During this episode of the Local Loop, Joy Kim Metalios sits down with fellow team member Kaye Lewis. They discuss the importance of making sure that you have the right agent to represent you. Click here to watch the full video on our YouTube channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehO-nKIDuoI

Kaye Lewis used to be a manager and a real estate agent for several offices here in Greenwich, she has seen it all. Kaye mentions that one time there were over 1,200 agents, which is interesting because on average we only do around 800 transactions. So right off the bat, we know agents are going hungry and not active in the real estate market. With a surplus of agents, home buyers must know the agent they're hiring is experienced and has the expertise. This process can be a little convoluted from time to time. Joy explains how she just came from meeting with a seller who said "I didn't know that we had to do our research when finding an agent, we just used our friend". Many people use their friends, or have multiple friends who are agents; however, they still end up using someone they do not know. 

An important question to ask a possible agent is, how many transactions have you done? More specifically, how many transactions have you done lately? Some real estate agents did many transactions thirty years ago. Times have changed. It is critical to be up to speed with the real estate market and technology. 

Another important quality when looking for a real estate agent is seeing if they play nice. What that means is seeing how your potential real estate agent is perceived by other individuals within their field. A large factor in the real estate market is negotiating. Kaye has heard other agents say " I don't like to work with that agent" and "I'm going to show her that listing last", you don't want that as a home seller. You want everybody to come to the party. Kaye leaves saying "If you have made this choice (Joy), then you have made a good choice"