Every few months, I get a call from someone who wants me to meet with them about listing their home, but they also plan to meet with the neighborhood expert who sells “most of the homes in the neighborhood.”
You probably aren’t surprised that most people think they will be better served by an agent who does a ton of business in the area.
But I bet you would be surprised that there is almost never an agent or company who does the majority of the business for a specific neighborhood or part of town.
To prove the point, I often run a report which lists every agent who has had a home sale in the neighborhood or area. It never fails that the top agents have a very small % of the market share and the vast majority of sales are by agents who had just one sale in the area.
Most Homes are Sold by Agents with Only 1 Sale in the Area:
I have a new listing that is coming on the market this week in the Shaw neighborhood in St. Louis City.
Since Jan. 1, 2009, there have been 55 home sales in the Shaw neighborhood. These 55 homes were listed by 44 different agents.
- #1 agent had only 4 listings (7% market share)
- 2 agents tied for the #2 spot with 3 listings each (5% market share each)
- 4 agents tied for the #3 spot with 2 listings each (4% market share each)
- 37 agents had 1 listing in the neighborhood (67% of the sales)
Let’s try a couple of other areas.
Brentwood:
164 home sales since Jan. 1, 2010 – listed by 120 different agents
- #1 agent had only 13 listings (8% market share)
- #2 agent had only 6 listings (4% market share)
- #3 agent had only 5 listings (3% market share)
- 101 agents had only 1 listing (62% of the sales)
Olivette:
110 home sales since Jan. 1, 2010 – listed by 81 different agents
- #1 agent had only 15 listings (14% market share)
- #2 agent had only 5 listings (5% market share)
- #3 agent had only 3 listings (3% market share)
- 69 agents had only 1 listing (85% of the sales)
Soulard:
35 home sales since Jan. 1, 2010 – listed by 26 different agents
- #1 agent had only 4 listings (11% market share)
- 2 agents tied for the #2 spot with 3 listings each (9% market share)
- 2 agents tied for the #3 spot with 2 listings each (6% market share)
- 21 agents had only 1 listing (81% of the sales)
Who are the Top Listing Agents in YOUR Neighborhood?
Or does it even matter.
There are a lot of questions you should ask before you hire a real estate agent, but how many listings they sold in the neighborhood might not be the most important question.
