What real estate agent skills and qualities do home buyers and sellers consider important
From the National Association of Realtors (NAR) profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2010, somewhat surprising results of what real estate agent skills and qualities are considered important.
h/t to Rob Hahn from 7DS Associates who brought the survey to my attention while writing about the controversial subject of agent rankings.
Rob makes an interesting comment about the survey,
“There are some odd things about this survey and its results. Eight of the nine skills/qualities listed are rated as “Very Important” by over 79% of respondents. Practically speaking, that means every skill/quality is rated as being extremely important. Yet given that 79% of REALTORS cannot be said to have all eight skills at a high level, one wonders how some of these consumers managed to find a REALTOR to work with at all.” (my emphasis added)
Now here is what I find to be most interesting. Other than technology which was basically dismissed, knowledge of the local area was tied for last as the least important skill or quality. And while I personally think that I would rank highly in all 9 categories (please note that I said I think and I certainly hope that my clients would agree), I don't know why anyone considering buying or selling a home in Charleston would not care as much if their agent didn't have local knowledge of the area that they are considering.
Basically, I've learned over the years that it's better to turn down opportunities to work with clients when they have an interest in an area that I don't consider to have any knowledge or expertise in. So when someone wants to look for homes in rural areas for example that might be over 30 miles from Charleston, I think it's better to recommend that they find an agent who lives and works in that area.
Now how would I rank the order of these skills and qualities if I was a buyer or seller:
Honesty and integrity (automatic)
Responsiveness (very underrated)
Knowledge of real estate market
Knowledge of local area
Knowledge of purchase process
Negotiation skills
Communication skills
People skills
Technology skills
And I'd love to find a real estate agent with all 9 skills and qualities if I was looking to buy or sell, wouldn't you.