Clear, timely communication is key in real estate. Your agent should be accessible by phone during business hours and promptly respond to your texts and emails within a reasonable time frame of 1–2 hours. Your realtor should also be proactive in contacting you at every step in the buying/selling process to inform you about what's next and what you need to do. Agents should give you advance notice if they're going to be out of office and/or unreachable for a period of time. It only takes one miscommunication or delayed email reply to derail a transaction, so make sure you don't hire an agent with poor communication skills.