I just lost a deal on an MLS-listed pproperty, and I am curious as to whether or not I'm expecting too much from my agent or if I should search for a new agent.

Although this was actually a property that we planned to use as a residence and then turn into a rental, we have lost other deals on investment properties with his same realtor. Actually, this makes #7 lost in the last 2 years, either because our offer wasn't high or fast enough. 

I have a sense that our agent is not really aware of the true hotness of our market right now, or of what areas are going to rapidly appreciate in the future. (He's suggested I go low/under asking price in several occasions when it called for much higher offers to win the bid.)

I originally connected with him because he also owns rental properties, and my previous agent didn't have much experience or knowledge of that field. 

For today's offer, it took 3 hours from the time I gave him our offer (offer, percentage down, etc...) to have him submit it. Is that normal? It was all done via online interface. He was also asking questions like, "Are you sure you want to use so-and-so for your closing agent," and I'm like, "Just get the offer in!!!" :)

For an offer I lost last year, it took him an extra day to show me a property, and then he took his time getting the offer in, and we lost it to a better offer. Ours would have been the only one had he moved quickly.

While we have lost 7 properties, we've also purchased 5 properties through this agent. However, of all these purchases, I've been the one to find the properties.  Four were investment properties (under 100k), and one was our new-construction residence (over 300k). 

If you use a buyer's agent to find MLS-listed investment properties, do you expect them to find good properties? Or do you do most of the work on that end? 

After a disappointing loss last year, he did apologize while pointing out ways that we had also slowed down the process. But he promised to be faster with showings.

So, since then, he has done a good job of showing me properties within 24 hours of my bringing them to his attention/asking for a showing.

I do hustle when I find a property that fits, and I realize if I had my real estate license that I could have viewed this property last night and gotten an offer in even sooner. But maybe I'm expecting too much with that type of hustle? I mean, should he really be "on call" to show me properties within hours? :)

I also feel like I have to constantly remind myself to ignore his remarks on properties and to trust my gut, because I 1) it can be emotionally draining when I try to compare his considerations with mine and 2) I have lost every property where I've ignored my instinct and gone with his advice. I'm not an argumentative person by nature, so I think that if I don't speak up first, it can be easier for me to accept his "advice" as such.

Sadly, as he was having us sign our offer today, he also had us sign a contract to work with him through May 28! (We had one last year, too, but didn't renew it.) It didn't sit well then, but we were in a hurry to get our offer in and signed it (electronically) with everything else. Thankfully, it's only for properties within the $200k to $400k range, so that means I can work with someone else for investment properties or personal residence above that range. But still...

Pardon my rant mingled in with the rest, but I'd love input on what you look for and expect from a buyer's agent.