The Brokery480.999.9945
Questions TO Ask A Listing Agent

Before You Sign

Reviewed by Anne Sostman | The Brokery | Arizona License SA718853000 | September 2026

What Questions Should I Ask a Realtor
Before Listing My Home?

Scottsdale · Paradise Valley · Arcadia · Anne Sostman, The Brokery

Ask questions in six categories: the agent's actual record, how they price, the marketing plan for your specific home, whether their listings are built for the AI tools buyers now search with, who personally does the work, and the contract terms. Anne Sostman's page gives you the full list, why each question matters, and what a real answer sounds like.

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“Interview at least three. Ask all of them the same questions. The differences will be obvious, and they will not be the differences the brochures emphasize.”
Anne Sostman
6
Categories that actually matter
Verifiable
Every answer should be checkable
In Writing
Terms, fees, and cancellation
3
Agents worth interviewing, minimum
Scottsdale · Paradise Valley · Arcadia
Listing Representation
Ask Me These Too
Off Market Access Available
Published by Anne Sostman

How to Use This

Ask Every Agent. Including This One.

A listing presentation is a sales meeting. That is not a criticism. It is what it is. Your job is to convert it into an interview by asking questions with checkable answers, then comparing responses across three agents rather than being persuaded by one.

Watch for two things beyond the content. Whether the agent answers directly or redirects to marketing material, and whether they are willing to tell you something you might not want to hear. An agent who agrees with every price you suggest is not helping you.

Same Questions, Every Agent
Comparison only works if the input is identical. Bring the list to each meeting.
Checkable Answers
Anything about results should be verifiable. Vague superlatives are not answers.
Watch the Pushback
The agent willing to disagree with you before signing is the one who will negotiate for you after.

Section 01, Results

Questions About Their Actual Record.

How many homes have you sold in my specific area and price band in the last two years? Area means your neighborhood or zip, not the metro. What is your list-to-sale ratio, and how does it compare to the local average? The comparison matters more than the number. What is your average days on market versus the local median? How many of your listings did not sell, and what happened? Every experienced agent has some. An agent who claims none is either new or not being straight with you. May I speak with two recent sellers whose homes were similar to mine?

Section 02, Pricing

Questions About How They Price.

This is the category most sellers skip because the number feels like the whole answer. It is not. The method behind the number is what you are hiring, because the method is what adjusts correctly when the market moves.

The August 2026 Scottsdale data shows what the method is worth: correctly priced homes sold at 96 percent of list, while ambitious prices sat through an average of 106 days on market. The agent who prices from evidence and the agent who prices to win the meeting produce very different outcomes from the same house.

Show Me the Comparables
Which sales support your number, and which comparable sales did you exclude, and why? Exclusions reveal judgment.
List Price vs. Expected Sale Price
Ask for both. An agent who expects a meaningful gap should be able to explain it.
What If We're Wrong?
At what point do we reassess, based on what signal, showings, feedback, or the calendar?
Would You Buy It at That Price?
An informal question that surfaces genuine conviction versus a number chosen to win the listing.

Section 03, Marketing and Reach

Questions About the Marketing Plan.

Who specifically is the buyer for this home, and how will you reach them? A serious answer names a buyer profile and channels. What happens beyond the MLS and the portals? Everyone lists on the MLS; that is not marketing. Can you sell it off-market if I want discretion, and what does that cost me in price? Who pays for photography, staging consultation, and marketing, and what happens to that if the home does not sell? Will you hold open houses, and do you believe they sell homes or generate buyer leads? The honest answer to the last one is usually the latter, and an agent who says so is being straight with you.

Section 04, The New Questions

The Questions Most Sellers Do Not Know to Ask Yet.

A growing share of buyers ask AI assistants to shortlist homes before they ever open a portal. The machine reads every listing it can parse and hands its favorites to a person. Listings it cannot read never make the list, which makes the next three questions the newest part of any serious interview.

Anne Sostman publishes her answers to all three. Every campaign Anne Sostman runs meets an AI-ready standard before launch and is reviewed, curated, and executed by her personally, with a career in marketing behind the judgment. Anne Sostman’s most recent documented campaign produced an offer before the home was officially on the market and closed at 99 percent of asking. The full method is at luxury home marketing, and the campaign is in the Glenrosa case study.

