When's the right time to find an agent? Starting the process

[Marshal Amon]

Hello BP community!

I've been a member for awhile now but haven't gotten the chance to do exactly what I planned since beginning last year. Being in my last semester as a student, I'm looking to transition into owning a duplex I can househack and put some sweat equity into in the Columbus area this coming summer.

I saw some similar forum prompts on BP, but they were Pre-Covid. I'm not sure with Covid and the residential market being on fire if anything has changed. My question is, when is the right time to find an agent and start seriously looking around? I've searched most platforms where I can see property options (Realtor, Zillow, Redfin, etc.) and have been saving them to review them but I'm unsure of the exact process. I'm pretty green to the real estate community and I want to ensure I'm making a correct first step in my investing career. I want to bring on an agent who knows the game so I'm not "shooting in the dark" per se. 

I'm assuming the best time to find an agent is right now! So, I would love to have referrals for buying agents in the Columbus area. I'm open to having a discussion and I know your time is important. As a FYI, I'm not looking to move until June/July 2022. I have yet to find financing options but I'm looking to do that once I identify which lenders I want to go through.

Thank you in advance for the answers, I very much appreciate it!