Imagine interviewing three real estate agents, all charming and experienced. They all answer the standard questions flawlessly and you’re left with no idea who the best is. Sound familiar? Remember, in real estate, success is often measured by volume and transactions, which means many agents are trained to be salespeople rather than true advisors. Some might say whatever it takes to win your business.
There are a multitude of sources to consider when sourcing for the best real estate agent to sell your home:
- review sites such as Yelp!
- referral sources online like Zillow
- a friend or family
- search engines like Google
- advertisers online and branding like neighborhood experts who you see in your mailbox or local housing magazines.
No matter which source you use, one thing is certain…Googling real estate agent interview questions is a waste of time.
Regardless of what your ultimate goals are for selling your home (i.e. top dollar, fastest sale, most convenient relocation sale) the most common questions don’t help you get the best answers. Here are some better questions to help you hire with confidence the best agent for your situation and job.
EXPERIENCE MATTERS…But Not How You Think
🚫Common Question: How long have you been a real estate agent?
I’ve met agents who’ve been licensed for 40 years that do everything wrong and I’ve also met agents who’ve been licensed for 2 years that execute better for their clients than 90% of agents. So, years in the business really doesn’t matter because honestly, the bar to entry for becoming an agent is so low, and the license renewal process is too easy (for the record I am definitely not a fan of how easy it is to become a real estate agent nor how easy it is to stay licensed).
🥇Better Question: How many clients have you helped in the past two to three years with similar situations to mine?
Instead of focusing on superficial metrics, you need clear answers that reveal an agent’s strategic thinking, problem solving skills, and ability to adapt to your specific needs. Before you start off this question, you should have provided all interested real estate agents with your home selling goals and situation. Are you in financial distress, relocating to a different state, selling while you are out of the country, upsizing or downsizing, needing to sell so that you can buy, divorce, death in the family, inheritance, are you living in the home while selling or planning to move first, have a tenant currently in place, etc. Every single situation requires a different approach to maximize not only the value of the property and the negotiation tactics but will also help determine the course of your outcome and the level of service you’ll receive. A great agent should provide specific case studies of clients in similar situations and explain how they navigated the challenges.
💡Example: If you’re selling a home that needs repairs, ask:
👉Can you share examples of homes you’ve sold that needed significant work? How did you position them in the market?
An agent’s track record in handling similar sales is more important than the number of years they’ve been licensed.
BEYOND LOCAL: It’s About Strategy, Not Just Sales
🚫Common Question: How many homes did you sell in my neighborhood last year?
Many home sellers place a lot of weight on this but think about if this is even really that important. What does being the most popular agent locally or in your neighborhood have anything to do with them being able to get you the best price and strategy for your situation and your home if they don’t understand analytics, marketing, negotiation, and strategy? As a prime example, how come so many home sellers trust Zillow values even though it’s not a local neighborhood expert and how come Zillow can come up with values for homes across the United States? Local market knowledge is essential, but more essential for buyer agents than seller agents. Why? Because as a seller’s agent, we are often unable to communicate directly with buyers to tell them about the builder or how great schools, neighborhoods, restaurants are. A seller’s agent should be familiar with the data of the neighborhood, demographic desirability, buyer demand, buyer motivation, and have an expert ability to analyze data around past sales in the area to come up with what the value would be, in a similar formula of how Zillow comes up with their values but exponentially better. What matters is how they will create more demand than the rest of the agents you interview.
🥇Better Question: Can you walk me through your marketing and negotiation strategy for homes in my neighborhood and how it differs from your approach in [another nearby area]?
The agent’s answer to this question is crucial. Selling multiple homes might give you confidence, but it makes you completely miss the point. When you hire an agent to sell your home, their plan to maximize exposure and generate the highest possible buyer demand is paramount. The final sales price will hinge on their ability to skillfully negotiate once that demand is established. EXPOSURE => DEMAND + NEGOTIATION => FINAL SALES PRICE
💡Example: If you’re in a slower market, ask:
👉How do you attract buyers when inventory is high and sales are slow?
🚨Red flag: An agent who relies only on “knowing the area” but lacks detailed marketing and negotiating experience may not be the best strategist.
THE USELESS RATIO: Forget List-Price-to-Sales-Ratio
🚫Common Question: What is your average list-price-to-sales-price ratio?
This is one of the most useless questions you’ll find on the internet. If I priced a home for $1 and it sold for $1,000,000, is that a top tier ratio? What if I listed a home for $1,000,000 and the home sold for $1,500,000 but the neighborhood sales statistics and analytics show that home should’ve sold for $1,600,000?
