Questions Every Seller Should Ask—But Most Don’t
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably decided it’s time to sell your home. If you’re interviewing more than one real estate agent, you’re already taking an important step toward making a good decision.
The challenge is knowing what questions to ask.
Most agents are capable of putting a sign in the yard, placing a listing in the MLS, hosting open houses, and guiding a transaction through escrow. Yet not all agents deliver the same level of service, marketing, communication, negotiation, or results.
Real estate is a profession where experience, attention to detail, local market knowledge, and execution can vary dramatically from one agent to another. Those differences often have a direct impact on the price a home sells for, the terms negotiated, and the overall experience of the seller.
Many consumers assume they’re hiring a company when they hire a REALTOR®. In reality, they’re usually hiring an individual professional. While brokerages provide resources and support, the person you choose will be responsible for advising you, preparing your home for market, negotiating on your behalf, and managing one of your largest financial assets.
Most sellers arrive at a listing appointment prepared to ask a handful of standard questions:
- How long have you been in business?
- What cities do you specialize in?
- Do you primarily represent buyers or sellers?
- Can you provide references?
- How much do you charge?
- What do you think my home is worth?
These are all reasonable questions, but they rarely tell the whole story.
The most revealing questions are often the ones agents aren’t expecting—the questions that uncover how they think, how they market, how they negotiate, and how involved they will be in the sale of your home.
Best Questions to Ask
Q. How long have you been in business?
Q. How many market cycles have you personally worked through? Which type are we in now?
Q. Are you a Broker, or just a Salesperson?
Q. In which cities do you sell most of your homes?
Q. Could you show us the homes you have listed and sold over the past ten years? We’d like to see your average days on market, list-to-sale price ratio, and the types of properties and neighborhoods you have represented.
Q. We’d also like to speak to some of your references. Not the list you give everyone, of a handful of satisfied clients, the most recent three sellers. If we can get their names and phone numbers, that would be nice as well.
Q. Have you ever had any infraction with the Department of Real Estate or been reprimanded by your board of REALTORS?
Q. We’d like to see some examples of your flyers from the last three homes you’ve sold.
Q. What is the number one way a buyer will find out about my home?
Q. Which day of the week will you be putting my home into the MLS?
Q. Is one day better than another to input my home’s listing?
Q. How do you handle brokers’ tours?
Q. Do you have a team, or will we work exclusively with you?
Q. Should I have my house held open on the weekend? What are the pros and cons?
Q. If so, do you attend the open houses personally or farm them out to other people, and are they licensed?
Q. Who answers the sign calls from your sign in my yard with your company’s phone number?
Q. Who attends the pre-inspections?
Q. How will I know who has shown my home or will show my home?
Q. How will I know how many people are looking at my home online?
Q. Can we see some real-time examples of your marketing
Q. Which sites do you syndicate my listing to?
Q. How will you keep me posted on my competition in the market?
Q. If my home doesn’t sell right away, what is your plan?
Q. How do you handle offer presentations?
Q. What do you do to actively negotiate on our behalf?
Selecting an Agent
FAQ
Q. Is the number of transactions (homes sold) an important metric I should use to select an agent?
A. Larger teams typically put all their sales under the lead agent, distorting the true number of sales per agent.
Q. What is a good metric for selecting an agent?
A. The best metric is experience, and how they perform—what percentage of list price to sale price they achieve, how many days their homes are on the market, and how many of their listings get canceled because they can’t sell.
Q. What Are the Best Questions to Ask a Real Estate Agent During an Interview?
A. Start by asking, “What do you do differently from your competition?” Then listen.
Don’t interview agents to compare commissions. Interview them to compare judgment.
Avoid making commission your first question. Instead, focus on the agent’s experience, strategy, communication, and the value they bring. Once you understand how they can help you, you’ll be in a better position to evaluate the overall cost.
If you’ve interviewed other agents, avoid asking whether they’ll do something another agent suggested. The answer will almost always be “yes.” Instead, let each agent explain their own approach without prompting.
Remember, the purpose of the interview is to determine whether the agent has the knowledge, judgment, and commitment to help you make good decisions throughout the transaction—not simply to earn your business.
Q. Should I hire the agents with the most reviews?
A. No. Since the emergence of online reviews, many real estate professionals have focused on accumulating as many reviews as possible. However, the number of reviews is often less important than their quality, authenticity, and substance. In some cases, agents even hire third-party services to help generate false reviews, making it important to look beyond the numbers and focus on what past clients are actually saying.
Q. What Is Information Asymmetry and Why Does It Matter?
A. Information asymmetry occurs when one party in a transaction has more knowledge than the other. In real estate, this can happen because agents, buyers, sellers, inspectors, or contractors often possess information that others do not.
This imbalance can create two potential risks:
Adverse Selection – Before an agreement is reached, someone with greater knowledge may withhold information or guide you toward decisions that benefit them more than you.
Moral Hazard – After an agreement is in place, someone may act differently because they know you’re now committed and have fewer options.
One of the primary reasons to hire an experienced real estate professional is to help reduce information asymmetry. Our role is to educate you, explain your options, identify potential risks, and help ensure you have the information needed to make informed decisions—not decisions based on incomplete information.