Hiring an Agent? Ask These 5 Questions First

Every agent you interview is going to sound impressive. One’s a family friend, another has signs all over your neighborhood, and every last one of them claims to be number one. Somebody has to be average, so that math is a load of baloney.

The stakes here are bigger than most people realize, because the person you hire will be steering one of the largest financial decisions of your life, and the wrong choice can quietly cost you thousands. These five questions cut through the sales talk, so you end up with someone you can trust with your money and your home.

1. Ask what the MLS shows. If we look you up in the MLS, how many homes did you sell last year? What percentage were buyers, what percentage were sellers, how many were in my city, and how many were in my price range? Those answers matter because buying your first home takes a completely different skill set than selling a $750,000 one.

Downsizing out of a family home is nothing like helping a growing family move up, and vacant land, one-of-a-kind properties, and complicated titles each demand their own experience. You aren’t shopping for the biggest number; you’re looking for the experience that’s relevant to you and your situation.

2. Ask how they’ll communicate. Do they answer the phone when you call, or does their voicemail tell you to hang up and text for a faster response? A good agent asks how you prefer to be reached and then actually uses that method. Here’s the part people forget to ask: who will you actually be talking to?

Some agents win your business and hand you off to an assistant or a junior agent, and that might be perfectly fine with you, but you want to know before you sign the contract, not after. You deserve to know who will be there, what their role is, how quickly they respond, and how often you’ll hear from them. On our team, no one goes to bed at night until every call is returned.

3. Ask for their actual strategy. If they aren’t asking about your goals and your timeline, you’re about to get a canned answer. If you’re selling, don’t accept “I’ll put it in the MLS, post it to Zillow, and share it on social media.” Those are free tools every single agent has, not a strategy. Ask how they’ll price your home for maximum net profit and how they’ll market it.

Ask how they’ll manage your showings, because there’s software that makes it much easier on you, and good agents offer it. Ask what happens if the response isn’t what you hoped for. If you’re buying, ask how they’ll help you evaluate properties and compete for you in multiple offers.

Winning isn’t always about offering more money, so ask if they’re certified in negotiation, and if they say yes, ask through what organization. Then ask who will manage your transaction from offer to closing. You want to hear a plan, not a pitch.

4. Ask about deals that went wrong. Eventually, something will: an inspection issue, an appraisal that comes in a little low, a financing delay, a negotiation that gets difficult. Real estate transactions are complicated, and surprises are part of the deal. Ask them to walk you through a transaction that didn’t go as planned and what they did about it, because that’s where real experience shows up.

5. Ask why you should hire them. Then stop talking and let them answer. Don’t just listen for what they’re good at. Listen for how they’ll serve you, protect your interests, solve your problems, and guide you when decisions get hard.

After nearly 40 years of doing this, our best advice is simple: don’t shop for the lowest number. Ask what you’re getting for what you’re paying, and make them show you. Don’t hire the agent who tells you what you want to hear; hire the one who’s willing to tell you what you need to know, because this is about more than a house. It’s about having someone in your corner when things get complicated.

So interview your agent and ask the hard questions. If those questions make an agent uncomfortable, that should tell you something too. Choose someone you trust, someone with a plan, someone who’s professional, persistent, and genuinely excited to serve you, because that’s exactly what you deserve.

If you’re getting ready to buy or sell in Metro Detroit, we’d love to be interviewed. Call or text us at 833-333-GWEN (4936), email us at gwen@theintegrityteam.com, or visit wesellmetrodetroit.com. Ask us the hard questions; we’re ready for every one of them.