🥇Better Question: Can you show me your most recent sales and how the final sales prices compared to similar homes sold in the neighborhood both before and after your sales?
The most important metric you want to consider is the agent’s performance in the final sales price in relation to the competition. How did they perform in the final sales price relative to previous sales, and sales that occurred after in the neighborhood. Get their opinion of what led to their results being better (or worse) than the comparable sales to probe their analytical skills.
🚨Red flag: Be wary of presentation and sales materials that only show sales that show how much over asking or how many days on market, it should include how the sale performed to neighborhood records, or at least neighborhood averages.
FULL-TIME vs. PART-TIME: It’s About Relevant Experience
🚫Common Question: Are you a full time agent or part-time agent?
Real estate can move fast, and property interest can fade quickly. Asking if they are a full-time agent is a good starting point, but does not reveal important details that are critical to a successful sale.
🥇Better Question: Are you a part time agent? If not, are you involved in anything else?
An agent juggling a full-time job unrelated to real estate is a significant red flag. However, if your agent is involved in other real estate relevant aspects, they can usually provide you with a level of knowledge to perform for you like no other agent can offer. If an agent is also involved in the financial markets, other businesses such as construction, development, flipping, owning rental properties, etc, they can provide unparalleled insights and information to help you make the best financial decisions. Importantly, despite the associated business activities, find out what their typical response time to calls, texts, and emails are. Also determine how they handle communication outside of typical business hours.
💡Example: If you work long hours and need weekend showings, ask:
👉How do you handle evening and weekend buyer inquiries?
🚨Red flag: An agent who is slow to respond or delegates key tasks to assistants without oversight may not be fully engaged in your sale.
MARKETING MATTERS: Beyond the Freebies
🚫Common Question: What methods do you use to market listings?
You’ll likely see impressive presentation materials — professional photos, videos, 3D tours, floor plan drawings. First, confirm that the agent uses and pays for professional services to create these. But don’t stop there. If their ‘marketing plan’ consists of listing as a private exclusive, as a coming soon, on the MLS, Redfin, Zillow, online, and holding open houses and broker tours…that’s not a plan. That’s the default — and all of that is free. Be wary of presentations you’re provided that state ‘customized/tailored/bespoke marketing plans’ in your initial meeting. How can it be custom if they’ve never seen your home until now?
🥇Better Question: Beyond the standard methods, what specific, targeted strategies would you use to reach the most likely buyers for my home given its unique features and location? Can you give me examples of how you’ve done this successfully recently?
If every agent uses the same default free tactics as each other, and their negotiation strategy remains pushing Docusign paperwork back and forth — essentially acting as a messenger rather than a skilled negotiator — what makes you think you’ll get a superior outcome? If you find that you are constantly being told the default marketing tactics, you need to continue interviewing agents until you find one or more that can provide proof of their differentiated approach and superior results. This proof might include:
- Case studies of similar homes where they achieved a higher sales price or faster sale than comparable listings.
- Data showing their reach and engagement on targeted marketing campaigns
- Testimonials from past clients specifically referencing their proactive marketing and negotiation skills.
💡Example: If your home has unique features, ask:
👉How do you market homes with specialized appeal, like historic charm or panoramic views?
🚨Red flag: Be wary of marketing tactics that primarily benefit the agent, not you. Magazine ads and postcards to the neighborhood, for example, are designed to generate more seller leads for the agent, not to attract more buyers to your specific property.
COMMISSION: It’s About Value, Not Just Cost
🚫Common Question: What is your commission rate?
The defense of this question sparks some of the fiercest debates about real estate agent fees, and understandably so. However, this question forces you to prioritize the expense without considering the return on investment. And I totally get it, because it’s been an industry focused more on neighborhood popularity, sales and transactions than client outcomes, often resulting in a low return on the fees paid. A lower commission might be meaningless if the agent sells your home for less than it’s worth or the process is a nightmare. Even reviews for agents can be skewed if the client doesn’t have a frame of reference experience with another agent selling their home and agents get 5 stars because they were so nice, responsive, or simply because the house sold, regardless of whether the best possible price was achieved. On the flip side, if your goals are a straightforward, quick sale without regard for maximizing dollars (which does happen), choosing the lowest commission might be the best fit. However, for most sellers, if the goal is to maximize net profit, there is a better approach to the question.
🥇Better Question: How does your commission structure relate to the specific services you provide, and how do those services maximize the sale price of my home?
