Choosing a realtor is like choosing someone to date. You will spend a lot of time on the phone, emailing, and in-person with them. It won’t be a romantic relationship, but it will involve trust, kindness, respect and other elements of a dating relationship.

It can be hard finding the right realtor, just like it can be difficult to find a true friend or romantic relationship. Mistakes can be made in the process.

For those of you who are thinking of buying or selling a home, there are some things to avoid when choosing a realtor to work with.

First, part-timers aren’t usually as good as full-timers. It’s not their fault—they just don’t have their head in the game 24-7-365 like full-timers do. Would you want to go on a cruise ship with a captain who only commandeers ships ten days out of the year versus one who is at the job 300? Exactly—and the same goes for real estate agents. Full-timers live and breathe what they do. Part timers don’t.

Next, you need a realtor who’s willing to give you tough love rather than be your enabler. You may think your place is worth $100,000, but the realtor might say it’ll sell for $75,000. Sure, you could go with the realtor who’s willing to list at the price you insist on, but you’d be smarter to go with the realtor who will look at the comparable places in the neighborhood, and based on their professional judgment of the market, “tell you like it is.”

Maybe there’s a realtor’s name seemingly on every other real estate sign you see in town. Your first thought is to go with them because they’re ubiquitous. Think again—to them you may just be a little fish in their big ocean. You may be handed off to a sub-agent. Your property may not get the attention you’d like it to, because the “big name realtor” is dealing with too many clients.

Finally, the best advice in choosing the right realtor to work with is this: he or she needs to actually care about you and your property. If you’re just a commission to them, that’s not good. If you can connect on a personal level, whereas the realtor has your best interests at heart, they seem committed and confident in being able to assist you, and they truly care about you, then he or she should be your realtor.

Post by Alexis Hlady