When Should I Contact an Agent?

[Yele Omo]

I am preparing to buy a multifamily home to owner occupy in the Salt Lake City area. Eighteen months ago, I had a sub-par credit score & very little savings. I realized that I wanted more for myself, so I worked hard to save aggressively and paid off all my debt last year. My credit score has been rising steadily, and I have about enough saved to get into a home using VA financing.

I want to wait a few months and get my score higher, and continue to save beyond what I'll need to get into the property. I also think I should read more RE and investing books. 

My question is: When should I call an agent and start looking at properties in earnest? I am already doing preliminary work of driving around checking out neighborhoods, searching online listings, etc.  I'm still a few months out from when I will feel comfortable buying. Will an agent in a busy market like Salt Lake think I'm wasting their time if I contact them now?

Thanks in advance to everyone who offers their advice on this.