Is Your Real Estate Agent Experienced Enough?

Question

A recent statistic in the real estate world is quite telling. With nearly 1.5 million real estate agents across the nation, there are currently under 1 million listings available. The numbers are even more staggering when you consider that while there are 1.5 million National Association of Realtors (NAR) members, the total number of licensed real estate agents might be as high as 3 million.

This excess of agents compared to available inventory means that a significant portion of agents complete very few transactions. Consider this breakdown:

- Only 1.5% of agents sell over 30 deals a year.

- Only 3% of agents sell over 20 deals a year.

What Defines an Experienced Agent?

If transaction volume is so low for the majority, the question naturally becomes: How many deals are enough for an agent to be considered experienced?

The answer is complex and goes beyond a single number. When evaluating an agent, you should look deeper than a simple yearly total:

- Total Career Volume: How many transactions have they completed over their entire career?

- Annual Consistency: Are they consistently closing a solid number of deals each year, indicating recent market knowledge and active engagement?

- Relevant Experience: How many deals have they completed that are similar to yours?

The Key Takeaway

Buying or selling property is often one of the most significant financial decisions you will ever make. Before committing to one of the 1.5 million agents, you are entitled to know their transaction volume and the specific type of experience they bring to the table. This due diligence ensures you have a capable, active, and relevant expert guiding your most important transaction.

Brian J Allen · Answer

Personally I get asked to list and work with buyers on Multifamily properties all over the state.  I turn them all down.  Yes I can do the transaction, and I can differentiate a good property from a bad one, but.... pricing and neighborhoods are hyper local.  I bought a property a couple years ago in Baltimore and I researched agents and used a local one who had been working that area for years and was specific to the neighborhood where we wanted to purchase.  That information was invaluable.  Yes, in reality deals count, as it helps you to understand the process and all the things that can go wrong and how to address them.  But for Multifamily I think it is more involved.  I have done deals with great agents who do 30 deals a year, but don't understand the intricacies of buying/selling multifamily and investment properties.  If you don't do enough deals, or work with a team that does deals to train, or have full support from someone in your brokerage, you get tunnel vision on the transaction and often try too hard to keep deals together that should be let go.  There are times when you just need to start over with a new buyer/seller in a transaction.  By doing deals, and knowing that there are other deals coming, you are able to realize this and do a better job serving your clients interests.  I can recall going to an open house, and the listing agent who wasn't a high producer, told me frankly I sure hope we get an offer this weekend, I haven't sold a house in a long time and I'm running out of money.  I don't think that philosophy was helping the seller to identify the best buyer who would offer the most money/best terms/and likelihood of closing.   Yes deal count matters, deal count in your area matters, and deal count in the product you sell (SF/Condo/Multi/land) matters.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Brian J Allen   Just curious in your opinion do deals count more than area?  You are in Worcester, but if someone goes to list how far do you go from your usual area where it really makes sense.   You could have 40 deals in Worcester but never 30 miles out in another region of MA. As a seller do you go for the high volume agent you know from a different area or do you go for the agent from the area you are selling in who has less sales volume?