The biggest mistake buyers and sellers make when hiring a Realtor is that they do not do their homework before hiring a real estate agent. They end up with a house that sits on the market longer, sells for a lower price, and the time spent dealing with that agent is a nightmare. AgentHarvest helps minimize the chance of these things happening by finding agents in your area that are currently selling houses like yours, in your neighborhood, for you to interview. We don’t make you sign contracts and you are not obligated to use any of the agents we connect you with. So basically AgentHarvest is a free service requiring no obligations on your part.
Here’s what our customers have to say about our agent finder services.
Actual Customer Testimonials:
“AgentHarvest found three great seller’s agents to choose from. And when one of them suggested a radically different selling strategy than the others, Bill Petrey took the time to answer my questions and help me understand the lay of the land. The agent I ultimately chose was fantastic, and in fact I used him again later to help me sell my second house.”
– Tim Klein, Richardson, Texas“I’ll recommend your service to anyone I know who wants to use a licensed Realtor.”
– Gillian Wu, Dallas, Texas“Thank you AgentHarvest for taking the guesswork out of choosing a real estate agent.”
– Sarah S., Plano, Texas“I want everyone to know about AgentHarvest.com. They saved me time, money, and stress! AgentHarvest really came to the rescue. It’s the best way to find an expert in residential real estate.”
– Sandra Tames, McKinney, Texas“[AgentHarvest’s] services were timely, professional and, in working with [Bill Petrey], we found a person who was kind, understanding and compassionate during a time of tremendous stress and difficulty for us.”
– Robert W., Dallas, Texas
When AgentHarvest finds real estate agents for our clients, we look at key pieces of information the real estate industry doesn’t allow the public to see, that reveals the capabilities or limitations of every real estate agent we evaluate. We use this information to eliminate unsuccessful agents allowing you to only focus on successful real estate agents.
We typically look at the following key factors when selecting real estate agents for you.
Must Rank In The Top 10 For Sales In The Target Area
When I say “sell houses,” I don’t mean just putting a FOR SALE sign in someone’s yard, I mean they actually SOLD houses. Not only sold house, but last year they must have sold enough houses to be ranked as one of the Top 10 in that area. Big cities such as Dallas have several pocket communities in the city that attract specific types of buyers and offer specific amenities. By breaking down our target areas into smaller more specialized areas, Realtors making our ranking excelled in that area and know that area’s buyer demographics and how to attract those buyers to your property. Also agents that service a particular neighborhood can price your home to sell better than an agent that doesn’t know your area. You need an agent that knows the market your house is competing in and have an impressive track record of doing it.
Must Observe The Client’s Bill Of Rights
The Client’s Bill of Rights are the minimum standards you should demand from your agent. In my opinion, this is the least they can do to provide good service. An article about that document can be found in The AgentHarvest Blog.
Will Be Evaluated By AgentHarvest
We follow up with our clients to see how each agent performed. That information is valuable in helping us evaluate our agents performance and levels of service. If their customer service levels slip, they’re removed from the program.
Must Provide All Of Their Contact Information
When you get the names of the agents of The AgentHarvest Elite, you get their office phone number, cell phone number and their e-mail address. To help you research them further, we also include each agents’ website address too.
Picking The Right Real Estate Agents For You
Evaluating agents can be a daunting and intimidating task but with our help it doesn’t have to be. We help you separate the best agents from the rest. Our services are fast, free and there’s no obligation to use any agent we provide so what do you have to lose?
If you’re wanting to meet real estate agents that have proven that they can sell houses like yours, near yours then you’ll want to take advantage of our free agent finder service.
If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.
Cannot agree with this more. We used THE WRONG agent who knew nothing about the areas we really wanted to look and then when we asked to be let out of our contract to work with her, she and her company agreed and then sued us later for working with another agent.
Molly:
I’m glad you agree. There are a lot of agents out there that aren’t worth the price of a postage stamp, much less the price of the commissions they charge. Unfortunately, some of those agents use intimidation tactics like you mentioned to force you to continue using their “services” after you discover that they are not doing their job. That’s why it’s so important to do your homework when selecting an agent because you do form a legally binding relationship with that agent to sell your house. I encourage everyone to utilize our free services, seek advice from professionals, and the most important thing I can recommend is to INTERVIEW MULTIPLE AGENTS. Don’t just sign up with the first agent that shows up at your door. By comparison shopping for agents, you can spot which agents will do the best job selling your house.
