Is it time to switch Real Estate Agents?

When you stop receiving timely replies from your agent, it can be a serious warning sign that the partnership isn’t a good fit. Whether it’s unreturned phone calls, text messages or emails ‐ unacknowledged messages are a strong indicator that your real estate agent isn’t prioritizing your needs. It also indicates poor management skills, which makes it even harder to work with someone in a professional capacity.

It’s important to have an agent with expertise. If you get any sense that your agent isn’t a total expert in the area because you find out important facts (your agent should have told you) from media, other home owners or family/friends, then you likely won’t have a good experience in working with them.

Some agencies don’t work weekends or have staff employed all working part‐time and sharing the work load. If you’re finding you are constantly telling different staff the same things with no result or someone is constantly unavailable when you need them, then eventually your relationship with your real estate agent has taken a bad turn, which will make working together very difficult.

You’ll probably want to avoid communicating with them altogether or you may get anxiety or feel angry when you communicate with them. Conversations are no longer productive and may even have an undertone of hostility or frustration.

If you are starting to feel like you dread communicating with your real estate agent then you should begin the process of changing agents as soon as possible. Partnerships can only work if there is open communication about needs, progress and results.

If you feel like you automatically question everything your agent is telling you or you generally distrust them, this is a strong sign that this partnership is not a positive one. Think about some of the reasons why you may not trust him or her and determine if these are valid reasons or not.

If you are still sceptical or have any doubts, then this likely will not improve. Instead, you should begin looking for an agent that you can work with without any misgivings or questioning their ability to perform their job.

If you are returning to your investment just to find things damaged or missing but nothing has been reported to you by your agent or you are approached by the neighbourhood regarding disruptive behaviour and/or noise coming from your property, then you have valid reasons for concern your agent might not thoroughly vet you tenants.

Additionally, if you are unsatisfied with the overall cleanliness and presentation of your property, it can indicate not only poor tenant choice but also struggle to appoint adequate cleaning and maintenance staff to ensure your property is being suitably maintained.

If these concerns for your property present, you most likely should look into changing agents as soon as possible to avoid problems surrounding your investment getting worse.

The whole purpose of engaging with an agent is to have someone competent to do all work involved with the management of your property as well as deal with any occurring issues. As the property owner you should be involved in the management side as little as possible – this is why and for what you are paying your agent.

If, however, you find yourself constantly chasing up things your agent has missed and in general are doing a lot of work yourself (which your agent is supposed to do) to the point you start asking yourself why or for what you are actually paying your agent, you should probably consider the switch to an agent who is worth your money rather sooner than later.