This year has placed us on edge at every corner. Nothing has been predictable. The same can be said for real estate in 2020. In this current real estate market nothing is predictable; inventory continues to dissipate, yet buyers are coming out of the woodwork while interest rates remain at an all-time low -- a recipe for disaster if placed in the wrong hands.

A good real estate agent is like a practicing doctor or attorney, very familiar not only with terms and procedures but solutions to bring you the best success.

I'm partial to full-time real estate agents and even more partial to full-time real estate agents who have a record of closing transactions on a regular basis from month to month. Again I liken it to a practicing doctor or attorney.

Real estate is the largest purchase that you will probably ever make. Would you trust a medical procedure to a part-time doctor? Would you trust a legal battle to a part-time attorney? I might get a lot of flak about this but I have yet to have a successful transaction with a part-time agent without having to walk them through the process or hearing from them in the "after hours" asking for things to be done when business has shut down for the day. It makes everyone else's job in the transaction that much harder.

Real estate is local. What do I mean by that? How houses are selling and what they are selling for differs not only state-by-state, city by city, or region-by-region but also neighborhood by neighborhood. Here in Sacramento what once was simply called Oak Park just a few short years ago is now North Oak Park and South Oak Park. If you are an agent consistently selling real estate in the Sacramento region and in particular in the Oak Park area you know that the price difference on a 3-bedroom 2-bathroom home in North Oak Park could easily be a $200,000 difference from a 3 bed 2 bath home in South Oak Park. But you would not know that if you are an agent from outside of the area who is not consistently working in this region therefore preventing you from successfully representing a client looking to buy (or sell) in that area.

An agent not familiar with the market conditions in an area would be doing a disservice to you.

So how do you find the best real estate agent? Referral and testimonials are the best route. A referral is similar to a testimonial in that the customer can tell you their first-hand  experience with that agent.

Get recent referrals from people who have sold or purchased real estate within the past few months. The real estate market changes often and how you bought or sold a home 6 years ago can be different in comparison to homes bought and sold present day. The same can actually be said on a timeline of just six months ago in comparison to today. Prices have changed, circumstances have changed, the economy has changed and things keep on changing.

Once you receive name recommendations, search those agent's names on the internet and look on real estate websites that provide agent testimonials. When you receive a referral "Google" them and see how they show up online. Many agents who are successfully helping people buy and sell have processes in place where their clients can write reviews about them and their experience and can easily be found.

Experienced agents also often have social media pages like Facebook and Instagram that show how active they really are consistently posting their client successes, inventory, real estate information and other industry information directly to their social media pages.

In addition to real estate, you can learn a lot about a person from their social media page. Take advantage of that opportunity to vet your potential agent. Whatever is going on on their social media page will definitely show up in your work relationship.

The consistency and quality in their posting can also be an indicator of that agent being organized and good at managing which could translate to good customer management.

Select your agent with the end in mind. When it's all said and done whether selling or buying, not only do you want to have had a smooth transaction, but you want to be able to refer your agent again and again.