While lawsuits are rare, they do happen and I’m sorry it happened in your case. I hope everything worked out in the end and the matter could be settled. I understand you’re from the Boston, Mass. area. Even thought we don’t service that area, I’d be happy to talk with you about your situation and see if I could offer any advice. Since we are not licensed in Massachusetts, I could only offer non-state specific advice.
Thanks for your comments and best of luck.
Bill Petrey
AgentHarvest
I agree with you that Big cities such as Dallas have several pocket communities in the city that attract specific types of buyers and offer specific amenities
Hey Bill, just stopping by to test out your comment plugins for your blog. Very nice blog here and I believe that is the same plugin I currently use on my Team Aguilar blog.
It is the reason why there are certain things you need to be hands-on about as a real estate owner and not leaving every thing to a real estate agent. If you’re a hands-on owner, you’ll definitely know what will be the problem you might encounter and how will you able to look for a solution, of course, you’re in alliance with an agent.
You’re so right, you can’t leave it all to the agent. You also have to be diligent in selecting that agent in the first place. That’s why AgentHarvest offers articles to help empower the consumer to make a more informed agent hire. When you hire an agent, you are creating a partnership, or alliance with that agent. While they are responsible for bringing buyers and negotiating the sale, the homeowner is responsible for making the house look attractive and show ready, and to make it easy for the agent to show the house. Without the seller’s participation, the listing is doomed to fail. No agent can sell a house for any price if the homeowner isn’t participating in the process. I’ve seen it happen many times, especially with showing times and show-ready cleanliness. If a buyer can’t see the house, they won’t buy it and sadly will move on to the next house.
Couldn’t agree more. Picking the right realtor is the key to getting top dollar for your home and not being suprised with unexpected delays.
I agree with Fred Romano, careful so it will not come to a bad experience..
To add to Melody’s and Fred’s comments:
Not only are those items important but you REALLY want to make sure you are dealing with a local agent that can put your listing in YOUR town’s MLS. There are a lot of flat-fee scams out there and shoddy flat-fee agents too. I’m working on future articles to expose those points so keep a look out.
i can really use your tips for picking the right agent for selling our old house, i want a good deal for it. Hope it can help me..
Hey Bill,
In your line of work, I’m sure you know the majority of buyers and sellers do not interview potential agents themselves. It seems to me that many people automatically expect they are talking to an experienced professional, or maybe they are just too uncomfortable to ask about the agent’s experience. So, I think there’s a need for what you do.
Have you ever thought about having a loan officer harvest? I think many of the same problems in home buying exist there too. A bad loan officer can really spoil a sale.
Susan:
You’re so right. Most people just hire the first agent they see, or find someone they’re friends with. Bad choices on both accounts. They either don’t know what to ask or are too intimidated to ask. Homeowners can find out from this site what to ask and if they need the courage to ask, they need to remember they’re the boss and the agent is an employee. They are no different than any other professional service: accountant, lawyer, doctor, etc. Their job is to serve the client.
As far as Insurance Harvest? Great idea but I’m not the person to lead it. Not my area of expertise.
Finally…:) a very useful service. Last time I hired an agent he found a house for us but didn’t do anything else. He didn’t negotiate a good price, didn’t manage the inspection and at the end we had to pay him for his service even though he didn’t provide it.
Marty:
Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately this is a common problem we hear all the time. Bad agents need to be managed like employees. You need to set expectations and make sure they meet those expectations. If they don’t, you need to complain up the ladder to their broker and if that doesn’t work, ask the broker to reassign you to another agent or just fire them and find another agent on your own. However, on the next hiring, do a lot more homework before making the final decision. That’s what we’re here for, helping you make the best choice to find an agent that WILL meet your expectations and sell your house.
That’s not just the best answer. It’s the beesstt answer!
This is a great service. Do you know of any services like this in Australia or the UK? It would be great to have someone who provides this service as I have property in both countries that I would like to sell.
Georgie:
Unfortunately no I don’t know if there are services like this in Australia or the UK. While most of the advice in this blog is pretty applicable to all parts of the US, I don’t know how many of the articles relating to law, legality, procedure, etc would apply in the UK or Australia. Best I could recommend is that you just do research. The interviewing techniques I’d consider to be universal. Just make sure at the end of the day that you have evaluated each agent according to the same criteria so comparison will be easier.
