Seller’s Checklist
How to choose a listing agent.
Six checks that separate an evidence-based listing agent from a confident pitch. Every one is verifiable, most against public records, and they work no matter who you end up hiring, including not me.
The six checks
- 1. Verify the license before the first meeting. Arizona’s license database at azre.gov is public. Status, employing broker, disciplinary history. Thirty seconds, and it also tells you whether the “team” you saw advertised is licensed people or a brand name.
- 2. Demand pricing evidence, not a pricing opinion. The one question that sorts agents fastest: how did you get this number? The answer should be closed sales, in your pocket, from the last year, on your product type. In this market that last part is load-bearing: blending condos into house comparables moves some area medians by a third, which is documented on the market report pages.
- 3. Treat the highest quote as a red flag, not a win. Quoting high to win the signature has a name, buying the listing, and a documented cost: homes that had to cut their price closed 8 to 11 percent below original ask and took three months longer, across 5,600 local closings. Ask every agent to defend their number against the others’ comparables.
- 4. Compare net sheets, not commission rates. Commissions are negotiable, always, and any agent should discuss them plainly. But a written net sheet at the recommended price is the honest comparison: what you keep, after everything. A point of commission saved is erased many times over by a mispriced listing.
- 5. Ask what happens after the contract. Inspection, appraisal and the buyer’s walkthrough are where deals wobble and where money quietly leaves the table. Ask who, specifically, attends each one. “My transaction coordinator handles that” is an answer worth knowing before you sign, not after.
- 6. Read the reviews for outcomes, not stars. A useful review says what happened: the timeline, the price against ask, what the agent actually did. Five stars with no story tells you someone was polite. Read the text, and weight the reviews that name specifics.
The interview, in four questions.
Sit with two or three agents and ask each the same four questions. How did you arrive at this price, and can I see the sales behind it. What would you spend on preparation, and what would you skip. Who attends the inspection and the appraisal. What does my net sheet look like at your price. The agent who answers all four with specifics is the one taking your equity seriously.
Interview me against this list.
I wrote it, so hold me to it: pricing from closed sales in your pocket, a written net sheet before you sign anything, and me in the room at every step where a deal can wobble. The walkthrough is complimentary, and the checklist works even if you hire someone else.
Anne Sostman · The Brokery · Arizona License SA718853000