Get each agent to justify their commission by connecting it directly to the value they deliver and provide concrete examples of how these services have led to higher sale prices compared to their competitors. Don’t forget to clarify what’s included in their commission and if there are any additional fees or expenses you should be aware of.
💡Example: If you receive a low commission offer, ask:
👉What will you cut from your marketing plan to lower costs?
🚨Red flag: Agents who quickly drop their commission without explaining the impact on marketing and negotiation may not be strong negotiators.
PREPARATION: Beyond the Checklist — Think Strategy
🚫Common Question: What do you do to prepare a home for sale?
This is a very broad question that invites generic, checklist style answers (staging, cleaning, professional photos, etc). It also doesn’t reveal strategic thinking and fails to address the truth about selling a home for the best possible price. Each home is like a human, different and unique despite what could be similar neighborhood floor plans. Your home will have its own strengths and weaknesses. These are evident in the materials and updates currently present, the direction your home faces, the location or proximity to amenities in the neighborhood, etc.
🥇Better Question: What specific preparations would you recommend to highlight my home’s strengths, minimize its weaknesses, and appeal to the most likely buyer profile? How does this approach differ from a generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ preparation strategy?
Every home has unique selling points and potential drawbacks. Before any effective marketing and advertising strategy can be implemented, thoughtful preparation of how your home will be presented to the market is critical. Ultimately, even professional media and an effective marketing strategy won’t resonate strongly enough with buyers to maximize demand if the home’s presentation isn’t adapted and optimized for most likely buyer profile. The agent should be able to intelligently answer who the likeliest buyers are, how they’ll be targeted, and how and where the professional media will be leveraged.
💡Example: If an agent is recommending a renovation, ask:
👉 Do you have examples of personal experience with similar renovations and how much more will it bring compared to how much it will cost?
🚨Red flag: If any agent has not had personal experiences with renovations, it could signal a lack of understanding of ‘return on investment’.
PRICING STRATEGY: Beyond the List Price — Focus on Outcomes
🚫Common Question: What would you list my house for?
Listing price is important, but it must be determined strategically, taking into account the type of market you’re currently in. Is it a buyers market, sellers market, what’s the current buyer offer trend in the neighborhood, what level of competition do you have in the neighborhood currently, etc. Be wary of the simplistic advice to ‘just list low and sell for higher with multiple offers.’ While multiple offers can be a desirable outcome, intentionally underpricing isn’t always the best strategy (especially if negotiation is not their strong suit). As previously discussed, list prices are a tool within a greater strategy, but your agent has to be able to explain how and why the list price fits into the strategy to optimize your sales price. It’s easy to be doubtful or worried before the final offer price is negotiated, but if you did your due diligence in interviewing the right agents, you have given yourself the highest chance of the best outcome. Also, keep in mind that list price is a very temporary moment in time. If you have the most skilled agent sitting in front of you but you aren’t happy with the list price they are offering, you have to trust them as the experts (provided they’ve clearly articulated their strategy and its rationale). Ultimately, if they perform how they’re supposed to, the list price you’re upset about as being too low will no longer be a memory if the sold price is a record for the neighborhood.
🥇Better Question: What is your pricing strategy and your opinion of the final selling price for my house?
This allows you to have agents show you how in-touch they are with current market conditions, current buyer psychology, and how it fits into their final sales price. Many agents boast about selling homes quickly for ‘X’ days on market or for significantly more than the asking price. However, a true pricing strategy needs to be tailored to the current market trend and the specific financial environment of your neighborhood at the time of listing. As explained before, their justification for their pricing strategy should be backed up by evidence, such as case studies of comparable sales and data demonstrating their ability to outperform the competition in terms of final sales price. Once you choose your agent based on their expertise, plan, and confidence, trust them to bring to fruition everything they said and hold them accountable(!) to execute everything they promised. I understand the feeling of apprehension before the final offer is negotiated. However, my hope is thorough interviews using these insightful questions will significantly increase your chances of a successful outcome.
💡Example: If you don’t agree with their list price, ask:
👉How do I hold you accountable if the sales price does not meet my expectation?
🚨Red flag: Agents who recommend a low list price to “sell fast” without a market strategy focused on the final sales price may not have your best interests at heart.
Choosing the right real estate agent is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make. By moving beyond generic interview questions and focusing on strategic thinking, proven results, and a customized approach, you’ll be well-equipped to find a true partner who will help you achieve your selling goals. Don’t settle for the default — ask the best questions and hire with confidence.