Best of luck down under and across the pond.
Bill
Picking up the right agent surely is a difficult task. But with your help I think that, it can speed up the process. I’m going to recommend this site to some of my friend who are in the process of looking for the best agent for there property.
Nelia:
Thanks for the recommendation. Take advantage of the articles found in this blog and remember, you’re the boss hiring them. It’s not the other way around.
Hello Bill
I like to ask what is this free agent finder service. I have a property in Orange County and wanted to sell it. And got lots of call from some agent who wanted to help me with it.
Alex
Alexandria:
Our free service ranks real estate agents in an area based on last year’s sales to determine the top 10 agents serving each area we cover. From that ranking, we choose three agents that we think would do the best job for you and we share that list with our customers. Unfortunately given the data intensive studies involved, our service coverage area is limited and we currently do not cover California. We hope to in a few years, but there are no plans at this time.
I agree. ‘Must Rank In The Top 10 For Sales In The Target Area’ is brilliantly described. Thanks.
This is interesting, do you have agents here in Asia? Thanks.
Gabrielle:
Unfortunately no. Are services are only available for the United States.
I usually look not only if the person or agent is duly licensed by a trusted firm, but I also take into considerations like the experience of the agent, how much have he or she had gone through.
We want to move but we need to find a good real estate agent. I really think who your agent is can make a huge difference. Luckily we don’t have a time frame that we have to move in like last time so we can take more time finding a good agent.
Having the time to determine what you want to buy or rent, and where is a great advantage. Also use the time to get familiar with the agents in your area. We have great agents in your area and I encourage you to contact those agents and let them help you. Best of luck.
I want to get out of my old house. I need to find a good agent to help me sell it. We’re fixing up all the little things right now. I think the next step is getting rid of clutter and finding an agent. Thanks for all the great information!
Tara:
If we can be of any help, don’t hesitate to ask. However it sounds like you’re on the right path.
Bill
I have interviewed and/or tried about about 15 different buyers agents. The agent we are using now is terrible, and we would like to find another agent pronto as there is a house (we found, not the agent) in the works. This terrible agent did write the offer, but working with them has been a stomach-wrenching experience. It is pretty clear they are promoting their bottom line at our expense. We would like another agent to take over the process and complete it. Are there any good buyer’s agents in Santa Barbara, CA?
If you want this house, and had this agent write up the contract for this house, then you’ll probably be paying them a commission if you buy this house regardless of which agent you choose in the future. Even though you say you found the house on your own, having the agent write up the contract involves them with this house and cancels out the fact that you found it without them. You should probably keep this agent for this house, and if the contract isn’t accepted, you can terminate the buyer’s representation agreement and fire the agent. However you’ll owe this agent a commission if you return to one of the houses he/she was associated with, especially this one, and buy it in the future either by yourself or through another agent.
There is no buyer’s representation agreement.
But, if that agent’s name is on the contract, a commission is going to be paid to that agent regardless. If you stop using that agent, then they may or may not try to come after you for the commission. It’s hard to say.
I wasn’t clear on my last post. I meant to say “they may or may not try to come after you for the commission if you buy this house without them.” Obviously, if you stop using them and find another house, that’s different if you’re not under a buyer’s rep agreement with that agent.
Do you recommend any buyer’s agents in Santa Barbara?
Susan:
I’m sorry, we don’t cover Santa Barbara, CA. We haven’t established connections in that area necessary to find the kind of agents we’re looking for yet.
Thank you for all your time with me? What would you require to make those connections?
Susan:
When we go into a new area we gather as much research as we can about the market, map the areas, focus on the hottest areas and see which agents start rising to the top. We then start to create a list of agents based on who’s dominating the sales in that area, then look at testimonials, awards, reviews, etc. It’s a lot of research, and since we do that for every area that we cover, and every agent that we find, the biggest obstacle is time. So I have no idea when we’re going to be in the Santa Barbara area.
Thanks. Sounds like a lot of hard work.
Excellent blog, could not agree with it more! Very useful, helped me a lot. The same applies here for us over in the UK too.
Thank you for the guidance.