This is probably a matter of personal opinion, but you asked, and I'll always provide my personal opinion!

A good real estate agent needs to be a "people person". An agent has to interact with many people in a transaction, not just their client. There's the other party, the other parties agent, brokers on both sides, title companies, appraisers, inspectors and loan officers. Many times their are multiple buyers or sellers, and even the buyer and sellers families to deal with.

A good agent needs to be an excellent negotiator. Negotiation skills come in to play in all aspects of a real estate transaction.

A good agent needs to be accessible to their client, as well as everyone else involved in the transaction. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed at how difficult it is to reach some agents. Unanswered phone calls is one of my biggest pet peeves.

A good agent needs an in-depth understanding of the real estate sales contract and other paperwork (and trust me, there is a TON of paperwork involved in a real estate transaction.)

A good agent needs to be "tech savvy". This industry is sometimes stuck in the dark ages. A good agent needs the technical skills that will allow them to work in the 21st century. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. I know agents that can't use email or a fax machine, much less market a property on the Internet....

A good agent needs to be a hard worker. Contrary to popular belief, selling real estate is a real job and it's not an easy thing to do.

There's more, but if you can find an agent with these six traits, then you've found a great agent! (or if you're thinking about becoming an agent, do these six things well and you'll be ahead of about 95% of your competition!)

You may find my blog post "On Bad Real Estate Agents" interesting...