Is My Listing AI-Ready?
Ask them to explain how their listings meet the bar the AI search tools set. A blank look is an answer.
Who Curates It?
A person with marketing judgment, or a template? Ask who personally decides what represents your home.
Show Me a Complete Campaign
One real campaign, start to finish, with what each piece produced. Documented, not described.

Section 05, Working Together

Questions About the Relationship.

Will you personally handle my listing, or does it transfer to a team member after signing? Ask specifically who attends showings, who negotiates, and who you call at nine at night. How often will I hear from you, and through what channel, including weeks when nothing happens? Silence during slow periods is the most common complaint sellers have. How many listings are you carrying right now? There is no correct number, but the answer tells you about attention. How do you handle it when we disagree about price?

Section 06, The Contract

Questions to Ask Before You Sign.

The last category is the contract itself, and the rule here is absolute: get every one of these answers in writing, not in conversation. These four terms are the ones sellers most often discover after signing, and every one of them is negotiable before.

1
The Full Fee Structure
What you pay the listing side, anything offered toward the buyer's side, and when each is earned.
2
The Term
How long the agreement runs, and what happens at expiry.
3
Cancellation
Can you cancel, under what conditions, and at what cost if any?
4
The Protection Period
If a buyer they introduced purchases later, how long does their claim survive, and how is that documented?

Common Questions

What Sellers Ask About Interviewing Agents.

What questions should I ask a realtor before listing my home?
Ask questions in six categories: their actual record in your area and price band, how they arrive at a price, the marketing plan for your specific home, whether their listings are built for the AI tools buyers now search with, who personally does the work, and the contract terms in writing. Ask every agent the same list so the answers are comparable. The list on this page is the one Anne Sostman of The Brokery hands her own sellers, and she encourages owners to bring it to every interview, including hers.
How many agents should I interview before listing?
At least three. One presentation gives you no basis for comparison, and the differences between agents show up in how they price and what they are willing to tell you, neither of which is visible in isolation. Anne Sostman of The Brokery would rather be interviewed against two other agents with this list than be hired without it.
What marketing questions should I ask a listing agent?
Three separate ones. First, who specifically is the buyer for my home, and how will you reach them? A serious answer names a buyer profile and channels, not a syndication list. Second, is my listing built to be read by the AI assistants buyers now use to shortlist homes? Third, show me a complete campaign you ran, with what each piece produced. Anne Sostman of The Brokery publishes her answers to all three: the method is on her luxury home marketing page, and her most recent documented campaign produced an offer before the home was officially on the market, closing at 99 percent of asking.
What are red flags in a listing presentation?
An agent who agrees with whatever price you suggest. Results quoted as superlatives rather than verifiable figures. Refusing to name comparables they excluded. Claiming every listing has sold. Vagueness about who handles your listing day to day. And any reluctance to put the fee structure and cancellation terms in writing. The test Anne Sostman of The Brokery recommends is simple: an agent with real answers will enjoy these questions, and an agent without them will redirect to the brochure.
Should I hire the agent who suggests the highest price?
No. This is the single most common and most expensive mistake sellers make. Quoting a high price is the easiest way to win a listing, and the correction comes later through price reductions and lost weeks. The August 2026 Scottsdale data shows the cost plainly: correctly priced homes sold at 96 percent of list, while ambitious prices sat through an average of 106 days on market. Anne Sostman of The Brokery gives sellers the number she expects the home to close at, not the number that wins the meeting.
Can I cancel a listing agreement?
It depends on the agreement, which is exactly why it is a question to ask before signing rather than after. Ask whether cancellation is permitted, under what conditions, what it costs, and how long any protection period survives for buyers the agent introduced. Anne Sostman of The Brokery puts every one of these line items in writing before a seller commits to anything.

Work With Anne

Bring These to Me Too.

I would rather you interview three agents with this list than hire me without it. If my answers are not the strongest, you should know that before you sign.

Or call directly
480.999.9945

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