Interview more than one agent, be suspicious of the highest price, and ask to see the last three listing packages they produced at your price point rather than a portfolio. The most useful question is what is wrong with your house — the agent willing to answer is the one who will be honest later.
Three agents will show market knowledge, a plan and a price. The differences are smaller than they appear. What separates them is visible if you ask the right questions.
Most sellers meet their agent, like them, and sign. It is the largest financial transaction of most people's lives and the selection process is frequently shorter than choosing a contractor.
Three agents will show you market knowledge, a marketing plan and a price. The differences between those presentations are smaller than they appear. What actually separates them is visible if you ask the right questions.
Even if you already know who you will choose.
A second and third conversation gives you something to compare against, and it changes what you notice. Agents also present differently when they know they are being compared, which is itself informative.
The most common and most expensive mistake sellers make.
An agent who arrives with a price well above the others is frequently bidding for the listing rather than valuing the property. The pattern that follows is predictable: the property sits, the reductions begin, and it eventually sells below where a correct initial price would have landed.
Ask each agent to justify their number against specific comparable sales, against replacement cost, and against what is currently sitting unsold. An agent who can walk you through the reasoning line by line is telling you something different from one who simply names a figure.
The agent who names a lower number and explains why is frequently the one to hire.
Not a portfolio and not a marketing deck.
Ask for the last three listing packages they produced at your price point. Photography, brochure, floor plan, the property website if there was one. A portfolio shows their best work ever; recent jobs show what you will actually get.
Ask what they spend on marketing a property like yours, who pays for it, and what happens to those assets if you part ways.
Ask what they listed in the last two years that did not sell, and why.
Every working agent has some. The answer tells you whether they take overpriced listings, whether they diagnose problems accurately, and whether they are willing to be candid with you about something unflattering.
An agent who claims everything sold is either inexperienced or not being straight with you.
At the top of the market, the person presenting is not always the person you deal with afterward.
Ask directly: who attends showings, who answers when you call, who negotiates. If there is a team, meet them. A senior agent who wins listings and delegates everything is a legitimate model, but you should know that is what you are buying.
Ask how many listings they currently hold. Capacity is real, and a property that needs attention will not get it from someone carrying too much.
The most useful question in the interview.
You have just been told your property is wonderful by two other people who want the listing. The agent willing to say the kitchen limits the buyer pool, or that the price you want requires waiting eighteen months, is the one who will tell you the truth later when it matters.
Discomfort in that moment is a good sign rather than a bad one.
Term length and what happens if you are dissatisfied. Whether there is an early termination right. What the protection period covers after expiry. Which costs you carry. Who owns the photography.
Ask for a shorter initial term if you are uncertain. A confident agent will usually agree, and the willingness to discuss it tells you something either way.
Firm brand, sales volume totals, and awards. All are easier to acquire than they appear, and none of them will be showing your house.
You are hiring a person to manage the most valuable thing you own through a stressful process. Judge accordingly.
At least two or three, even if you already know your preference. Comparison changes what you notice, and agents present differently when they know they are being compared.
Usually not. An agent arriving well above the others is frequently bidding for the listing rather than valuing the property, and the pattern that follows is a sitting listing, reductions, and a sale below where a correct price would have landed.
The last three listing packages they produced at your price point — actual recent work rather than a portfolio. A portfolio shows their best work ever; recent jobs show what you will get.
What is wrong with my house. You have just been told it is wonderful by two people who wanted the listing. The agent willing to name a real limitation is the one who will be honest when it matters.
Term length, whether there is an early termination right, what the protection period covers after expiry, which costs you carry, and who owns the photography. Ask for a shorter initial term if uncertain.
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