If there was a site that rated Realtors..... (days on market, real estate)

[vlh71]

If there was a site that rated Realtors based on actual numbers rather than individual opinions .... would you use it? We are all subject to obtaining credit based on our credit scores. Our credit scores are based on our past credit history. What if Realtors had to answer to the same numbers? What if you could access a site, look up a realtor and see their "rating" based on their avg. days on market, # homes sold, etc. and use that as a guide and determining factor when choosing an agent? What if you could look up a "buyers" agent in a specific zip code and view agents based on their overall rating? Opinions are all relative. When someone has a great experience with an agent, another may have a bad experience with the same agent. What if realtors were held accountable using the actual facts?

Any thoughts?

[Mike From NIU]

VLH71,

Numbers and statistics are also very subjective and misleading. If an agent has very low time-on-market figures, it could be because he/she are very good at marketing and networking, or it could be because they routinely underprice homes. Other agents may have longer times because they focus on helping sell condos, foreclosures, jumbo loan properties, etc that regularly take longer to sell. The sizes and types of homes sold matter.

That's not to say there is not merit in your suggestion. Number of homes sold is relevant, because it speaks to an agent's experience. However, these numbers will almost always skew in favor of long-time veterans, who often get their pick of new unattached clients. An agent with too many homes sold in a period of time may indicate that your house will not get full attention or might really be getting serviced by a junior agent, with the primary credit going to the senior agent.

The reason most people are referred by word-of-mouth is that real estate is inherently a personal relationship business. I would rather pay a little more (or sell for a little less) to work with someone I trust and who I feel listens to me than get the absolute best price working with someone who is cold and disinterested. Strict data won't tell me about an agent's style and personality. Coming up with a FICO-esque rating system for real estate agents might be good in theory but impossible in practice. Would it be nice to have a centralized database with some of the data you suggested? Sure, but I wouldn't want someone to try to extrapolate the worth of a particular agent because of that.

[Margery]

Mike,

Well thought out comment! Volume is not necessarily an indicator of quality of service. As far as experience goes, just because an agent has been in the business for 20 years is no guarantee they are up to date on all the laws and disclosure requirements. The observation about personalities is very true, you have to be compatible. Most of my new clients are referred to me by past clients and they tend to be the engineer/programmer types. Funny thing, my husband is an engineer and my son is a programmer!

[thirty-eight]

Interesting concept, but if I had a means of evaluating a realtor to choose, I would be more concerned about shared values. You have to spend a great deal of time with your realtor and will have many "getting-to-know-each-other" conversations. I think it is helpful if you have some basic views and beliefs in common. Now...how do I search for that in NOVA?

[vlh71]

I love the feedback! While I do agree that ones relationship with the realtor they choose should ultimately be based on factors such as compatibility, trustworthiness, etc. I think that a site like this is a good place to start. If you are moving in from out of the area and do not have the luxury of a referral or you are moving within the area (i.e. moving from MD to VA or from one county to another on the other side of town) and are not familiar with a realtor in that area it could be helpful. Knowing the true number of buyers/sellers a realtor has had in the county/area/neighborhood(s) you are targeting can only be helpful. I agree that DOM could be low due to underpricing, however, it's hard to imagine a realtor ALWAYS lowballing their list prices....realtors always give their professional opinion of what a client should list their house for, but ultimately it is the home owner who decides price. A realtor can say anything they want, no matter how nice they are, to get your business. I think if the numbers are out there and the information is public for all to view, they will have to be honest about their experience. I agree that just because someone has been a realtor for 20 years doesn't make them a better agent than someone who has been doing it for 1 year - but experience does have it's merit. I would rather have a surgeon who had preformed 100 surgeries to operate on me than a surgeon who had only done 5. Again, I do not think that a site such as this should be used to choose an agent...it is merely a way to find the top agent choices based on their numbers (as they relate to what you are looking for in an agent - i.e. experience in a particular neighborhood, a true buyers agent, etc.). Once you have a list of agents that look to be good candidates, then you can at that point call and set up a time to meet each and make a choice based on their track record as well as their personality.