The best questions to ask a realtor split by which side of the table you’re on. Selling? Ask how many homes they closed near you last year, their list-to-sale ratio, and what their commission actually covers. Buying? Ask what your written agreement locks you into and who pays them.
Get the seller set right and you avoid a stale listing and, often, $8,812 in needless fees. Get the buyer set right and you avoid signing away a year of your search to someone you met once.
Here’s the thing most people get wrong. They interview a realtor the way they’d chat with a contractor about a kitchen remodel, then hire whoever seemed nicest. Nice matters. But nice doesn’t get your house sold for full price in a soft market, and nice definitely doesn’t hand you back the difference between a 6% commission and a 1% listing fee.
I’ve watched sellers leave real money on the table because they never asked the hard questions. And here’s the part that gets me: NAR’s most recent survey found the typical seller had been in that house eleven years, an all-time high. Eleven years of equity, and most people decide who sells it in a forty-minute kitchen-table chat.
So let’s fix that. Below are the 15 questions to ask a realtor when selling that I’d put in front of any agent before I let them list my home, grouped the way you’d actually work through a first meeting. Buying instead? There’s a five-question set for that further down. Steal whichever list applies.
What Questions Should I Ask a Realtor When Selling My Home?
If you only have time for five, ask these: how many homes have you closed in my area in the last 12 months, how did you arrive at this list price, what’s your list-to-sale ratio, what’s your total commission and what does it cover, and what happens if it doesn’t sell in 30 days. Everything else is detail.
What separates a good interview from a polite one is knowing what a bad answer sounds like before you hear it.
| Ask this | The answer that should worry you |
|---|---|
| How many homes have you closed near me in the last 12 months? | “I’ve been in real estate 15 years.” Years aren’t sales. |
| How did you arrive at this list price? | “That’s what the market’s telling me.” No comps, no number, no thanks. |
| What’s your list-to-sale ratio? | “I don’t really track that.” Every agent tracks that. |
| What’s your total commission, and what does it cover? | “It’s the standard 6%.” There is no standard. |
| What happens if it hasn’t sold in 30 days? | “We’ll look at the price.” That’s a reaction, not a plan. |
Worth knowing: NAR publishes its own ten questions to ask a seller’s agent, and it’s a fine list as far as it goes. Read it, though, and you’ll notice what’s missing. It never asks the agent for a sales number. It never asks for a list-to-sale ratio. It never asks what happens when the listing goes stale. Those are exactly the three questions an underperforming agent least wants to answer, which is why they lead my own list of questions to ask a realtor when selling.
Track Record: Questions to Ask a Realtor When Selling (1-3)
Skip the years-in-business line. Anyone can be “in real estate for 15 years” and close four homes a year. What you want is recent, local, relevant proof.
1. How many homes have you personally closed in the last 12 months? Volume tells you they’re active, not dabbling. A full-time agent in a normal market handles a dozen or more sides a year. If the number is vague, that’s your answer.
2. Have you sold homes in my specific neighborhood or price band? A great agent two towns over can still be the wrong agent for your street. Buyers pay for local knowledge, and so should you. Ask for three recent addresses you can look up.
3. Will I be working with you or handing off to a junior team member? Team models are fine, but you deserve to know who shows up for pricing, negotiations, and problems. Get the name of the person who’ll actually answer your texts at 8 p.m. on a Sunday.
Commission and Fees: What to Ask a Realtor When Selling (4-6)
This is the section people rush through, and it’s the one that costs the most. Commission is negotiable. It always has been, and after the 2024 NAR settlement changed how buyer-agent pay gets handled, it’s more negotiable than ever.
4. What’s your total commission, and exactly what does it cover? Get the full number in writing: your listing-side fee plus whatever you’re offering a buyer’s agent. On a median-priced U.S. home of $440,600 (that’s the June 2026 figure from the National Association of Realtors), a 3% listing fee is $13,218. That’s not a rounding error. That’s a year of car payments.
5. Is your fee negotiable, and what happens to it if you also represent the buyer? Watch how they react. NAR’s own guidance for sellers is blunt about this: compensation “remains fully negotiable” and your agent has to disclose in writing what they’ll pay a buyer’s broker. A confident agent explains pricing without getting defensive. If they act insulted that you asked, imagine how they’ll negotiate on your behalf.
6. What other costs will I owe at closing? Transfer taxes, title fees, prorated taxes, attorney costs in some states. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a breakdown of which closing fees land on whom, and it’s worth ten minutes before you sit down. A good agent walks you through your net sheet on day one, not the day before you close. If you want the mechanics of who pays what, I broke that down in how realtors actually get paid.
Pricing: What to Ask When Interviewing a Realtor to Sell Your Home (7-9)
Overpricing is the single most common way a listing dies. Of all the questions to ask a realtor when selling, this trio does the most work. The fix is a data conversation, not a flattery contest.
