8 Little-Known Ways to Find a Good Listing Agent You Can Trust

4. Look at an agent’s stats like an athlete’s box score

Numbers don’t lie. Athletes, for example, are measured by what’s called a “box score,” which aggregates performance indicators like their field goal or free-throw percentages.

What you may not realize is that real estate agents have “stats,” too — such as percent of listings sold, average days on market, and number of five-star reviews. Yet, these key performance indicators are often overlooked by their clients.

Here are some of the stats that would make up your agent’s “box score,” so to speak:

Years of experience

Ideally, work with a listing agent who has no less than a few years of full-time experience selling homes. That way, they know the ins and outs of the process, including forms to file, deadlines to meet, and contacts in the area. However, there are exceptions to this if you like what you see from a smart and driven agent who’s newer to the business.

Average days on market

Compare an agent’s average days on market (DOM) with the average DOM of your market. If an agent sells homes faster than the area average, they know how to price and market homes and keep them from going stale on the market.

Transactions per year

If an agent sells fewer than four homes in a year, they’re likely a hobbyist or part-timer who helps friends and family on the side. A dozen or two sales per year is probably indicative that an agent is more established and has consistent clients.

Agents with 50 to 100 plus sales most likely have help in the form of transaction coordinators or a team working below them. In this case, it’s helpful to find out how involved the listing agent is with each of their individual clients, or if you’d primarily be working with someone else on their team.

Homes sold in your area

When you go through HomeLight to meet your real estate agent, you’ll be able to see their number of transactions isolated by year. In addition, our transaction heat map drills down into the number of transactions at the neighborhood level. To get even more granular, you can do a search for your location using the “Transactions Near You” feature.

An agent who regularly sells homes just down the street from yours could have valuable insight into your specific market. They’ll also be advocates and experts for the area, highlighting perks like nearby shops, parks, and restaurants.

Average over-asking price or sale-to-list ratio

The sale-to-list price ratio is a number assigned to a transaction that tells you what percent of the asking price a home actually sells for. If a house is listed at $325,000 and sells for $318,000, the sale-to-list ratio would be 98%. If a house sells over asking, the sale-to-list ratio will be over 100%.

An agent’s average sale-to-list ratio indicates how accurate they are at pricing homes, and how much of a seller’s list price they’re likely able to deliver. The higher their average sale-to-list price ratio for sell-side transactions, the better their track record.