What is a great agent-

A great agent should have rich knowledge on the local market, patient, and honest.

Some agents just want easy money.They never spent time to analyze the local market, and know even less than their clients. I used to know much more than my agents.

You agent should be very patient explaining your questions, even some might be so naive.

There good and bad part to every house. You agent should observe that and tell you. He should be ready to tell you if the price is correct, too high or too low, and what is your best strategy to get it. If s/he does nothing, but just encourage you to bid it up, then think it over.

The bestway to find a good agent is to listen to your friends who just bought a house local. Most people would compare their house with the other sales in the neighborhood and make a conclusion. They will be ablt to tell you if they got a good deal or not, and mostly, if they like their agent or not. If yes, why. If not, why.

I remember at one time, one post asked about a specific agent in the DC metro area, well, everyone seemed extremely angry about him. Are you going to hire him?