We love our realtor

Our general (OVERLY general, I'm sure) impression of real estate agents was not necessarily positive. Not NEGATIVE, so much as... maybe tiresome? The two that we had worked with were both perfectly nice people, but we came out of interactions with them wondering if we could REALLY trust them. We really throw ourselves into it, too. We're totally willing to look at as many houses as we can, as many days/evenings/weekends as we can. Which results in a lot of time spent with said agent.

So going into it this time, armed with a 20% down payment, a lease ending in 3 months, and a great market for first-time homebuyers, we really wanted to handpick the right agent. Fortunately, our friend Norah bought a house not too long ago. I asked her if she worked with someone she liked, and she IMMEDIATELY got back to me raving about Carrie from Big Shoulders Realty. So obviously Jed gave her a call and chatted with her, getting a feel for how she worked and if she would be a good fit for us. That went well and we set up a meeting--but Norah's referral was just so LOVING that we instantly knew Carrie was our girl.

She's our kind of people--young, into good music & good design, down-to-earth and casual, but totally professional, organized and reliable. She is VERY good at her job. I implore anyone setting out on a home search to really do their homework and handpick their agent. Even though the process (probably) won't drag on for more than a few months, during that time you spend many hours and have to communicate a lot with that person. You might also find yourself needing some advice--whether it's about the size of a dining room, the potential cost of a repair, or the right amount to counter-offer--and you damn well need to trust that she knows her stuff and has your unique interests at heart.