How to Choose the Best Real Estate Agent in the Inner West (And Why It Matters More Than Ever)

3 Jan

If you’ve ever typed “best real estate agent Inner West”, “top agent Petersham” or “who is the best agent in Marrickville” into Google at 11:30pm, you already know the problem:

Everyone says they’re the best.
Almost no one explains why.

So let’s strip it back.

In a market where Sydney’s median house price is above $1.6 million and the Inner West has compound growth running well ahead of wages, the cost of a bad decision isn’t a few thousand dollars. It’s years of missed upside. Housing ID+1

Here’s how to actually test whether an agent deserves to be on your shortlist in Petersham, Marrickville, Stanmore, Leichhardt or anywhere in between.

1. Look Past Sold Stickers – Ask “How Did You Get That Result?”

Good agents can show you sales.
Great agents can walk you through the process behind them:

How many genuine buyers did they create from their own database – not just from a portal listing?
Did they adjust strategy mid-campaign when feedback shifted?
How did they handle low early offers – did they use them, or did they panic?

If an agent can’t narrate their campaigns like a coach reviewing game tape, they’re guessing.

2. Test Their Inner West Fluency

The best agents in the Inner West know the difference between:

Norton Street noise vs Crystal Street cut-through
The “wrong” side of Parramatta Road vs the “almost wrong but secretly better” side
Where light rail actually helps value, and where it just adds foot traffic

Ask them straight:

“What are the three biggest risks in my street?”
“If you were buying here yourself, what would worry you?”

If they can’t answer comfortably, they don’t spend enough time on the ground.

3. Ask How They’ll Protect You – Not Just Promote You

Marketing is easy to sell. Protection is harder.

A genuinely top Inner West agent should talk about:

Managing under-quoting pressure from buyers and comparison agents
Qualifying feedback so you’re not reacting to noise
Staging, repairs and presentation as investments, not decorations

If the conversation is all about photos and social media and nothing about negotiation, keep searching.

4. Talk About Their Worst Campaign, Not Their Best

Every serious agent has had a campaign that hurt.

Ask:

“What’s the toughest campaign you’ve run in the Inner West?”
“What went wrong?”
“What would you do differently now?”

If the answer sounds polished and blame-free, it’s probably not honest.

5. Make Sure You’re Choosing a Partner, Not a Personality

The best agent for you is not the loudest, the most viral, or the one with the fanciest car.

It’s the one who:

Tells you the truth when it costs them
Has a process that makes sense when you strip away the jargon
Understands that this isn’t a transaction for you – it’s a chapter change

That’s how I work with Inner West owners:

Data first.
Strategy second.
Storytelling third.
Noise nowhere.

If you’re interviewing agents in Petersham, Marrickville, Stanmore, Leichhardt or any surrounding suburb and you want a second opinion on what you’re being told, you can always run it past me.

Because “best agent” isn’t a title you claim.
It’s a standard you either live up to – or you don’t.

FROM THE DESK OF-
RAMON RANEAL

Ramon Raneal