How to Choose a Real Estate Agent When You’re Buying a Home
How to choose a real estate agent comes down to one question most buyers never ask out loud: is this person trying to understand what I need, or trying to sell me what is in front of us? Everything else, from experience to local knowledge to responsiveness, is a way of answering that question.
This post began as a short 2019 tip telling buyers to find an experienced agent. Still true. Here is how to tell whether you have found one.
Start with the basics you can verify
Before you think about how to choose a real estate agent on style or chemistry, check the facts. Every real estate agent in Texas has to be licensed through the Texas Real Estate Commission, and you can confirm it yourself in a minute with TREC’s license holder search. It shows whether the license is active and which broker the agent works under.
You should also receive a written notice early on. TREC requires license holders to provide the Information About Brokerage Services form at the first substantive conversation about a specific property. It explains who an agent can represent and how. If you are well into house hunting and have never seen it, ask why.
How to choose a real estate agent: the questions that matter
Skip “how long have you been in real estate” as the only question. Years matter less than recent, relevant work. These tell you more:
- How many buyers have you represented in the last year, and where? Someone who works the Fulshear and Katy master-planned communities every week knows things about builders, MUD taxes and HOA rules that an agent from across town will have to look up.
- How do you handle new construction? Much of the local inventory is being built right now. The builder’s sales staff represent the builder. You want someone on your side of that table.
- What would you tell me not to buy? A good agent has an answer: backing onto a drainage channel, a lot in a flood pool, a floor plan that resells poorly. An agent who likes everything is not filtering for you.
- How do you communicate, and how fast? In a competitive week, a same-day answer can decide whether you get the house.
- Who else will I be working with? Some agents hand buyers off to a showing assistant or a transaction coordinator. That can be fine. You should know up front.
Read the buyer agreement before you tour
Since the 2024 changes in how buyer agent compensation is handled, buyers typically sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes. That agreement sets out what the agent will do, how they are paid, how long it runs, and how either side can end it.
Do not sign it as a formality. Read the term, the compensation section and the termination terms. A good agent will walk you through it line by line and will not mind the questions. We cover the Texas forms in detail in our guide to the Texas buyer representation agreement.
Red flags worth walking away from
- Pushing a home harder than you are interested in it
- Steering you toward or away from areas without giving a reason tied to the property, such as price, commute, flood risk or taxes
- Brushing off the option period or the inspection as a formality
- Being vague about how they are paid
- Recommending one lender and discouraging you from comparing
That last one deserves a note. Agents often know good local lenders, and a referral is normal. Pressure not to shop is not. Our post on a mortgage broker vs a bank explains why comparing at least two Loan Estimates pays off.
What a good agent does that you will not see
Much of the value happens away from the showings. A strong buyer’s agent pulls the seller’s disclosure before you write an offer, checks the flood history, prices the offer against real sales rather than list prices, and keeps the option period and financing deadlines from slipping.
They also tell you the thing you do not want to hear. The house you love may need a foundation evaluation. The price may be high for the street. That candor is what you are hiring, and it is the best reason to choose a real estate agent who has done this many times in your part of town. The seller’s disclosure in Texas and the home inspection contingency are two places where it shows up most.
Interview more than one
The simplest answer to how to choose a real estate agent is to compare. Talk to two or three agents before you commit. Notice who asks about your commute, your budget ceiling, your timeline and what you would trade off, and who jumps straight to listings. The first group is doing the job. Then follow the rest of the process in our home buying checklist for Texas buyers.
Written by Stacy Burgin, a real estate agent with Terra Point Realty serving Fulshear, Katy and the greater Houston area, with 300+ transactions, 130+ home sales closed, and a HAR Platinum rating of 4.89 across 124+ client surveys. If you are interviewing agents and want to add us to the list, call (713) 766-1697. We will answer every question above.