If you're looking for a REALTOR®, a lot of the advice you will see written suggests that you should always favour an experienced agent, but is that the case?

Should you consider an inexperienced agent? Well, my answer to that is, without doubt YES. But surely, I hear you think, an inexperienced agent will not be able to give me the quality of service or the Real Estate marketing expertise that I need to help me through this most complex of transactions. Why not?

As a newer agent, I get this response fairly frequently so it's a challenge trying to convince a potential client that I am the agent that will be able to perform the way they want. Surely I don't have the marketing knowledge that will get maximum exposure for a sellers property, or do I? Studying marketing as a module within my MBA course has given me the opportunity to examine the subject in depth, so I have an idea of where and how to market. In my prior career I worked as an IT professional, that means that I am adept at working with the latest technology and am not afraid to embrace it. As an IT professional in a military setting I was used to relocating every other year, sometimes more. As the picture builds, you can see that, despite not having the experience as an agent that some see as vital, I have other, equally important and relevant skills that help in this line of work.

Of course there is also training, I mean, what company would allow a newly licensed agent to just head on out there and begin prospecting and perhaps ruin a well founded company reputation for excellence? None, I doubt that any agency would allow that, mine certainly doesn't. I was coached for months before I felt that I was adept enough to go out and hit the market, but that's just me, my company also assigns a mentor (yes, an experienced agent) to guide me through the process for each of my first six transactions. I am still learning, but I am selling homes, even in this market.

An experienced agent is a great resource to have, but not all are as computer literate as others, not all have excellent marketing skills and not all will provide the level of service you require JUST because they have experience. If I was to offer any advice it would be this, don't rule somebody out based on their experience in the Real Estate business, find out about their background, education and, very importantly, their company and how they train their new agents. One saying that a former colleague (now friend) of mine had was "Just because that's how we've always done it, doesn't make it the right way to do it now." 20 years of experience doesn't always mean that something has been done well for 20 years!

Let me know what YOU think!!!!