Why agent is important to buy property

Today, there are likely to be a handful of such agents in any major market, experts say. In London, Gary Hersham, founder and managing director of the London boutique agency, Beauchamp Estates, is one of those guys.

The main benefit of working with someone like him, who has four decades of experience, is his knowledge of the industry and the market, which sometimes goes against popular opinion, Hersham said.

"The impact of being a star agent is that I am considered more likely to be credible," Hersham said.

The other impact of being a star agent, he said, is that it receives more references and, in turn, more business. For example, he was recently appointed to sell a 125 million pound (US $ 135 million) house in central London with Knight Frank, which would never have happened if he had not earned the reputation of being one of the few agents that can sell a property like that.

In Coconut Grove, an elegant Miami area, Karen Elmir, founder and executive director of a luxury sales group of Cervera Real Estate, called The Elmir Group, believes that brand recognition is the greatest benefit of being a rising local star.

"A broad network of contacts in the industry allows star agents to move inventory faster and market better property," Elmir said, noting that when he called other real estate agents about a new $ 10 million construction he sells in South Bayshore Drive, they arrived at their sales event and presented the property to their customers.