7. How did you arrive at this list price? Show me the comps. You want three to five recent, nearby, similar sales, plus an honest read on what’s active and pending right now. Beware the agent who quotes you the highest number to win the listing, then pushes a price cut three weeks later.
8. What’s your average list-to-sale ratio and days on market? These two stats tell you whether their pricing tends to hold. An agent whose homes sell close to asking, quickly, is pricing right. One with a wide gap is buying listings with big promises.
9. What’s the plan if it doesn’t sell in 30 days? Every honest agent has a plan B. Price adjustment triggers, fresh photos, a staging tweak, a new feature push. If the only answer is “we’ll lower the price,” that’s a strategy of one. It also helps to know what normal looks like before you panic, so check how long it actually takes to sell a house in today’s market.
Marketing and Communication: Things to Ask a Realtor When Selling a Home (10-13)
The MLS is table stakes. What separates agents is everything after the listing goes live, and how they keep you in the loop while it’s live.
10. Walk me through your marketing plan beyond just posting to the MLS. Professional photography, yes, but also floor plans, video or a 3D tour, targeted social ads, an email blast to their buyer list, broker previews. Get specifics. “We’ll put it everywhere” is not a plan.
11. Who pays for and handles photos, staging, and showings? Photos are the first showing now. Most buyers start their search online, and dim iPhone shots get scrolled past. Find out what’s included in the fee and what costs extra before you’re surprised on the invoice.
You’ll also spend 30 to 60 days in close contact with this person during one of the biggest financial moves of your life. Mismatched communication styles turn that into misery.
12. How and how often will you update me, even when nothing’s happening? Some agents text every showing’s feedback within the hour. Others go quiet for a week. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you’re getting and whether it matches what you need.
13. Can I talk to your last three sellers? References are the tell. A strong agent hands them over instantly. Call those people and ask the real question: “Would you hire them again?” You can also check their reviews and their standing under the NAR Code of Ethics if they’re a Realtor.
The Contract and the Close: What to Ask Before You Sign (14-15)
The paperwork is where good intentions meet reality. Read it, and ask before you sign.
14. What am I actually signing, and how long is the listing agreement? Ninety days is common. Six months locks you in with someone you can’t fire if it’s not working. Ask about the cancellation terms too. A confident agent doesn’t need a long leash.
15. Do you handle title and mortgage in-house? This one gets skipped and it shouldn’t. When your agent, title, and lending sit under one roof, closings move faster and fewer things fall through the cracks between three companies who’ve never met. At Houwzer, title runs through our own Newfound Title, so the left hand always knows what the right is doing.
What Questions Should I Ask a Realtor When Buying?
Buying flips the list. You’re not hiring someone to market an asset, you’re hiring someone to find one, read the disclosures honestly, and negotiate against a listing agent who does this full time. Five questions cover it.
Start with the paperwork, because the rules changed. You’ll now be asked to sign a written buyer agreement before touring a home, in person or virtually. That document is where your obligations live. Read it before you fall in love with a house.
16. What exactly does our written buyer agreement commit me to, and for how long? NAR’s own guidance is blunt that compensation “is negotiable and not set by law,” and that the amount has to be clearly defined rather than open-ended or a range. A 90-day agreement covering one township is a very different animal from a 12-month exclusive covering three counties. I’d sign the first and think hard about the second. The clauses that actually bite are in our guide to the buyer agency agreement.
17. How do you get paid on this deal, and what happens if the seller’s side offers less than my agreement says? Here’s the gap that surprises people. If your agreement says 2.5% and the listing offers 2%, you may owe the difference at closing. On a $440,600 home, half a point is $2,203 of your own cash, and it can’t be financed. Get the answer in writing before you tour. Mechanics are in our breakdown of the buyer’s agency fee.
18. How many buyers did you close in my price band last year, and where? Same logic as the seller questions: recent, local, relevant. An agent who closed nine buyers under $400,000 in your township beats one with a bigger brand and no deals on your side of the county line.
19. What would you tell me about a house that might talk me out of buying it? My favorite question in the whole set, and the one that separates an advisor from a salesperson. A genuinely good buyer’s agent has walked clients away from homes and can name one. Vagueness here is your answer.
