One of the most important decisions when buying and selling a home is selecting a real estate agent.
They will help you maximize the value of your existing home and find and negotiate an excellent price for your next property.
These essential roles mean every owner or first-home buyer needs to spend time choosing their agent.
It’s a great idea to ask for recommendations from family and friends, but ultimately you should make an appointment based on your own interactions with prospective agents.
It’s not an easy process for some people but, these findings from a National Association of Realtors report on what consumers want from an agent may be helpful.
Now in its 10th year, the report looks at differences and similarities between buyers and sellers of different generations.
Interviews
Some 25% of homeowners aged 24-32 interviewed two agents; overall, only 17% took this step while only 6% of buyers interviewed four or more agents.
What buyers want
Wanting an agent to find their next home was a priority for 49% of all buyers. Some 58% of buyers aged 68-76 and 41% aged 43-57 made property search their most important criterion for selecting an agent.
Negotiations
Negotiating terms of a sale was a priority for 13% of homeowners and 11% wanted direct help in price negotiations.
Finance
Agent assistance with finding finance was wanted by 15% of buyers aged 43-57. However, only 2% of those aged 33-42 thought this was important. Overall 6% wanted an agent’s help with finance.
Getting the deal done
Assistance with paperwork was essential for 14% of buyers aged 24-32, 6% aged 68-76 and 10% overall.
Who’s moving
Being closer to friends and family is the most common reason for moving across all generations. Boomers are now the largest group of home buyers at 39%, up 10 points on 2021 figures. They also remain the largest group of sellers, at 52%. Millennials are now 28% of all buyers based on 2022 numbers.
Who has money?
Gen X buyers (24%) have the highest median household income and are the most racially and ethnically diverse group.