Checking reviews before choosing an agent takes a few minutes and can tell you a lot, as long as you know where to look and how to read what you find.
Zillow
Zillow shows agent reviews tied to specific transactions, and many are written by verified clients who worked with that agent on a real sale or purchase. It’s a reasonable starting point, especially since you can often see how many transactions an agent has closed alongside the reviews themselves.
Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile shows both the review volume and the actual text, and it’s harder to fully curate than a testimonials page on an agent’s own website. Look at how an agent responds to any critical reviews, not just the star rating. A thoughtful, professional response to a negative review often tells you more than five generic five-star reviews.
Yelp
Yelp tends to skew toward more detailed, narrative reviews, which can be useful for understanding what a client’s actual experience felt like day to day. Yelp’s filtering can also surface reviews that other platforms might not show as prominently, so it’s worth checking in addition to, not instead of, Zillow and Google.
DRE License Lookup for Complaints and Discipline History
The California Department of Real Estate’s public license lookup shows whether an agent has any formal disciplinary history on file. This is different from a star rating: it reflects a formal regulatory action, not just a dissatisfied client. It’s a useful final check before signing with any agent, and it takes about a minute.
Reading Reviews Critically
A handful of five-star reviews from years ago tells you less than a smaller number of recent reviews describing specific, comparable transactions. Look for reviews that mention concrete details, like a specific negotiation, a tight timeline, or a difficult inspection, rather than vague praise. Volume matters, but recency and specificity matter more.
If you’d like to see Efrat’s reviews or ask for a reference from a recent client, get in touch.