Best way to find a star real eastate agent? (Atlanta: for sale, first time home buyer)

[snehra1]

We are a first time home buyer and interested in both existing and new construction.We need a realtor as we don't have any but i want to ask how can we find a real good agent who covers alphretta and cumming area?WE do have couple of friend's referral but want to interview few other before approching them?
Can you please introduce us with the best way to do that?
We did short listed couple of realtors from zillow and trulia,and probably will contact them too,but is there any other way as well?
thank you

[Mattie]

Referrals are still the way to go. When we were transferred to the area, our realtor ONLY worked via referrals.

[ATLTJL]

That's not very practical advice for someone new to the area....how are they supposed to get a referral if they don't know anybody here?

My one bit of advice is to find an agent who specializes in the area you are interested in. Most buyers agents will say, "I can help you with any part of town" but nobody really knows all of Atlanta.

Something you might try is look at a neighborhood you are really interested in and find houses for sale. See if you can identify which listing agent is very active in the area and then call that person and ask if they also act as a buyers agent and if not if they can recommend anybody they like who does.

[starfish27]

I also recommend starting with the referrals first. In my opinion, that's the best way to find an agent. If none of those end up being a match, then I would do exactly what you're doing - look up agents online that specialize in the areas you're interested in.

[starfish27]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

That's not very practical advice for someone new to the area....how are they supposed to get a referral if they don't know anybody here?

The OP said they already have some referrals from friends.