My father, who was a successful agent for more than 30 years, used to say, “When I first got my license, I thought I was ready to sell real estate. It wasn’t until 10 years later that I finally learned how to really be an agent.” To understand what he meant, it’s important to realize just what’s involved in being a real estate agent. Once you see the selling of property from the agent’s perspective, you may get a whole new view of how to pick the right one.

What’s Involved in Being a Good Real Estate Agent? According to the Hollywood stereotype, the typical real estate agent drives a big Mercedes or at worst a Caddy, Lexus, or BMW. He or she (most agents are women) meets clients over cocktails, attends flashy parties with lenders, and makes oodles of money (often into seven figures, but certainly into six figures).

Recognizing a Good Agent   He or she always has enough time for you.   The agent is assertive enough to help you make decisions, but not so aggressive as to try to make decisions for you.   The agent knows the area “like the back of his or her hand” and specializes just in home sales.   The agent is experienced and “up to speed” (at least five years actively in the business).   The agent can provide referrals of recent satisfied home buyers. The truth is somewhat less exciting. According to several surveys, the average agent in 2000 made under $50,000 a year. In addition, out of that $50,000 the agent paid fora business automobile, gas and maintenance for that car, phone, dress clothes for work, and other expenses involved in operating a business. In other words, after expenses, the average real estate agent was not a high roller, but pretty middle to low-end in terms of income from real estate! “How can that be?” I’m sure you’re asking. The agents you’ve met always seemed so successful. The truth? Often it’s mostly a front. A lot of agents simply work hard at looking good.

You also have to understand that real estate is actually a second or part-time career for many individuals. It attracts an enormous number of people who are looking for less than full-time work. Typically these are people who have retired from another profession (teaching, the military, government, or large corporations) and are now on a pension and looking to pick up a few extra bucks. Often these people have dabbled a little in real estate and are in an office as much to look for bargains for themselves as to service you or other clients. In the trade these people are called “inactive” agents. The real trouble with inactive agents who have another steady source of income is that they aren’t “hungry” enough to get out there, find the really good houses, and negotiate the toughest deals. (After all, whether they make a sale or not they know they’ll survive because of their pension.) How many “inactive” agents are out there? Alot. The easiest way to tell is to remember the 80/20 rule-of-thumb. Every active real estate broker (and I was one for many years) knows that 20 percent of the agents sell 80 percent of the property. The corollary is that 80 percent of the agents are only selling 20 percent of the property. That big 80 percent includes many of the “inactive” group.

You Want the Hot 20 Percent Let’s talk about that 20 percent that’s making the vast majority of deals. These are the “active” agents. Typically they are aggressive, often relatively young individuals who have no means of support other than real estate. To put it bluntly, if they don’t make deals, they don’t eat.

Three Most Important Questions to

Ask Your Agent 1. How long have you been full-time? (Avoid part-time agents or those with less than five years of active experience.) 2. What neighborhoods (or area) do you “farm?” (“Farming” is where agents go door-to-door soliciting listings they intimately learn the neighborhood, learn when properties are coming up for sale, and can tell you off the top of their head what’s available right now.)

3. How much time and effort will you commit to me? (You want someone who will be ready to go whenever you are, phones you regularly with updates, and continually previews properties for you.) If you were to isolate this group of individuals, you would find that they typically make over $100,000 a year and probably half make substantially more. They are out there beating the bushes from dawn til dusk. They look at every new house that comes on the market in their area. They are constantly “farming” (talking with potential sellers) to get listings. When they get an offer, they go in there and negotiate all night if necessary to get the seller to either accept or compromise. Is this the agent you want working for you? You bet it is!

How Do I Separate the Active from the Inactive Agents? You want an active agent. How do you get one? First off, remember that active agents are active.

Identifying the Active Agent   Has a number of properties listed   Always working tirelessly, including evenings and weekends   Extremely familiar with the market in your area   Ready and able to refer you to numerous buyers from sales they’ve made in the past few months   Busy with real estate (but not too busy to show you houses)

TIP GET A RESPONSIBLE RECOMMENDATION Arecommendation from a friend is a good method of finding the active agent. If your friend has had a positive experience with an agent, it’s a good sign. But remember; it’s not a guarantee. Your friend might have just been lucky and fallen into the perfect house. The agent’s efforts could have been incidental. Even with a recommendation, you need to be sure you’ve got an active agent.

