The Questions That Separate A Good Agent From A Busy One

Interview three agents. Not one, not five. Three, in your kitchen or on a video call, one after another in the same week so the comparison is fresh.

Most people don't do this. They call the name on the sign down the street, or they use a cousin who got licensed in March, and then they spend six months wondering why the house isn't moving. The interview is free. The mistake isn't.

What follows are the questions that actually sort the good ones from the merely busy, plus what a real answer sounds like and what a dodge sounds like. Rules, contracts and commission customs vary by state and county, so confirm the specifics with a licensed real estate attorney or broker where you live before you sign anything.

Set the meeting up so it's a real interview

For sellers, the meeting is called a listing presentation. The agent shows up with a comparative market analysis, or CMA, which is a packet of recently sold, pending and active homes near yours with adjustments for size, condition and lot. For buyers, it's usually called a buyer consultation, and since August 2024 an agent working through an MLS generally needs a signed written buyer agreement with you before touring homes. That rule came out of the National Association of Realtors settlement. Ask your local broker how it's being applied in your county, because the paperwork and the timing differ.

Tell each agent the same thing: the address, the timeline, the condition, whether you've got a mortgage payoff, whether there's a lease on the property. Same inputs, three outputs. If one CMA comes back forty grand above the other two, that's information about the agent, not the house.

Ask about last year, not about "experience"

"How long have you been in the business?" is a bad question. Twenty years of doing two deals a year isn't twenty years of experience.

Ask instead:

• How many transactions did you close last year, and how many were in my zip code? You want the second number. An agent with thirty closings across the whole metro may have never sold a house on your side of the river.
• How many of those were sellers and how many were buyers? Different skills. A great buyer's agent isn't automatically good at pricing and marketing.
• What's your current active listing count? Somebody carrying twenty-five listings alone isn't previewing showings or answering your Tuesday night phone call.

Then ask the one that gets honest answers: which of your listings in the last year didn't sell, and why? Every working agent has one. The agent who says "none" is either new or shading it. The agent who says "a 1970s split on Route 9, seller wouldn't come off the price after two reductions, we terminated in October" is telling you how they handle conflict, which is most of the job.

Make them defend the number

An agent who tells you what you want to hear on price isn't doing you a favor. Overpricing is the single most common way a sale goes sideways. The listing sits, the days-on-market counter climbs, buyers assume something's wrong, and you end up accepting less than the honest price would have brought in week two.

So ask: what three sold comps got you to this number, and what did you adjust for? Make them point at addresses. Then ask what they'd do if you got no offers in twenty-one days. A good agent has a written plan with a date on it. A busy agent says "we'll see where we are."

Ask for a seller's net sheet before you sign anything. That's a line-item estimate of what actually lands in your pocket: sale price minus commission, transfer taxes, title or attorney fees, prorated property taxes, mortgage payoff, and whatever concession you end up giving the buyer after inspection.

Illustrative example only, not market data: on a $400,000 sale with a 5 percent total commission, roughly $20,000 goes to brokerage compensation. Add $3,500 in closing costs and a $5,000 repair credit and you're at $371,500 before your loan payoff. Run your own numbers with your agent and your CPA.

Get specific about who does the work

Teams are common and often good. The problem is the bait and switch: the top producer whose face is on the sign takes the listing, and a junior agent you've never met handles your showings, your inspection negotiation and your closing.

Ask flatly: who shows up at the inspection? Who writes my offers? Who calls me back on a Saturday? Then get the name. If the answer is an assistant, meet the assistant.

Ask what happens when the agent is on vacation. Ask how quickly they return a call, and then notice whether they return yours.

Read the contract before you admire the marketing plan

The agreement is where the leverage lives.

• Term length. Six months is common in a lot of markets. Ninety days with an option to renew is better for you. If the agent flinches at ninety days, ask why.
• Cancellation. Can you fire them? Some brokerages allow an unconditional release, some don't. Get it in writing, not as a handshake.
• Protection period. Also called a safety clause. If a buyer the agent introduced closes with you thirty days after the listing expires, the commission is usually still owed. Normal. Just know the window.
• Commission and cooperating compensation. Commissions have always been negotiable, and after the 2024 settlement, offers of buyer-agent compensation aren't posted in the MLS the way they used to be. Ask the agent to explain in plain English who's paying what in your deal and where it shows up on the closing statement.
• Dual agency. In some states an agent can represent both sides. In others it's prohibited or restricted. Ask what their brokerage does and whether you can opt out in advance. Two masters, one negotiation. Decide before there's an offer on the table, not during.

Call the references, and ask for the right ones

Every agent has three happy clients ready to gush. Ask for the last three closings instead, in order, whoever they were. Then ask those people one question: what was the hardest part of the deal, and how did the agent handle it?

You're listening for the inspection fight, the appraisal that came in low, the lender who went quiet at day 25. Anybody can ride a clean transaction. You're hiring for the messy one.

The red flags that show up in the first ten minutes

The agent talks about themselves for twenty minutes before asking about your family's timeline. The CMA has no adjustments, just an average. They can't name the title company or closing attorney they usually use. They promise a number nobody else came close to. They push you to sign today.

And one more: they're offended by the questions. A professional expects to be interviewed. That's what professionals are for.

You're handing somebody the biggest asset your household owns and asking them to price it, market it and argue for you in front of strangers. Spend an hour choosing. Then get out of their way and let them work.

General education only. Laws, disclosure requirements, agency rules and customary fees vary by state and county. Talk to a licensed real estate attorney, CPA or broker about your own situation before you sign.