What Should I Look for When Hiring a Real Estate Agent?

When you're hiring a real estate agent, there are three things that matter more than anything else: do they actually close deals consistently, are they a strong problem solver, and can you have an honest conversation with them? Everything else is secondary.

Are they working or just licensed?

A lot of people have a real estate licence. Not all of them are doing transactions every year. There's a big difference between someone who's active in the market and someone who picks up a deal here and there between other jobs. You want an agent who's in it full time, who knows what's selling, what's sitting, and why.

Experience also shows up in small ways that matter. On the buying side, can this person walk through a home with you and actually explain what they're looking at? Can they point out potential issues, talk about how things work, tell you honestly if something is worth worrying about? That kind of guidance only comes from being in a lot of homes over a lot of years. I've had clients tell me that working with me felt completely different from their previous agent because they actually understood what they were looking at instead of just being shown through rooms.

Can you talk to them?

Real estate is personal. Your agent needs to know your full situation to actually help you. If you can't be open with them, if every conversation feels formal or transactional, they're going to be working with half the picture. That's not good enough when the stakes are this high.

What happens when something goes wrong?

Here's the question most people forget to ask. Not "how will you market my home" but "tell me about a deal that almost fell apart. What happened and how did you fix it?"

The answer tells you everything.

I'll give you an example from my own experience. I had buyers purchasing a home where the seller had open work orders we couldn't close on. The other side started sending us invoices from out-of-town companies and pushing for a low abatement so we could just close and move on. I didn't accept that. I got local contractors to come quote all the required work on a short timeline so our lawyer had real numbers to negotiate with. We got a proper abatement that actually covered what needed to be done. My clients got into that home with the problem properly resolved.

That's what problem solving looks like. Ask for a story like that. If an agent can't give you one, that's an answer too.

The commission trap

When a seller hires based on commission rate, corners usually get cut somewhere. Sometimes it's a friend doing them a favour and real estate isn't even their main job. I took on a listing that had sat on the market with a discounted agent and never sold. The sellers were referred to me, we repositioned the property, staged it properly since it was vacant, and had an offer within two weeks. The "savings" on commission cost them months on the market.

Cheap and good rarely show up together in the same agent.

Hire someone who saves you from yourself

Part of what you're hiring a realtor to do is protect you from your own blind spots. Whether that's talking you down from an unrealistic asking price or steering you away from a home that looks good but has serious repair issues underneath, a good agent tells you what you need to hear. Not what you want to hear.

That's especially true in a market like Peterborough and the Kawarthas. You need someone who actually knows these neighbourhoods. Not an agent from out of town who assumes every part of the city is the same. School districts, resale trends, which streets hold their value and which ones don't. That knowledge only comes from being here and being active.

If you want to have a straight conversation about what to look for and whether I might be the right fit for what you're trying to do, reach out at [email protected]. No pitch, no pressure. Just an honest conversation.