Are There Active versus

Inactive Offices? Just as there are two types of agents, there are also two types of offices: the active office where sales are constantly happening, and the inactive office where the agents sit around and commiserate with one another about the slow (to them) real estate market. There are a few good ways to tell the two types of offices apart:

How to Identify Active from Inactive

Offices   An active office almost advertises heavily. Check the ads in your local paper.   An active office usually has quite a few agents and they always seem to be scurrying around, not sitting at their desks drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.   An active office usually has promotions going on to induce greater activity from agents. Walking in, you will often see “salesperson of the month” and “lister of the month” awards TVs or trips to Hawaii for the best producers of the season, and so on.   Other agents will know of the active offices and often will speak of them grudgingly as people who are always getting the deals done.   This is just a personal observation, but I have found that active offices usually have a secretarial staff. The agents are out there selling; the staff handles the paperwork. In an inactive office (without many sales or much revenue), it seems the agents are stuck with all the secretarial duties. Just keep in mind that the 80/20 rule still applies even in an active office. It’s just that in an inactive office, the hot 20 percent aren’t there.

How Do I Find an Active Agent in an Active Office?

If you walk in off the street and into an active real estate office (see above), chances are actually against your getting an active agent.

The reason is that all agents pull “floor time.” This is time they are expected to sit in the office and pick up potential clients who come in across the transom. You walk in and you get the current floor agent or, if there’s a receptionist, the next agent who is “up.” You’ll immediately know this person. How? While other people in the office smile at you, this agent will quickly come up, introduce herself or himself, and ask how they can be helpful. Since almost all agents, active or inactive, are people oriented, they almost certainly will be polite, charming, and apparently helpful. But if they are inactive agents, they could be wasting your time.

When you walk into a real estate office cold, don’t accept the first agent who comes to see you. Rather, say that you are waiting to see someone, an agent, but you can’t remember the name. Now, while the receptionist or the floor agent begins listing the names of the agents in the company, look around the walls of the reception area. As noted, a great many active companies will have “agent of the month” awards hanging there. Very frequently, the award for the past 10 or 12 months will have gone repeatedly to one agent. Just point to the plaque and say, “That’s her.” Or “That’s him.” You’ll be quickly introduced to the most active agent in the office. If there are no awards to tip you off, then ask to see the broker. It’s important to understand that all real estate offices are organized around one person, the broker. Everyone else is an associate agent. (Even other brokers may have their licenses subordinated to the main broker.) In a small office, the broker acts as a salesperson. In a larger office, however, the broker typically sits somewhere in a back office and handles closings and other difficult work. In a very large office, the broker frequently may be out making big deals while subordinate brokers handle the day-to-day work.

When you request the broker by name, you are usually asked in response, “Will your name be recognized by our broker?” In other words, do you have an appointment? Just reply, “My business concerns one of your agents. I want to speak only to the broker.” Just the hint that there could be some problem will get you an audience. Real estate companies dread complaints or angry clients. Most will bend over backward to avoid any kind of dissatisfaction. When you are ushered in to see the broker (or the person who is in charge at the moment in the case of a very large office), carefully explain that you have not yet talked to any agent in the office (thereby avoiding the problem of having one agent or another “claim” you as a client). Tell the broker you are going to be buying a house in the very near future and you want to deal with the most active agent in the office in terms of sales. No one else will do. The broker may chuckle inwardly at your boldness, but in most cases will tell you who that agent is, and you’re on your way. (If the broker refuses, leave. There are almost as many real estate companies to choose from as there are houses for sale!)

Don’t be misled into picking your agent on the basis of the real estate company’s name recognition. Over the past few decades, franchising has proliferated the real estate market. But a real estate franchise is no better or worse than a fast-food franchise such as McDonald’s or Burger King. All that you are assured of in a fastfood franchise is that you will get no less than a certain quality standard of hamburger and service. The same holds true for real estate franchises. In most cases, each real estate office, regardless of the franchise name, is individually owned and operated. What you’re dealing with is the local broker and agents who have adopted the sign, the coat, and the procedures of a franchising company. However, you still go out with your individual agent to see properties, and it’s your agent with whom you’ll consult when making an offer.

The franchise office may be no better nor worse than a nonfranchised office in providing you with good, active agents it does, however, have name recognition, policies and procedures, more advertising clout, and sometimes nicer jackets. When comparing top agents, I don’t feel there’s a significant difference. (Some franchises offer their own financing and escrows, which can be a convenience. But in my opinion, it’s always better to get your own financing and use an independent escrow.) On the other hand, if something should go wrong, sometimes it’s easier (sometimes harder!) to deal with a franchise company. At least here you know there’s a big corporate entity that is concerned with keeping its good name and its customers happy. And it probably has deep pockets. It’s important to remember that real estate, almost more than any other business, is highly personalized. The deal you get will depend mostly on the one person with whom you deal. You can get a great active agent with a nonfranchised company just as well as with a franchised one.