Where Do Buyers and Sellers Find Their Agent?

From Realtor.org as seen on 3/11/2014
On March 6, 2014, in Did You Know, by Jessica Lautz, Survey Research Manager
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• According to data found in NAR’s annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, home buyers and sellers consistently report they truly rely on referrals from friends and family to find an agent or they use an agent they had worked with before.
• Fifty-four percent of buyers and sixty-four percent of sellers found the agent they worked with either from a personal referral or they used an agent they had worked with before to buy and sell a home.
• Due to this fact, two-thirds of both buyers and sellers only contact one agent before choosing an agent to work with.

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• Buyers are being assisted by professional real estate agents and brokers in what is often the most important transaction of their life. Their home purchase is not only the roof over their head or the garden they want to plant, but their nest egg for their future.
• The most important skills and qualities buyers look for are honesty and integrity. The most important factors to sellers are the agent’s reputation, and that the agent is honest and trustworthy.

• Annual data in the Member Profile validates what we hear from buyers and sellers on this point.
• Forty-two percent of member business is from referrals and repeat clients – this increases as the member’s experience in the field of real estate increases, reaching sixty-four percent for those with 16 or more years of experience.
• While many buyers find the home they purchase online, very few find the agent they end up working with online.