Pick the Right Agent
Since 2024 you choose your agent in writing before you've toured a single home. You're choosing blind - from a referral, a star rating, or whoever answered the portal first.
There is no best agent. There is the one who actually transacts your segment - your district, your building tier, your price band - and has done it recently. We find them from transaction data, shortlist them for your goal, put them under agreement with us before you meet, and stay in the deal to closing.
Why ratings, referrals and portals can't tell you who to hire
- The average agent closes 2.8 sales a year; a small minority does most of the volume. The person a friend recommends may not have closed anything in your segment in years. (National Association of Realtors member profile, 2026)
- Star ratings cluster at the top and separate nobody. They measure how pleasant the experience was, not what the outcome was.
- Portals are paid by the agent. The "top agent" badge goes to whoever bought the ZIP code; a portal cannot rank the people who pay it.
- The listing agent on the home you want is not your agent. Dual representation resolves the conflict in the seller's favour, by design.
- The wrong specialist is not a small mistake: a buyer's agent who has never written a winning offer in your district, or a listing agent whose closings are all in another price band, is exactly the person who prices from habit.
How every engagement runs – the same six steps, whatever the goal.
AI does the analytical work. Licensed specialists do the licensed acts. A licensed broker owns every recommendation.
Define
A 30-minute free consultation: your goal (buying, selling, both), your segment, your timing.
Sign
The representation agreement with us (12 months in Florida; three months in California, renewed in writing). No upfront fee.
Analyse
Core AnalysisThe Specialist Shortlist for your segment: who actually closed there, how many, how recently, at what price band, on which side of the table - built from licensed transaction data and delivered in writing. For enrolled specialists, their own consented performance report is on file.
Decide
The decision session: two or three candidates, the evidence for each, your call. We own the data; you own the choice.
Execute
The specialist you choose is already under agreement with us; we introduce you, transfer the engagement, and stay in the deal to closing - with the analysis for your goal (the bid curve, the pricing range, the offer brief) delivered alongside.
Score
The selection is logged and scored against the outcome; specialists stay on the shortlist only while their logged results hold up.
Example: a shortlist for one segment - say, $1.5–3M single-family homes in one district
Three specialists who look identical on a portal - all 4.9 stars, all "top agents" - and what the transaction record says about each. Illustrative values; real shortlists are delivered only to clients, and names are never published.
The six metrics evaluated from closed-transaction data
We do not publish a league table. Ask five principals what they want and you get five answers: highest price, fastest sale, certainty, discretion. We evaluate every specialist on verified MLS closing records:
Price achieved
The gap between initial listing guidance and what the transaction actually fetched, including reduction history.
Time to sell / win
True days on market from first list date, not the reset date. Relisting restarts the clock on portals; it doesn't here.
Likelihood of closing
How often an agent's listings actually close versus expiring or withdrawing quietly from portals.
Discretion
How much volume closes with limited or private marketing if transaction privacy matters to you.
Consistency
Price reduction frequency and variance. Some agents are good on average but wildly unpredictable in practice.
Relevant experience
Volume in your specific district, building tier and price band - not career totals from other markets.
Sample size shown on every figure. Under 5 closings we call it directional; under 3, anecdotal.
| Specialist A | Specialist B | Specialist C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closings in this segment, last 24 months | 11 | 3 | 19 |
| Most recent closing in this segment | 6 weeks ago | 14 months ago | 2 weeks ago |
| Side of the table | Mostly buyers | Both | Mostly listings |
| Price band of those closings | $1.5–3M | $0.8–1.6M | $2–4M |
| Under agreement with Big Data Realty | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- Buying at $2M in this district? A is the specialist: recent, buyer-side, right price band. C is excellent but sits on the other side of the table.
- Selling a $2.5M home here? C - nineteen listings closed in this segment, the most recent this month.
- B is a fine agent with a 4.9 rating - in a different segment. That is the point: the rating can't tell you.
The shortlist is built for your goal, not for the agent's marketing. Two or three candidates, the evidence for each, your choice.
Illustrative example - not real agents. Public figure of record: the average agent closes 2.8 sales a year; a small minority does most of the volume (NAR member profile, 2026). A segment concentration chart (aggregate, no names) follows when the numbers are crunched.
Here, and inside the agreement
| On this page (public) | Inside your agreement |
|---|---|
| How the shortlist is built and what it measures | The shortlist for your segment, with the numbers, in writing |
| Segment-level aggregates with sample size | The decision session and the introduction to the specialist you choose |
| The method | The analysis for your goal delivered alongside; the logged, scored selection |
Why the split: Transaction data about individual licensees can be analysed for a client we represent. We do not publish agent statistics or rankings - and no portal that is paid by agents can do it honestly either.
What changes
| A traditional agent | Big Data Realty | |
|---|---|---|
| How you find them | A referral, a rating, a portal badge | A shortlist from transaction data for your exact segment |
| What you know before you sign | A conversation | Closings, recency, side, price band - in writing |
| Whose agent they are | Theirs - the client belongs to the agent | Ours - under agreement with us before you meet; we stay to closing |
| After the deal | A review request | The selection is logged and scored; the shortlist learns |
No upfront fee. Analysis is delivered inside a written representation agreement - 12 months in Florida; in California, three months, renewed in writing. The specialist who executes is under agreement with us before we introduce them. Full terms are in the agreement you sign.
Tell us what the agent is for
Thirty minutes with the broker. We work with principals in $1M+ transactions in the San Francisco Bay Area and $750K+ in South Florida, in areas our data covers. If your task is outside that, we say so and point you to someone who fits.