What Makes a Good Real Estate Agent (for NYC Buyers)
Back to the NYC Real Estate Blog
A good real estate agent represents one side of your deal, answers the phone, tells you when a building looks weak, and puts any rebate in writing. In New York, they also carry a clean license that you can check in 2 minutes. Everything else is personality, and personality doesn’t close.
We’re a buyer’s brokerage, so we’ve sat across from a lot of agents. The best ones aren’t the most charming. Here’s what actually separates a good agent from a nice one, and the five questions to ask before you sign a buyer agreement.
What makes a good real estate agent
The trait lists all say “honest” and “hardworking,” as if anyone would list the opposite. Useful signals are more specific. A good buyer’s agent knows the difference between a co-op and a condo cold, has closed in your price range this year, and can name what’s wrong with a building before you fall for it.
They also tell you things you don’t want to hear. A weak reserve fund, a pending assessment, a board that rejects you at your income level. An agent who only ever agrees with you is selling, not advising. Our buying process guide walks through the whole deal so you can tell when an agent is skipping a step.
How to choose a buyer’s agent
Start with a referral from someone who actually closed, not someone who liked the open-house cookies. Then check that the agent works for buyers, not just whoever is in the room. Since January 2025, an REBNY member signs a written buyer agreement with you before a showing, and that document, not a handshake, defines who they represent.
Interview two or three. Ask what they closed this year and where. Ask how they handle a bidding war and whether they’ll show you a place they think is overpriced.
If a rebate is part of your reason for shopping, ask for it in the agreement. Our post on what NestApple returns to buyers shows what a disclosed rebate looks like at closing.
Questions to ask a real estate agent before you sign
Five questions, and the answer you want is a number, not a vibe.
- How many buyers did you close in the last 12 months, and in what price range?
- Are you representing the seller in any place you’d show me? (This is the dual agency question.)
- What’s your fee, and is any of it rebated to me? Put it in the agreement.
- What would make you tell me to walk away from an apartment?
- Who covers for you if you’re away during my closing?
| Question | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Closings in the last 12 months? | A specific number in your price range |
| Representing the seller too? | A direct no, or full disclosure if yes |
| Is any of your fee rebated? | A number written into the agreement |
An agent who answers all five plainly is worth more than one with a nicer brochure. You can then price the deal yourself and check their math.
Red flags in a real estate agent
A few things should end the interview. Anyone who calls the financing contingency optional is optimizing for their closing, not yours. Anyone who won’t put the rebate in writing or gets vague about whether they also represent the seller has told you something.
Softer flags: pushing you to see more, faster, before you’re pre-approved; talking up “hidden gem” neighborhoods rather than pricing; never mentioning a downside. Our list of buyer mistakes covers what these agents let clients walk into.
How to check a real estate license
Two minutes on a state website beats a nice website. Search the agent’s name or their firm in eAccessNY, the New York Department of State’s public license database. It shows the license class, whether it’s active, and the sponsoring broker. The Department also publishes disciplinary actions, so a quick search of the name there is worth doing too.
What we look for when we hire
When NestApple adds an agent, the brochure content doesn’t appear. We look at whether they can read a building’s financials, whether they’ve told a client “no” and kept the relationship, and whether they’re comfortable explaining the rebate math out loud.
The doubt every buyer has about us is fair. One client review asked, “Can this company be trusted with a 2/3 return?” The answer isn’t enthusiasm. It’s specific: the rebate is disclosed in the agreement, it lands on the closing statement, and it’s happened a few hundred times. George’s rule underneath all of it is simple, and it’s the one trait we won’t hire without: “A broker can’t really act in the interest of both parties.”
Common questions
What is the most important quality in a real estate agent? Representation. A good agent works for one side of your deal and says so in writing. Skill, market knowledge, and responsiveness matter, but they’re worth less if the agent is also working for the seller.
How do I know if a real estate agent is good? Ask what they closed in the last year and in what price range, get a referral from a past buyer, and check their license in eAccessNY. A good agent will also tell you the downsides of a place, not just the upsides.
Should I interview more than one agent? Yes. Interview two or three before you sign a buyer agreement. Ask each the same questions and compare the answers, not the personalities.
Can I check a New York real estate agent’s record? Yes. eAccessNY shows the license and its status, and the Department of State publishes disciplinary actions against licensees. Both are free and public.
Nicole Fishman Benoliel co-founded NestApple in 2017. She's a lawyer admitted to the New York bar - her law degree is from La Escuela Libre de Derecho in Costa Rica, with further study at IE Business School in Madrid and an LLM from Fordham in New York. She does not act in a legal capacity at NestApple; every client is referred to an attorney who handles real estate deals full time.
