Expectations from an Agent

[Hugh Hartwig]

The other day I attended an open house and began a conversation with the listing agent. I told her about my investing business and she told me about other investors she currently works with. She sounded knowledgeable about our market and willing to submit repeat offers if necessary. She sent a list of 11 properties that seemed promising, but then when I asked her to help me determine the after repair value, she said "calculating ARV would have to be done by you. There are too many homes to evaluate." Maybe she thought I wanted her to visit each property, which we would need to do anyway. In the long run, it could save her time because we could filter houses that weren't worth pursuing.

My hope was with 25 years of experience, that she could offer her market knowledge to make sense of the comps by knowing the neighborhoods and what buyers want. I can look at comps myself but without that knowledge, I can only rely on numbers and may buy a house that no one wants, regardless of condition.

Was I naive to expect an agent to provide an opinion of resale value, or is she just not willing to put forth the effort? What should I expect of my buying side agent?