Realtor Interview Questions

We care about who you work with to list and buy your home. We have a list of Realtors we have interviewed for you. You can watch their interviews here.

If you have a friend or family member you’re looking to work with, we still highly recommend doing an interview with them. Some of the hardest transactions we’ve been a part of have been people who used family members who weren’t the right fit for them. Below is a list of questions we think you should ask at a Realtor interview.

We do not think you need to ask every question on this list, but decide what’s important to you. Most real estate agents will have a presentation that will answer most of these questions upfront.

Interview Questions

Experience and Expertise

  1. How long have you been licensed?

  2. Are you full time or part time?

  3. Who is your mentor?

  4. Do you own a home?

  5. How many people have you helped buy and sell homes?

  6. Do you work with [insert your situation]? (ie First-time Home Buyers, move up buyers, investors, 1031 exchanges)

Communication and Availability

  1. How do you prefer to communicate (phone, email, text)?

  2. What are your typical turn times to client inquiries?

  3. Will I be working with directly, or a member of your team?

  4. Who will I work with if you go out of town while we are looking at home or while under contract?

  5. How do you handle communication during evenings or weekends?

Market Knowledge

  1. What is the current state of the local housing market?

  2. Can you provide examples of similar home in the area and their selling prices?

  3. How do you determine the value of a property?

Negotiation Skills

  1. Can you describe your approach to negotiation offers?

  2. What strategies do you use to ensure the best deal for your clients?

  3. Can you provide examples of successful negotiations you’ve conducted?

Contracts and Paperwork

  1. How will you guide me through the paperwork and legal aspects of buying a home?

  2. What kind of contracts and agreements will I need to sign?

  3. Can you explain the process of making an offer and what it entails?

Community Involvement

  1. What do you do to give back in our community?

Hobbies

  1. What do you do when you’re not working?

Payment Expectations

Establish payment expectations. Whether you are buying or selling, this is a conversation to have upfront. There are some agents who charge less for less work. You get to decide what’s most important for you.

References

You can ask for client references, but more than anything else, look at their reviews. Google their name and you should be able to find some. If they have no reviews, that doesn’t mean they’re not great. It’s possible they’ve changed brokerages or how they do business regularly. They may have worked under another realtor and are branching out on their own. We’ve found that some of the best agents we have worked with have worked under someone else and learned from them first.