What Is A Literary Agent Really Looking For?

I've been around the block, over the hill, through the cave and under every bridge to find ways to impress an agent, better yet, make them hunger or interested in my writing, or should I say, writing style. I wait patiently for Rachelle Gardner's blogs, which I must say are right on, and very informative. I am no different than any hard-working, dedicated author who wants their story to be heard, and I sacrifice the most important part of me: time. I research, ask questions,  and have even stumbled across many answers from all sorts of different readers, aithors and other interesting people. But my question ' What Is A Literary Agent Really Looking For' is still that one question that lingers in the back of my mind. Rachelle touches on this subject a lot. She has great answers and I must say, thank you, Rachelle. But maybe those answers aren't good enough for me, or maybe she's just being sweet; let me down easy, sort of speak. I ponder on some of the answers I read and I won't believe that agents sit behind their desks, waiting for that horrible story from the thousands of emails they receive daily, just to toss them in the garbage and laugh about it with other agents. Or, maybe they do. Well, I must be honest. Not every author has a great story tell, or one that even puts their name on the fifty most wanted list of Google, but at least they're writing. And writing can only get better if it's persistent, and done with acceptance for criticism and mistakes and errors are made. I guess to answer my own question; an agent is just looking for consistency, great writing, confidence that an author knows their audience, some impressive social media following, and mostly-- that you've done your homework and are ready to pitch your story: your novel, perfectly.