Timid real estate agents can provide bad advice and allow clients to make critical errors at crucial moments. When presented with the opportunity to drive off a cliff, you don’t want an expert’s advice to be, “OK, let’s see what happens!”

Knowledge is hard-earned, and knowing when to apply that knowledge is the hallmark of great agents. That doesn’t mean the agent is in charge of the transaction. That role belongs solely to the client, but the agent’s main job is to give good advice based on experience to help guide the clients to the best outcome.

An agent who is stingy with good advice is as valuable as an auto mechanic without a toolbox.

Part of the value of a real estate agent is navigating the inevitable curves in the road for closing a sale. No deal is without hiccups, and knowing what to do and say, and then saying it, is where an agent’s experience comes through as true value to their clients. An agent who constantly bites his or her tongue is not making life better for anyone.

Sometimes hard conversations need to be had. A client’s house may be listed at too high a price, or someone may be tripping up a deal over a $500 repair. It’s the agent’s job to be blunt and clear with the client about the outcome of a bad decision and to offer up some good alternatives. No agent should ever say after the fact, “I wish I had told them (fill in the blank).”

It’s the job of an agent to be forthcoming about the facts as they know them to be. In the end, the clients make the decisions, but if they disagree with the agent’s advice, there should be no doubt who made the decision if it turns out to be a bad one on the part of the client.

Agents come in all levels of experience and knowledge. Too many people think that “an agent is an agent.” That’s like saying, “All red cars are slow.” Are you talking about red Corollas or red Ferraris?

When searching for an agent, choose one that is not shy with advice and one that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. The alternative is properties that don’t sell or transactions that fall apart over small obstacles.

Steve Mallett serves as Vice President of DS Elite and is Agent Broker of Mallett Integrity Team of Keller Williams. Learn more about Steve here.