OTTAWA — The right real estate agent can make all the difference when you are hunting for a new home, guiding you past unseen pitfalls.

But finding the right agent to help you navigate the process may also take a bit of time to ensure you have a good match.

Jess Hammell, a real estate broker at Real Broker in Toronto, said it’s important to have someone you feel comfortable with, but they also need to be able to deliver value because looking up listings has become easily accessible online.

“I would talk to a handful of people and see what are their different approaches,” she says.

Hammell says to ask prospective agents about their experience in the sort of property and neighbourhoods you are considering, what kind of professional education they’ve done and what their strategy for you will be.

“Buying a home isn’t an event, it’s a process. And it can extend several months before you start even looking at homes to several months or even years after you move in,” she says.

Real estate agents and brokers are licensed in Canada with details available online through various provincial registries. The data available can include licensing history as well as any history of disciplinary decisions.

Tami Eades, a real estate broker at Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa, says when searching for a representative to help serve as your guide, homebuyers should focus on “trust, transparency and experience.”

Online tools are great for searching for a new home, but she says they don’t replace the expertise a Realtor can bring to the table when it comes to buying one.

They need to be able to guide you through the process of making an offer and take it all the way to closing and having the keys to your new home in your hand.

Eades says it is important to have the right agent with the skills and expertise you need by your side when it comes to closing the deal.

“There’s so many nuances and idiosyncrasies for different sections of the market and different types of properties,” she said. “So that’s where your Realtor will be able to decipher, to kind of cut through and actually understand what’s important, what you should be looking for.”

Finding someone with expertise in where you are looking is also crucial. Having detailed knowledge about the neighbourhoods you are considering, including things like which school your kids will end up in, can help you make an informed choice.

“There’s obviously lots of factors that go into purchasing a home and decision making, but there’s a reason why ‘location, location, location’ is the phrase that everybody is most familiar with,” Hammell says.

“A lot of elements of a home can be changed or modified or updated, but we can never change the location of the home or where it sits on the lot.”

Hammell says in the Greater Toronto Area, for instance, there are over 500 micro markets for real estate.

“So having hyper local knowledge is really, really crucial,” she says.

Hammell says it is important to understand the services your Realtor will provide and that there is an open and honest conversation about how the relationship will work and what you will be entitled to as the buyer.

“If you choose to work exclusively with a Realtor and sign a buyer representation agreement, they will then become an advocate for you,” she says.

“They’ll have a fiduciary duty to protect you and act in your best interests and to work on your behalf.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

Craig Wong, The Canadian Press