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Real Estate Pros – Top Agent Elli Davis Shares Her Views About the Ideal Client

Elli Davis, Royal LePage's top agent in Canada, describes her dream client as a person who is organized, has a wish list and is pre-qualified for a mortgage. She also cautions would-be browsers: "If you're going to be ready to look, you should be ready to buy, because there's not a lot of thinking time sometimes in this market."

After that, it is up to her. "An agent's job is to listen to what someone wants and try to match that as best as possible so they don't waste their own time and the client's time," she says.

A potential pitfall in the process is family squabbling - such a siblings fighting over an estate sale, or spouses who can't agree - making the agent's job not only uncomfortable but difficult. The agent must remain neutral, Ms. Davis says. "If I know [the client] too personally, I might not take [the listing]."

One of the biggest sticking points in the relationship between agents and clients is the price of the home being sold. "I'm very blunt with people and I don't always get the listing because they don't believe I'm high enough in price," Ms. Davis says. "I stand by what I really believe in, and I've walked away from listings."

Kate Denby has conducted half a dozen real estate transactions with Ms. Davis in the past 15 years, including a recent purchase of a Yorkville - area condominium. She agrees many people "have inflated idea of the price of their home," and she has some blunt instructions for potential buyers and sellers: "Keep quiet. If you hire an expert, you shut up and take their advice," she says.