Should I use an individual real estate agent or a team?

What is the best choice for a buyer or seller to make?

I've been listing and selling real estate in Frederick, Washington, and Montgomery counties for over 23 years. For most of that time I was not in favor of using teams. Clearly my opinion has changed recently. About a year and a half ago I joined forces with a good friend, Darren Ahearn and became part of "The Ahearn Team". With all the technological advances, law changes and ever changing market scenarios I felt it was almost too much for one person to keep up with alone.

Unfortunately, I've seen many teams fail because of personality conflicts mostly due to the team not having clearly defined responsibilities for the team members. I also wasn't particularly in favor of large teams because I felt they lost some of the personal touch. That's why I chose to become part of a small team so we could be very efficient and specialized but still keep the personal touch.

Our team is comprised of only three agents and our assistant. Darren handles all the listing responsibilities. This is a great fit for him because he's a high energy detail oriented guy. So much so that when I was a manager I tried constantly to recruit him. He is also licensed in Pennsylvania. I handle our buyer calls. I love working with buyers because I know I can help them through the challenges of our quite unique market. I have numerous lenders I recommend to give my clients a broad spectrum of choices in loan programs. I also set each buyer up with their own listingbook account which they can also reach though my website. Our third agent is Billy Shreve. Billy handles all our commercial transactions. By having three agents, each with a specific field of expertise each transaction gets the undivided attention of their own agent. Last but certainly not least on our team is our assistant Christina. Christina takes care of all our file processing and marketing and keeps everything in order.

So what choice should a buyer or seller make? Certainly I'm in favor of using a small team but each person has their own needs and things they feel comfortable with. I would encourage each person to interview both teams and individuals and feel confident that you will be taken care of properly and that no details will fall through the cracks.