We analyzed 1,652,435 Google ratings and 647,676 review-topic mentions for the 100 most-reviewed agents and brokerages in every state. Communication came up 103,044 times; photos, staging and marketing 4,358. And 1 in 16 ratings is a single star.
Stagingmate ResearchSummed each listing's star distribution. Summed the review topics Google extracts from review text for each listing ("place topics", with the number of reviews mentioning each), then grouped topics into themes by keyword rules: communication and responsiveness, staff manner and knowledge, smooth process, negotiation and price, photos/staging/marketing, speed of sale.
The plan called for classifying 100,000 review texts; that needs a paid review pull awaiting approval. This version uses Google's own topic extraction, which covers praise more than complaints, and star counts, which can't be tied to topics. The most-reviewed listings skew toward large, successful teams. The agency category includes some property managers, so rental topics appear. 52% of topic mentions fall into the six themes; the rest are about homes and places rather than service.
more review mentions of communication than of photos, staging and marketing.
of ratings are five stars.
ratings is one star.
One-star ratings as a share of all ratings for each state's 100 most-reviewed agent and brokerage listings.
| Georgia | 9.33% | 4.56 | 86.4 | 69856 |
| Tennessee | 9.09% | 4.54 | 85.2 | 57598 |
| Nebraska | 8.53% | 4.57 | 85.9 | 15843 |
| Arizona | 8.12% | 4.61 | 87.6 | 59322 |
| Alabama | 8% | 4.56 | 84.4 | 39320 |
| North Carolina | 7.48% | 4.61 | 86.9 | 71833 |
| Indiana | 7.41% | 4.62 | 87.8 | 32089 |
| Michigan | 7.27% | 4.59 | 85.4 | 43397 |
| Oregon | 7.23% | 4.64 | 88.5 | 27555 |
| Illinois | 7.15% | 4.64 | 88.2 | 48073 |
| Florida | 7.13% | 4.64 | 87.8 | 111982 |
| New Mexico | 7.04% | 4.66 | 89.4 | 15924 |
| Colorado | 7% | 4.66 | 89.3 | 45561 |
| Utah | 6.95% | 4.66 | 88.8 | 41660 |
| Arkansas | 6.72% | 4.66 | 88.7 | 17968 |
| Oklahoma | 6.62% | 4.68 | 90 | 23422 |
| Washington | 6.45% | 4.68 | 89.5 | 38564 |
| Wyoming | 6.44% | 4.68 | 89.6 | 7328 |
| Pennsylvania | 6.33% | 4.7 | 90.7 | 33717 |
| Ohio | 6.32% | 4.63 | 86.2 | 40585 |
| Texas | 6.3% | 4.68 | 89.2 | 103917 |
| Hawaii | 6.04% | 4.68 | 88.5 | 12384 |
| Iowa | 5.98% | 4.69 | 89.4 | 22592 |
| Minnesota | 5.93% | 4.71 | 90.9 | 31873 |
| Virginia | 5.81% | 4.71 | 90.7 | 56628 |
| Alaska | 5.66% | 4.72 | 91.4 | 11208 |
| Nevada | 5.6% | 4.72 | 91.1 | 32398 |
| Kansas | 5.59% | 4.73 | 91.4 | 18970 |
| Missouri | 5.41% | 4.74 | 91.7 | 42820 |
| Montana | 5.2% | 4.75 | 92 | 10293 |
| North Dakota | 5.2% | 4.73 | 90.6 | 6842 |
| Kentucky | 5.17% | 4.74 | 91.7 | 25213 |
| West Virginia | 5.13% | 4.68 | 86.9 | 12948 |
| Rhode Island | 5.09% | 4.76 | 92.9 | 13979 |
| New York | 5.08% | 4.71 | 88.9 | 45382 |
| California | 4.78% | 4.75 | 91.5 | 64078 |
| South Carolina | 4.73% | 4.7 | 87.6 | 51517 |
| Mississippi | 4.72% | 4.75 | 91.4 | 12996 |
| Massachusetts | 4.51% | 4.78 | 93.2 | 27428 |
| Idaho | 4.48% | 4.77 | 91.7 | 25025 |
| Delaware | 4.21% | 4.76 | 90.9 | 12864 |
| Maryland | 4.18% | 4.79 | 93.1 | 28829 |
| Wisconsin | 4.04% | 4.8 | 93.4 | 31596 |
| South Dakota | 4.02% | 4.79 | 92.5 | 12573 |
| New Jersey | 4% | 4.79 | 92.6 | 29789 |
| New Hampshire | 3.73% | 4.81 | 94 | 12724 |
| Connecticut | 3.61% | 4.82 | 93.9 | 18729 |
| Louisiana | 3.55% | 4.82 | 94.3 | 17681 |
| Vermont | 2.28% | 4.87 | 95.4 | 6617 |
| Maine | 2.21% | 4.88 | 95.7 | 10945 |
as many review mentions of communication as of photos, staging and marketing.
| Review topic | Mentions |
|---|---|
| helpful staff | 44,974 |
| answering questions | 36,447 |
| home buying process | 30,224 |
| selling a home | 29,561 |
| smooth process | 21,571 |
| finding a home | 18,476 |
| responsiveness | 16,331 |
| new home | 16,104 |
| easy process | 16,008 |
| quick responses | 15,499 |
| responsive staff | 12,146 |
| quick sale | 10,012 |
| negotiation skills | 9,654 |
| application process | 8,008 |
| selling a house | 7,930 |
| selling process | 7,905 |
| quick response | 7,247 |
| condo | 6,994 |
| kind staff | 6,616 |
| polite staff | 6,424 |
| Stars | Ratings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1,474,767 | 89.25% |
| 4 | 44,760 | 2.71% |
| 3 | 16,638 | 1.01% |
| 2 | 12,372 | 0.75% |
| 1 | 103,898 | 6.29% |
Stagingmate makes virtual staging for realtors simple: upload a photo, pick a style, and download an MLS-ready image in under a minute.
Stage a listing photo free
Stagingmate Research (2026). Clients mention communication 24x more than marketing in Google reviews of top agents. https://stagingmate.com/research/real-estate-agent-reviews-what-clients-praise-and-punish
Free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. For the full dataset or a local cut, email press@stagingmate.com.
Communication, helpful staff and a smooth process. "helpful staff" is the single most-mentioned topic.