20. Who’s on your team for inspection, title, and financing, and do any of them pay you? Referral relationships aren’t automatically a problem, but you’re entitled to know they exist. NAR’s ten questions to ask a buyer’s agent covers referrals; it never asks about the money moving behind them. Ask.
| Ask your buyer’s agent | The answer that should worry you |
|---|---|
| How long does this agreement bind me, and to what area? | “It’s just a formality.” Formalities don’t need signatures. |
| What if the listing offers less than my agreement says? | “That never happens.” It happens constantly now. |
| How many buyers did you close in my price band last year? | “I work with buyers and sellers.” That’s not a number. |
| What would talk you out of this house? | “It’s a great house.” You asked for the downside. |
| Does anyone on your referral list pay you? | “They’re just people I trust.” Trust and payment aren’t exclusive. |
For scale on how much this matters: 88% of home buyers used an agent or broker last year, and 91% said they’d use that agent again or recommend them. Read that second number carefully. If nine in ten clear the bar, the bar is satisfaction, not strong representation. Those aren’t the same thing, which is exactly why the interview is worth doing properly. If I were buying today I’d run all five past two agents before signing anything, and I’d treat a rushed answer on question 16 as a reason to keep looking.
How Houwzer Answers the Big Questions to Ask a Realtor When Selling
I’ll be straight with you: I run this list partly because Houwzer holds up well against it, and I want you to see the difference in daylight.
We’re a full-service brokerage with top-tier agents. The catch that isn’t a catch is the fee. Instead of the traditional 2.5% to 3% listing side, our listing fee is 1%. Run the math on that median $440,600 home:
| Traditional listing fee (3%) | Houwzer (1% listing fee) | |
|---|---|---|
| Listing-side commission | $13,218 | $4,406 |
| You keep | — | $8,812 more |
| Service level | Full-service | Full-service |
| Title under one roof | Usually separate | In-house (Newfound Title) |
That’s $8,812 back on the listing side alone at the national median, and on higher-priced homes our sellers typically save $12,000 to $15,000. Same photography, same negotiation, same person answering your Sunday-night text. You’re just not overpaying for it. If you want the deeper breakdown, I wrote up how 1% commission agents save sellers thousands and a piece on what a fair real estate fee actually looks like.
The point isn’t “hire Houwzer.” The point is that these questions to ask a realtor when selling work no matter who you interview. Ask them of us, ask them of the agent your neighbor recommended, and hire whoever gives you real answers instead of a warm handshake and a mystery invoice. If you’re selling in the Mid-Atlantic, you can see our fee spelled out for low commission Realtors in Pennsylvania or start with our top-rated low-commission Realtors.
Print the 15. Bring them to every meeting. The agent who welcomes them is usually the one you want.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important question to ask a realtor?
“How did you arrive at this list price, and can you show me the comps?” Pricing drives everything: how fast you sell, whether you get multiple offers, and your final number. An agent who prices with real data beats one who wins your listing with the highest guess and then talks you into a cut three weeks later.
What should I ask a realtor about commission when selling?
Ask for the total commission in writing, what the listing side covers versus what you’re offering a buyer’s agent, and whether the fee is negotiable. Commission is always negotiable. On a $440,600 home, cutting the listing side from 3% to 1% keeps roughly $8,812 in your pocket, so this is the question that pays for itself.
How many homes should a good realtor sell per year?
There’s no magic number, but a full-time agent in a normal market typically closes a dozen or more sides a year. What matters more is recency and location: homes sold in your neighborhood and price range in the last 12 months. Ask for three recent addresses you can verify yourself.
Should I interview more than one realtor before choosing?
Yes. Interview at least two or three. Run the same 15 questions to ask a realtor when selling past each one and compare the answers side by side. You’ll quickly spot who prices with data, who has a real marketing plan, and who’s just pleasant. The conversation is free, and the difference between agents can be tens of thousands of dollars.
Is it rude to ask a realtor to lower their commission?
Not at all, and any good agent expects it. On a $400,000 Philadelphia rowhome, moving the listing side from 3% to 1% is $8,000 you keep, which is worth one slightly awkward question. Watch how they respond: an agent who explains their pricing calmly is one who’ll negotiate well for you. One who gets defensive just showed you how they handle pressure.
What questions should I ask a realtor when selling my home in Pennsylvania or New Jersey?
Everything on the 15 questions to ask a realtor when selling, plus two local ones. In Pennsylvania, ask who is actually paying the realty transfer tax on your deal: the state charges 1%, most municipalities stack their own on top, and Pennsylvania holds buyer and seller jointly and severally liable, so who pays is negotiated rather than fixed. In New Jersey, ask how they handle attorney review, the short window right after signing when either side’s lawyer can rewrite or kill the contract. See our fees for low commission Realtors in New Jersey.
What questions should I ask a realtor when buying a house?
Ask what the written buyer agreement commits you to and for how long, how the agent gets paid if the listing side offers less than your agreement says, how many buyers they closed in your price band last year, and what they’d tell you that might talk you out of a house. NAR requires that written agreement before you tour, so read it first.
Further reading: Before you get to the interview questions, start with the bigger picture on how to choose a real estate agent and what actually moves money.
