your Home. I give you more top secret insider tips in that book than you will find anywhere else. If you’re looking for a buyer’s agent, you have to be able to find a good one, but as you know by now, that doesn’t mean he is using the gimmicks others in the business use just to capture your business. He probably doesn’t label himself as a top real estate agent. But he does need to have articles and videos at a minimum that are optimized so you can find him. He will need good content-rich original resources on the Internet, like a good website, a good active real estate blog with excellent original articles answering questions clients like you would have, and good videos that provide real information and are optimized so you find them, too. There are a number of ways he can be found, and those are largely dependent on how you are searching. The best real estate agents often are not showing up at the top of the search engine rankings, because that’s not their goal. I knew 15 years ago that I had to win the SEO game in order for my out of state clients to find me, so I built the largest Internet presence in my market, and it’s been great, but I did it by creating content-rich articles and videos specifically created for buyers. No one else in my market has done this, but you should know that about 98% of all Realtors are listing agents, not buyer’s agents.
- Does he offer original content-rich articles and videos for clients like you? Answer It’s amazing how many listing agents have no marketing system at all for buyers. For most, their marketing system consists of putting a listing into the MLS and waiting for buyers to call them. That’s not much of a marketing system, is it? Yet they convince sellers they have this massive marketing system. I won’t repeat their listing script, but much of this involves more sales gimmicks and dishonesty with their own clients. Why? So they can make lots of money. The real estate industry is fraught with greed my friend. As an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent, I have a large marketing system to buyers, the kind that listing agents should have but do not. My website is beautiful and includes many excellent resources, I have a real estate blog with over 2,000 articles answering all the questions buyers have been asking for two decades, and I have hundreds of videos I produced for buyers. I also wrote and published 9 real estate books for buyers. And I use technology to serve my clients’ best interests and make sure I don’t miss anything. I have more resources on the Internet than any other individual real estate agent that I know of in Washington State or any state. Your agent doesn’t have to have all the resources I have, but if they have little or none, then they have no marketing system to speak of.
- Does his business model focus on your best interests rather than sales volume that makes him the most money? Answer: This is not an easy one to answer, and like many of the key questions that are so important, you won’t find the answers on the Internet. The best way to get a feel for how he does business with someone like you is to interview him and chat on the phone or over coffee and find out what your gut is telling you. Sales volume is most definitely not proof an agent is a good agent.
- Is he a pleasant personality? Do you like him? Answer: I’ve actually heard people say, “Well, he was a jerk from the beginning, but he sold a lot of houses, and so I thought he would be the best Realtor for me. Boy was I wrong.” In my opinion, it is important that you like your agent’s personality and that you get along well. It’s even better if you can say you sense a kindred spirit.
There is a bonus question that I’ll raise for your consideration, but I won’t say much about it. Here’s the issue I leave with you. The last thing you need is a dysfunctional real estate agent, whether he/she is a listing broker or a buyer’s agent. I only mention this because it is my opinion from a lifetime of doing this that the real estate industry has a higher percentage of dysfunctional human beings than many other professions. I could be wrong. Maybe all professions have an equal percentage of dysfunctional human beings, but regardless, you do not want to get stuck working with someone who has serious self-esteem issues that get triggered subconsciously, or any number of mental issues. Narcissism is one of the most common mental issues, and you can’t always tell if someone is narcissistic. They typically know how to hide it. If you want to know how to recognize narcissism, I would recommend one of my books titled Killing Pride and Narcissism Before It Kills All Your Relationships. How you find out if someone has serious subconscious mental issues I leave with you, but talking with them will certainly help. Ask questions, talk, listen. Then discern. I can tell you from personal experience that trying to work with a seriously dysfunctional broker can turn into a nightmare. Enough said about that.
The answers to these questions will give you a much better way to find a someone who is in the real category of top real estate agents. One point that I hope is obvious. Finding real estate agents in the top search engine results tells you they have paid good money to get in that position in order to capture your attention, but it tells you absolutely nothing about their knowledge, experience, and loyalty. That’s the deception on the Internet that promotes the appearance of success with the volume of transactions recorded in Zillow and the number of reviews in Google. Neither of those metrics are probative of the agent’s skills and character mentioned already.
Use the Internet to research top real estate agents, but dig deep to get answers to real questions. Good luck in your pursuits, and if you decide to retire and buy a home in my market, I hope I’ll have the privilege of meeting you and representing you as your Exclusive Buyer’s Agent.
Last Updated on June 17, 2024 by Chuck Marunde
