Why are you getting real estate recommendations from someone who has never bought or sold a house?

I am looking for a real estate agent to list/sell a home for me. Does anyone have any recommendations?

This is a verbatim post in one of the community Facebook pages. I see this…often…and it makes me squirm in my seat! This particular post alone received 154 comments before they were turned off. Almost 100% of those comments were tags of real estate agents, with minimal further details other than, “He’s the best” and “She is great!”. 

Asking for real estate agent recommendations to a group of people you do not know doesn’t sound or productive (SOMETHING). The comments are not providing you with any information about their knowledge of real estate, how accommodating they are, their experience in the industry or even their experience with the person commenting!

What we can determine from these posts are…

• The people commenting know of a real estate agent. 

• The people commenting are on Facebook. 

• The Real Estate Agents being posted are also on Facebook (if they are tagged).

That is IT! 

I can attest that I have seen comments from people I know personally. I also know they have never purchased or sold a home. How are they recommending…well, anyone as a real estate agent?!

What is nice to see, is that people are eager to help others out by providing a shouting out to people they know, and helping them get seen as professionals in the community. 

Here is what I gleam from scrolling through hundreds of comments…

• People are led to believe that you need a real estate agent in order to purchase or sell a home. There was not one comment that mentioned, you may be able to do this yourself and save thousands of dollars. This is a (taught)

• Most people are recommending people they know - friends or family in most cases - whom they likely have never had a professional relationship with. 

• You cannot determine if any of these people are creditable real estate agents from the comments. 

• You can go through and do your own research once you have a list of 154 agents in your area and see if any of them would be a good fit to work with (yikes!). 

Being a tech company, and always looking for new ways to use technology to help our everyday lives…I thought I should also ask ChatGPT about asking Facebook for referrals. Here is what our AI had to say:

As an AI language model, I don't have personal opinions, but I can provide you with some potential reasons why asking for real estate agent recommendations on Facebook may not be the best idea:

1. Lack of credibility: It can be difficult to verify the credibility of recommendations made on social media platforms like Facebook. The people who are making the recommendations may not have any expertise or experience in real estate, so their opinions may not be reliable.

2. Conflict of interest: Some of the people who recommend a real estate agent on Facebook may have a personal relationship with that agent, which could influence their recommendation. For example, they may be a close friend or family member, or they may have some sort of financial incentive to refer business to that agent.

3. Limited pool of candidates: When you ask for recommendations on Facebook, you are limited to the people in your network. This may not be a representative sample of the real estate agents in your area, and you may be missing out on some great agents who are not connected to your network.

4. Lack of privacy: When you ask for recommendations on Facebook, your post is visible to everyone in your network. This may include people who you don't know very well or who you don't want to share personal information with. Additionally, your post may be visible to people outside of your network if your privacy settings are not set correctly.

5. Limited information: When people recommend a real estate agent on Facebook, they may not provide enough information about their experience with that agent. This can make it difficult for you to make an informed decision about whether to work with that agent.

Even an AI thinks it is a risky idea asking for recommendations on social media. That being said, there are a lot of other ways to get referrals to real estate agents. Check reviews, ask people who you personally know have actually purchased a home (and sold!). Find out how it is to work with that person, how well they know the area, and if they have the time to work with you.

But before you do anything, ask yourself: What is it that you are looking for out of a real estate agent? 

What we find is that most people are looking for a real estate agent simply because they think that is the first step in the home buying process. In order to find a real estate agent that will work best for you, you should start with what they are expecting them to do for you.

What do you need them to do for you? If you have already been book marking houses, are working with a mortgage broker and are ready to tour homes, what would it be that you would be asking them to do? Remember, you will still need to view the home yourself, fill out the documents and sign everything yourself, be present at the inspection and ask for the changes to the contract you want. All you need to know is what to do and when. We can help you with that, and how to get you to the next steps of setting up home tours and making an offer (and … saving thousands of dollars).

Reasons you might need a local real estate agent may be because you are moving to a new location and don’t know where to look. You don't have the time to research or visit the area you are moving to ahead of time and need someone who can provide you with insight to how the community functions. You also might not know where it is you want to buy, and need several options across a wide range of cities and communities. Here you may want a professional to advise you on the lay of the land. 

Just remember, if when it comes to the transaction itself, you will be doing the same amount of work whether you work with a real estate agent or not. So if you already have the location, (or maybe even a house) in mind, get started with OwnCrib.