Nicholas Lerner of McGrew Real Estate was named Best Realtor in the 2015 Best of Lawrence awards.

While they often occur in tandem, buying and selling a house are two distinct processes that involve unique skill sets. Here are some tips about what to look for when choosing both a Buyer’s Agent and a Seller’s Agent from Nicholas Lerner, a realtor at McGrew Real Estate and winner of the Best of Lawrence Best Realtor award for 2015.

Seller’s Agents

When you put your home on the market, your one and only goal is to sell that house as quickly as possible, so naturally, finding an agent with the ability to market a home well should be a top priority when selecting a seller’s agent. 

“If you’re a seller, ask how the agent will market your home, who the target buyer is and how he or she will get your home in front of those preferred buyers,” says Lerner.

While the conventional belief is that open houses are a good way to sell homes Lerner says this is not the case.

“Open houses account for about 1% of all sales. They don’t sell homes, for the most part,” said Lerner.

The overwhelming majority of buyers first find their house online, not at an open house, which means that finding an agent who knows how to make a home stand out on the internet by using a variety of multiple listing services is very important. Researching a realtor’s existing online listings is the best way to do this.

“How many times do you see a listing that has hit the market with no pictures and hardly any listing information?” says Lerner. “Using an agent that has the wherewithal to take quality pictures, create a virtual tour, and have the listing hit the market with those items is key.”

Lerner says that clients will also want to look at how closely a potential seller agent’s listings mirror the property they are trying to sell. A realtor’s number of listings and number of transactions are also good to keep in mind.

“On a national level, half of all realtors do one or zero transactions a year,” said Lerner. “Make sure that you’re working with an agent that has a proven track record.  The agent should have enough listings to indicate a healthy business but not so many that you’d just be a number.”

Buyer’s Agents

Lerner says that two important things to look for in a buyer’s agent, are someone who works the part of the market that you’re interested in, and, if you have a unique financing situation, someone who has experience with your particular situation.

“An agent that specializes in new construction isn’t going to be a very good fit for a buyer looking to buy a historic home in Old West Lawrence and vice versa,” he said. “And a transaction involving a Federal Housing Association or VA loan, for example, includes some steps that aren’t required for a conventional loan.”

Once those basics are covered, Lerner said that finding an agent that is liked and well-connected with the other agents in town will give a buyer a good advantage.

“The best homes don’t even make it to the market,” said Lerner.  “When a listing agent gets a great new listing, they start telling their agent friends about it.  A good buyer’s agent will sometimes know about houses before they hit the market and give their buyer client a head start on the process before other buyers even know about it.”