How to choose a real estate agent in Jersey City or Hoboken
Who is the best real estate agent in Jersey City or Hoboken?
The best real estate agent in Jersey City or Hoboken is the best agent for you: licensed, reviewed by people in your situation, able to show you what they closed in your town, clear about the fee in writing, and reachable in the language you think in. Nobody can prove "the best"; you can check all of that in an afternoon.
I am a REALTOR® with eXp Realty and I would like to be that agent, so this page is written to be used against me too. Take the seven checks below to every agent you interview, including me. If someone fails one, you have your answer.
I work in English, Romanian and Spanish. Vorbim românește. Se habla español.
Seven things to check before you sign with anyone
Verify the license
Every agent in the state is licensed by the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, a division of the Department of Banking and Insurance, which administers and enforces the state's real estate licensing law. Look the agent up on the Commission's licensee search: the license should be active, and the brokerage on the record should match the one on the business card.
Mine: New Jersey Real Estate Salesperson License #2186044, eXp Realty. Search my name and compare.
Read the reviews where they cannot be edited
Google and Zillow, not the agent's own website. Look for your town and your situation: a first condo in Jersey City is a different job from selling a two-family in Bayonne. Read the critical reviews and the agent's answers. A profile with only five-star, one-line reviews from the same month tells you something too.
My profiles are linked on the reviews page, with how I ask for reviews and what I never do.
Ask for local proof
"How many homes did you close in my town in the last twelve months, and can I see them?" Not the team, not the office: the person who will be at your showings. Sales in your town matter because prices here move by the block and by the building, and an agent who has been inside the comparables prices differently from one reading them off a screen.
My closed sales are on my Zillow profile, with the dates and the towns. I do not list sold addresses or prices here because they belong to the people who bought and sold.
Ask for the agreement and the fee, in writing, before you tour
Since August 17, 2024, following the National Association of REALTORS® settlement, real estate professionals nationwide require a written buyer agreement before touring a home with you, in person or virtually. According to NAR's consumer guide, that agreement must set out the services and a clearly defined compensation, not a range, and compensation is negotiable and not set by law. Sellers get the same clarity in the listing agreement: the fee, and what, if anything, you offer toward the buyer's agent.
An agent who will not show you the agreement before the first showing, or cannot tell you the fee and who pays it, is a red flag before you have seen a single home. I put both on paper before we go anywhere; the buyer version is on the buy page and the seller version on the sell page.
Language and availability
Buying or selling a home is a stack of documents with deadlines. If English is not your first language, ask whether the agent works in yours; a translated contract read by someone who understands it is safer than a nod. Then ask who answers the phone, who runs the showings and who is at the closing table. If the honest answer is "my assistant", decide whether that is what you are paying for.
I work in English, Romanian and Spanish, and I am the one at every showing. See working with me in Hoboken, in Jersey City, or as a rental agent.
Ask how they price
The right answer names comparables: closed, pending and active homes a buyer for yours would actually look at, adjusted for the floor, the light, the outdoor space, the building's finances and the monthly charges. The wrong answer quotes a portal. Ask to see the comparables, not just the number, and ask what happens to the price if the first two weeks are quiet.
I wrote down my own method in how I price a home in Hudson County, and you can test it for free on the home valuation page.
Know the red flags
A guaranteed sale price, or a guaranteed offer, before anyone has seen the home. Pressure to sign today. No written agreement, or one you are asked to sign without reading. A listing price pitched high "to leave room", with no comparables. Reviews that cannot be found off the agent's own site. Any promise about awards or rankings that you cannot verify. Each of these is a reason to interview someone else.
What you get with me
Licensed in New Jersey since January 2020, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, license #2186044, office at 50 Harrison St, Suite 205, Hoboken. I live in Hudson County and most of my work is here: Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne, Weehawken, Union City, West New York, North Bergen, Guttenberg, Secaucus, Kearny, Harrison and East Newark. I work in English, Romanian and Spanish.
Before you hire me you can walk my towns the way I do: every one has a "day in the neighborhood" page with real places and a real estate section, starting with Hoboken and Downtown Jersey City. If you are selling, I price from live comparables on your block and put three scenarios and a launch plan in your hands within 24 hours. If you are buying, the agreement and the fee are on paper before the first showing, and I am at every showing myself.
More about who I am on the about page; what clients have said is on the reviews page.
Choosing an agent, in plain language
Who is the best real estate agent in Jersey City?
There is no official ranking, and any agent who calls themselves the best is making a claim New Jersey advertising rules do not let them prove. The best agent for you is one whose license you have verified on the New Jersey Real Estate Commission licensee search, whose Google and Zillow reviews mention your town and your kind of purchase, who can show you the homes they closed in Jersey City in the last twelve months, and who puts the fee in writing before you tour. Interview two or three against that list and the choice usually makes itself.
How do I check a realtor's license in New Jersey?
Use the New Jersey Real Estate Commission licensee search on nj.gov (Department of Banking and Insurance). Search by name and confirm three things: the license is active, the type is salesperson or broker, and the brokerage matches the one on the agent's card. Mine is New Jersey license #2186044 with eXp Realty.
How many agents should I interview?
Two or three. One is not a comparison; five is a week of your life. Ask each the same questions from this checklist, in the same order, and compare the answers, especially the number of closings in your town, how they price, and the fee in writing.
Do I need a buyer's agent in Hoboken?
Not by law, but you will sign a written agreement with whoever shows you homes. Since August 17, 2024, real estate professionals nationwide require a written buyer agreement before touring a home, in person or virtually, and the agreement must state the services and a clearly defined compensation, which is negotiable and not set by law. In Hoboken, where two units in the same building can sell far apart, an agent who knows the buildings, the flood zones and the parking rules earns that fee in the negotiation alone.
What questions should I ask a listing agent?
How many homes did you sell in my town in the last twelve months, and can I see them? How will you price mine, and can I see the comparables? What is your fee, what do you propose to offer the buyer's agent, and where is that in the listing agreement? Who runs the showings, you or an assistant? What will you tell me if my home does not sell in the first two weeks? A good listing agent has a written answer to each.