Another excellent article from Rushan! Totally agreed with Rushan's opinions and experiences on real estate agents.
I have been using one Chinese agent three times in the last ten years. She had been the only Chinese real estate agent in my area for 20+ years (a couple more coming out recently). She is really focused on one side of the town so that she built up a lot of knowledges on local market and a lot of connections with other agents, developers, and contractors. I bought my current house one day before its listing (thus avoided any bidding war), just because of her connection with the seller agent.
I truly believe a good agent can give a lot helps, no matter buying or selling. I am going to hire her again for my next rental house hunting.